Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-16
Men Knead the Bread With Their
Knees.
TIE NUDE BOY IN TIE DOUGH
Macaroni is Made Largely by Ma
chinery.
THE HOMEMADE ARTICLE

krock-kneed." remarked my friend
But why is that asked.
They khead the bread with their knees,
you know"
This was new idea to me, and 1 began
to watch colony of bakers in the neigh
borhood. 1 found that my friends OBJ
servation was true. and that all of them
were more or less knock-kneed or bow-lcg-
ged. Then enc day as I was passing a
bakers shop curiosity led me 10 peer
through crack leading into the baking
room to see what was beyond. I saw
small boy was busily working his knees
back and forth and sideways in some soft
white dough. The boy glanced at the OPEN
ing from which my presence had excluded
the light. and then. covered with shame
and confusion. dropped bodily into the
yielding mass OF dough. The small boy
was nude.
1 had always been so fond OF italian
breads. Like Bluebeard's wife. my curl
csity had led to my undoing
The bakers of Italy are banded together
into groups. those in the country or small
towns having different rules governing
them fro m those in the cities. The country
bakers have added to their wages. which
are generally 10 cents a day. two meals
breakfast and dinner. The food. though
not varied, is sufficient consisting OF veg
etable soup. pint of wine and plenty Of
meals. with a pint OF wine for breakfast
and a quart for dinner The city bakers
receive no food, but their wages are higher.
being from ~ to 50 cents day. They
work together in small groups each group
using one oven in common. In this way
the proprictors of large bakeries ecOnomiza
In fires. which is an important item where
fuel is so dear. The bakers are provided
with everything necessary for making the
bread. and each person is paid 40 cents
for every 80 mounds of flour that he bakes.
The chief of each division is paid weekly
or monthly, according to the amount OF
flour each group has baked. and he then
pays the unoer bakers according to pre-
arranged plan. The proprietors furnish the
apprentices or necessary help.
Army Bread.
There are many soldiers in Italy. and 10 the
daily allowance of wine. meat and II cents
for each there are added twenty ounces
of bread or macaroni. So it takes many
bakers to lake for the soldiers alone. Many
times / have seen groups of these same
soldiers marching out of the city with two
of the group wheeling a push cart laden
with great leaves of black bread, with 40
covering of any kind for protection against
dust or rain or wind-just tossed careless
ly into the wagon and wheeled through the
city streets and over dusty highways.
When the proper hour came each tired ard
footsore traveller would have his twenty
ounces weighed out to him.
1t is I'm Venice. think. that Italian bread
reaches its highest state of perfection.
Here II ranges from the coarse black bread
of the peasarts-which is not really black,
but rich, dark brownie the faky. MIX
white breads of the aristocracy. Here ore
can get a pointed Vienna loaf, a square
English leaf or a twisted stick Of German
bread two yards loEg. And one can buy
half a slice for less than a penny. or ore
can buy a pound, half. quarter or a
" hole loaf-exactly the amount one wants.
And one can nave bread that Is mixed with
yeast or milk or water or potatoes. and
almost any Kind of ftour-rye. barley. corn.
wheat, rice or chestnut. The so-called
black bread of the peasants may not look
as appetizing as the white breads. but Ii
is certainly wholesome and nutritious. and
one can eat any quantity of 1t without sur
fering from dyspepsia or indigestion
Every traveller in Europe is familiar with
the small, round biscuit with the hard outer
crust and nothing much but vacuum with
in. All trIe Italians love their hard-crusted
and stale breads in preference TO that which
is soft and fresh baked.
With one form of Italian bread few
Americans are unfamiliar and that is
nacaroni. The idea which many Ameri-
cans have that macaroni is not pure and
clean is false. Their opinions are formed
from the idle tales of careless travellers.
WHO tell ina ginary stories of seeing great.
strapping lazzaroni, half nude, carrying
the moist ropes of macaroni from the press
to the drying room on their hare backs.
Making Macaroni.
In a few rare instances this may be true,
hut it is also true that all such macaroni
is eaten in Italy. for it is only the larse
manufactures that export the goods, ard
they are as scrupulously clean as a New
Ell gland housewife. All the utensils used
are washed and cleaned and scraped as
often as necessary, and only the best and
purest ingredients are used in the manu-
facture of the macaroni.
Macaroni is made from semola-the fine
hard parts of the wheat, ground by mill
stones after the bran and farina have been
extracted. This semola is placed in a
knedding trough that is lined with iron and
enough boiling water mixed with it for
kneading purposes. The kneading is done
by machinery. two men being generally re-
quired to propel the milestone that does the
kneading. while third man stands near
the trough to place the paste properly I'M
der the milestone hack and forth, to the
right and left. as occasion requires. The
paste when kneaded to the proper con-
sistency IS then placed in an iron cylinder
having holes i'm the bottom, through which
the paste Is forced by pressure. A man
standing near cuts the macaroni the proper
length as it is forced through the holes.
1t Is then placed on canes or long, thin
horizontal poles for drying.
1t requires about twenty minutes TO
knead the dough and from two to four
hours to dry-according to the state of TIE
atmosphere. 1t is then placed in damp
cellars Tor twenty-four hours to rest Or
to prevent its drying too rapidly on the out
side, this would leave it damp within
and make it brittle. After being taken
from the cellar 1t is hung in the sun for a
day and then wrapped in paper and packed
In boxes. Many people make their own
acaroni at home, and this is made in a
slightly different manner. A pound of flour
is mixed with four or five eggs and mo;s-
tened with hot water. This is kneaded
thoroughly, then rolled out very thin with
rolling pin, left to dry for fifteen or
twenty minutes and then rolled up very
tightly and thin slices cut from the end
AS the slices fall apart they form strings
of macaronf. OF course this macroni is a
little richer than that of commerce as the
flour is mixed with eggs, but the majority
Of Italians prefer buying the ready-made
article to taking the trouble to prepare
1t.