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Where Malt Comes From

Dyeing Eggs the Natural Way

Gentlemen, Start Your Radishes

Where Malt Comes From

The stuff that gives a chocolate malted milkshake or a bowl of Malt-O-Meal its distinctive taste is basically the same substance that is an essential component in the brewing of beer and malt whiskey. It all starts with ripened grains of barley, a member of the grass family. Perhaps the oldest cultivated grain, barley thrives in cool climates and at high altitudes and is high in protein and carbohydrates. Until about the 16th century, barley was the main bread grain for most of Europe. (It has been used for beer making since the ancient Egyptians, the first brewmeisters, discovered the fermentation process.)

To make malt, barley grains are sprouted over a period of several days. The brewing industry calls this "steeping." By the time the sprouts are nearly as long as the kernel, they have made an enzyme called diastase, which converts starches in the endosperm to sugars.

At this point, the sprouts are roasted, dried, and ground into a powder called malt. The color and flavor of the malt and the resulting beer depends on the length and temperature of the roasting process: the longest, hottest roast gives a characteristic chocolate color and flavor to dark beer and stout. Light-colored malt is used in lager and other pale beer.

The malt is next mixed with hot water (called "mashing") to make a sweet liquid called "wort," which brewers ferment to make beer. (Bitter hops are usually added to balance the sweetness of the wort.) The liquid may be spray-dried to form a powder that we mistakenly call malt, even though it is actually dried wort. Add chocolate and ice cream and you have a chocolate-malted milkshake, more correctly known as a chocolate-worted milkshake. But old habits die hard.

Bakers often add a small amount of diastatic malt to bread dough, where it acts as a catalyst in helping the yeast convert sugars in the flour into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which is what makes bread rise. This diastatic malt comes from barley that has been sprouted and then dried at a low temperature so that the natural enzymes are not destroyed by heat. Diastatic malt is available from www.KingArthurFlour.com and from other baking supply sources.

Don't

go

there.

Dyeing Eggs the Natural Way

Don't go there. Instead, try one of these natural dyes to make a basket of beautiful, mellow eggs that will be the envy of the neighbors and maybe even the Easter Bunny.

1. Save the dry skins of onions until you have a bagful. Hard-boil a dozen or so eggs and let cool. Using string or rubber bands, wrap the dry onionskins around the eggs. Carefully lower the wrapped eggs into simmering water and cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let the eggs soak. Test an egg to see if the colors are dark enough. Brown onionskins make beautifully marbled golden eggs. Red onionskins turn a soft pink.

2. Raid your pantry for spices, juice, and canned vegetables and fruit. Soak hard-boiled eggs in the juice overnight for intense colors; remove after a few hours for pastel shades.
Purple: use beet juice or grape-juice concentrate.
Yellow: dissolve 4 tablespoons ground turmeric in water.
Blue: use the syrup from canned blueberries.
Red: use the syrup from canned cherries.

3. If you want something simpler, use small bottles of food coloring or dabs of paste colors and dissolve in water until you get the exact shade you want. Be creative and make new colors! Let the hard-boiled eggs sit in the solution until they are the color you desire.

Gentlemen, Start Your Radishes

Those of us who simply can't wait for the ground to thaw out can plant our radishes now—indoors. Take a nice big flowerpot, fill it with good porous soil, and sprinkle the seeds on top. Cover them with the lightest dusting of soil. Water frequently, and you will be rewarded quickly with bright-green seedlings. Thin them to about 1-1/2 inches apart (the young leaves will add sparkle to a soup or salad). Indoor-grown radishes are often milder than outdoor ones.

As far as outside planting goes, radishes can safely be sown outdoors when crocuses bloom. They love cool weather, so at the sight of the first crocus, grab your packet of radish seeds and race to the garden!