Nancy Lesonbrought me a bag of Nash's Organic triticale flour, "grown and milled on their farm," she told me "on the Olympic Peninsula."
Triticale was a word from the past, I told her. As far as I knew, it was just 25th Century alien chow as in Star Trek's "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode. Non-Trekkie Nancy drew a blank on that one.
Triticale, she went on to tell me is a cross between rye and wheat. I thought I might try it as part of the mix for a rye bread. Space rye!
Ms. Leson also brought me a jar of some sourdough starter from Alaska, alleged to be over 100 years old. And even though I'd warned her against the hazard of gas build-up weeks ago, that jar's lid was screwed down tight. "She can'na take no more!" I Scotty'd. "She's about t'blow!"
I'm glad to get the stuff, though. Turns out we've both been making the King Arthur Flour sourdough buttermilk pancakes. I'll try her starter for this weekend's batch. We both have concluded that the batter could be a little thinner than K-A calls for. Give it a try and see what you think.
I've been teasing Leson for years about her penchant for fast baking – things like one hour bagels. But when I told her of my most recent project, a seven-day refrigerated ferment for a K-A for no-knead bread she spoke words I never thought I'd hear.
"I have learned that if I hold onto that dough for at least a week it just gets better and better." And then she said (waiiiiiit forrrritttt) "You were rrrr.... you were rrrr... you were right, Stein!"
And on that high note we ended the segment.
"Two things only the people actually desire: bread and circuses." – Juvenal
