About a year ago I read Sally Fallon's book "Nourishing Traditions: the book that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats" One of the most exciting points from her book is that grains have been enjoyed by cultures around the world, throughout the ages, with many health benefits. The modern phenomenon of celiac disease, and other inflammatory responses to grains(gluten) are not something that traditional peoples were plagued with. Many studies have now linked these negative reactions with the widespread use of chemicals in todays farming practices (fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides). The hybrid grain varieties of today have more gluten as well. The fast food demands of our culture further exacerbate the problem by speedily preparing, processing, and packaging these grains, adding harmful preservatives to store on shelves for months and years.
Throughout time, in cultures around the world, people have soaked, sprouted, and fermented their grains to make them easier to digest, make nutrients more available, and break down phytic acid(an organic acid in which phosphorous is bound) "Phytic acid can bind with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and especially zinc in the intestines & block absorption. Diets high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss" - Nourishing Traditions.
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/living-with-phytic-acid/
Great care was taken to ensure that grains were prepared in a way to support optimal absorption of this nutrient dense, energy rich food.
My favourite way of breaking down phytic acid, the method I use the most is soaking my flour in a warm slightly acid liquid for up to 24 hours before continuing with the recipe. You can soak fresh ground flours to make muffins, sourdough bread, pancakes, etc.
I source my grain from an organic farm/mill 45 minutes from my farm. Growing your own grains would be ideal of course, but very time consuming and labour intensive, so I work with organic as it's the best I can do at this time. I use einkorn(the oldest known form of wheat), kamut, spelt, and rye. Einkorn grains are much smaller than their modern red wheat cousin, and more expensive, but well worth it to me, as I buy the grain in bulk and mill it myself.
(Einkorn alongside spelt, it is a small grain!)
I purchased a wondermill to reap the benefits of fresh ground grain. Once milled, grains are pulverized and exposed to oxygen, out of their protective shell, they quickly oxidize and you lose about 10% of their nutritive value per day! If you can purchase fresh ground flours from a local mill, store them in the freezer to preserve nutrients (or just get a mill and mill your own!)
So for my little family of 4 I usually mill 2 1/2 cups of flour and mix with 2 cups of raw milk kefir. I leave the mixture to ferment on my cupboard at room temperature for 12-24(as little as 7 hours will breakdown a large amount of the phytates, but longer is better) You can use warm water with lemon juice or vinegar if you are intolerant of dairy. This recipe makes extra, pancakes and it stores well in the fridge for up to a week, I just stir in the oily seperation and reuse. Here is the recipe:
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups kefir ( allow this mixture to ferment for at least 7 hours)
2 eggs (free run, pastured is best)
1tsp baking soda
1tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter ( or oil of your choice)
2 Tbls maple syrup or sweetener of choice
Mix flour and kefir before bed if you intend to have pancakes for b-fast. In the morning mix all other ingredients. You can add spices, fruit, anything you want according to your own tastes! Make sure your skillet is hot, these pancakes take longer to cook and will stick if your pan isn't hot enough. My cast iron skillet works awesomely!
(Flour mixture after 18 hours, the kefir carbonates and rises beautifully!)
Thank you for such an informative post. I didn't know I could mill my flour and then soak it after. Just never got there in my thoughts. Thank you I am going to try this recipe. It sounds great for my guys.
Just remember to get your skillet hot and well greased lol, I had trouble with my first few batches, it is a learning curve, I looove cast iron though!
I will remember that. We only use cast iron these days. I don't think I would go back to the other types of fry pan.
Thanks
Thanks for this post! This is so exciting for me. I have yet to explore the world of soaking grains for breads. I am going to try this!
Sourdough is an effective bread soaking method for breaking down phytates, the bacteria and enzymes in the starter help to "pre-digest" the gluten and complex carbs as well :) so you're a pro already 👏 I throw a Tblsp of starter in these pancakes sometimes if I've got too much!
Interesting. You are the second mama on Steemit that has mentioned Nourishing Traditions. I am feeling the urge to pick up this book. I steer clear of wheat because it leaves me bloated, causes indigestion, and a whole host of other unsavory side effects. I have been ok to eat sourdough and do so on occassion.
Steemit is dangerous because my I want to try that list keeps getting longer and longer. -Aimee