The original meaning of the word flour, from the French fleur, —
signified “the best part,” but it apparently is no longer the best
part at all. Even the U. S. Department of Agriculture in one of its
Bulletins had the courage to state that “. . . experiments have
shown that in general the highly refined flours contain practically
none of the vitamins present in the whole grain product.”
V
A great to-do has been made in recent years over the “enrich-
ment” of bread and flour. In England millers and bakers were —
compelled by the government to give the people of that country ©
more vitamins per loaf during the war by producing a higher ex- |
traction flour, fortified with synthetic vitamins. However, this very |
slight improvement was fought bitterly by the millers and bakers
who played up the horrible fact that the good folk of England were
being forced to eat peasant bread! Yet in America, these gentlemen
eagerly accepted the enrichment idea, as a sop to public demand
for better bread.
But this enrichment program is at bottom a delusion and a de-
celta
The original wheat berry contains a number of minerals such as
calcium, iron, and phosphorus as well as fat, and the vitamins 4,
E, and the B-complex group of vitamins. In the wheat berry (as
nature grew it) these elements exist in perfect balance and further-
at se a i
q
*Gayelord Hauser, in his book Look Younger, Live Longer, says, “No vitamin E and
only two of the sixteen or more known B vitamins are added to devitalized bread ironically
publicized as ‘enriched.’ What strange mathematics—to take away sixteen and
only two, and call the result ‘enriched. Such misbranding should be dealt with under
the Pure Food and Drug Act.”
THE MYSTERY OF THE MILL Il
more create a rich nutty flavor which anyone can discover by
chewing a few fresh, unground berries of wheat. The “enrich-
ment’ of bread consists of putting back into the defunct white
flour one or two synthetic vitamins. The other vitamins and minerals
and nature’s balance, as well as the flavor of the original product
are omitted. What we really have in these synthetically enriched
products is something approaching a patent medicine lost in a
welter of starch, and starch, of course is destitute of flavor. The
white bread eater walks out of a grocery store with several loaves
of white bread under his arm and in order to obtain any discernible
nourishment, he must walk across the street to the drugstore and
buy several bottles of vitamin pills. But even then he is missing a
great deal in actual nourishment and downright eating pleasure.
Also, sadly enough, diseases increase and fertility decreases.
Recent medical discoveries reported in Time magazine only re-
cently show that vitamin E (which is present in the original wheat
berry) benefits many types of heart disease. Reputable physicians
after a great deal of research have discovered that the known in-
crease in heart diseases may well be due to the over-refinement of
foods such as the removal of the germ, and therefore of the vitamins
and minerals from flour.
And when it comes to fertility, it is well established now that the
oil in the germ is rich in vitamin E which confers upon mankind
fertility and vigor.*
This germ is removed by modern milling processes.
VI
It might seem that I have wandered far from cooking. But this
volume is an attempt, by the empirical method, to prove that
everything good may still be made of wholegrain flour in spite of the
fact that the millions of cook books in print today are based upon
germless white flour. The impression has got about (and not un-
Page 3
Presented as published in 1947. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The original meaning of the word flour, from the French fleur, —
signified “the best part,” but it apparently is no longer the best part at all. Even the U. S. Department of Agriculture in one of its Bulletins had the courage to state that “. . . experiments have shown that in general the highly refined flours contain practically none of the vitamins present in the whole grain product.”
A great to-do has been made in recent years over the “enrich-
ment” of bread and flour. In England millers and bakers were — compelled by the government to give the people of that country © more vitamins per loaf during the war by producing a higher ex- | traction flour, fortified with synthetic vitamins. However, this very |
slight improvement was fought bitterly by the millers and bakers who played up the horrible fact that the good folk of England were being forced to eat peasant bread! Yet in America, these gentlemen eagerly accepted the enrichment idea, as a sop to public demand for better bread.
But this enrichment program is at bottom a delusion and a deception.
The original wheat berry contains a number of minerals such as calcium, iron, and phosphorus as well as fat, and the vitamins 4, E, and the B-complex group of vitamins. In the wheat berry (as nature grew it) these elements exist in perfect balance and further-
*Gayelord Hauser, in his book Look Younger, Live Longer, says, “No vitamin E and
only two of the sixteen or more known B vitamins are added to devitalized bread ironically publicized as ‘enriched.’ What strange mathematics—to take away sixteen and only two, and call the result ‘enriched. Such misbranding should be dealt with under the Pure Food and Drug Act.”
THE MYSTERY OF THE MILL Il
more create a rich nutty flavor which anyone can discover by chewing a few fresh, unground berries of wheat. The “enrichment’ of bread consists of putting back into the defunct white flour one or two synthetic vitamins. The other vitamins and minerals and nature’s balance, as well as the flavor of the original product are omitted. What we really have in these synthetically enriched products is something approaching a patent medicine lost in a welter of starch, and starch, of course is destitute of flavor. The white bread eater walks out of a grocery store with several loaves of white bread under his arm and in order to obtain any discernible nourishment, he must walk across the street to the drugstore and buy several bottles of vitamin pills. But even then he is missing a great deal in actual nourishment and downright eating pleasure. Also, sadly enough, diseases increase and fertility decreases.
Recent medical discoveries reported in Time magazine only recently show that vitamin E (which is present in the original wheat berry) benefits many types of heart disease. Reputable physicians after a great deal of research have discovered that the known increase in heart diseases may well be due to the over-refinement of foods such as the removal of the germ, and therefore of the vitamins and minerals from flour.
And when it comes to fertility, it is well established now that the oil in the germ is rich in vitamin E which confers upon mankind fertility and vigor.*
This germ is removed by modern milling processes.
It might seem that I have wandered far from cooking. But this volume is an attempt, by the empirical method, to prove that everything good may still be made of wholegrain flour in spite of the fact that the millions of cook books in print today are based upon germless white flour. The impression has got about (and not un-