[Maeve]

Nina Moliver talked about biblical bread at
the summer conference this year. The "staff of life" was not really the bread we eat today. She said the women woke at 4AM, coursely ground the barley, let it ferment
w/a sourdough starter and baked it fresh
for that morning's breakfast.

With all the talk about the necessity of neutralizing phytic acid in whole grains, I decided to use this method to make a nice morning cereal. I do not usually like barley. I find it too chewy.

I washed hulled barley and very lightly roasted it, just until it was dried. I then coursely ground it in a coffee grinder. (Avoid electrical appliances if it is your choice.) I then soaked the cracked grain in warm water to which a sprinkle of umeboshi vinegar had been added. I let it soak for about 1.5 - 2 days until it had fermented. It smelled bad -- like a fish bowl that needs cleaning -- so I washed it twice, then cooked it slowly w/a lot of water for about hour.

I divided the cereal in half and added a little light miso to half of it. I let it
sit overnight and heated it up the next morning. It makes a very digestable, tasty
morning porridge both with and without the miso.

Maeve