Thursday, October 13, 2005


slightly ot

here at bccy, we really shouldn't be discussing noodles. they are made with flour, but they ain't bread of any type.

so forgive my fascination with this story, wherein archeologists uncover a 4,000-year-old bowl of lo mein noodles in china.

the part that catches my attention is that these lo mein noodles are said to be made of millet. this seems odd to me: how is it possible to make lo mein of millet?

lo mein noodles are hand-stretched from lumps of dough until they become quite fine, almost hair-like. in shanghai, i'm told, you can see street vendors making noodles this way with stunning ease and rapidity.

i understand this, since lo mein nowadays are wheat noodles. that is, they have gluten, and so will stretch.

but millet has little if any appreciable gluten, which is why it's a favorite of those with gluten allergies. how is it possible to make stretched noodles of millet?

i'm betting it's more likely that these antique noodles were made by forcing a millet dough through a sieve or basket. . .(on the asian noodle front, i myself love nama cha soba. . .)

this aside, the weather here is completely miserable, worse than seattle. i just started the morning with some of don schoenholt's gillies brand new guatemalan antigua. he also kindly included a huehuetenango.

i'll make this up in the vac pot tomorrow morning and talk more about its regal crispness then. . .

thinking of guatemalan coffees always puts in mind of oren's fantastic coban. . .that coban! i honestly have to say i have never had a fraijanes.

and of course, speaking of coban, dougie's famous home-roasted blend is totally on-topic!

posted by fortune | 9:59 AM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 2 comments