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Not so long ago bread was made at home, once a fortnight in winter and once a week in summer.
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The flour came from the wheat the peasant had harvested himself; it was ground by the neighbouring miller. In exchange for his work the miller kept part of the wheat as payment. |
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The process of breadmaking took two days; the leaven was added to the flour and the dough formed into loaves weighing twelve pounds each. |
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The "na"
The bread
oven is a small cylindrical construction heated by gorse branches until
the bricks are white hot. The baker is seen inserting the bread with a
long-handled bread shovel ("pale").
The mouth of the oven is shut by a metal door.
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The finished loaves are kept in the "penassier" or breadrack suspended over the table. |
When the breadmaking
was complete, sometimes apples were cooked or a ‘galette pissouse’ - the
remains of the bread dough, flattened, buttered on one side and baked on
a tile. Those who did not bake for themselves obtained their bread from
the village baker in exchange for wheat.
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An account of the exchange was kept by means of a tally stick ("coche"). |
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