slow- foods secrets of essene manna

Essene Manna was what I called my sprouted wheat loaves.

Sydney was well pleased with my organic sour dough bread, but I knew I had another challenge. One day in the late seventies a friend of mine, the manager of Harmony Whole foods, came to my cafe and showed me a sample of sprouted bread he had brought back from the US. It was made by a Canadian company, Life-Stream and was the latest craze in the health food industry. It tasted great with a sweetish flavour. I thanked him, and put it on my 'to-do' list.

After almost ten years, I decided to tackle this new challenge, and make sprouted bread, knowing nothing about how to even make wheat sprouts. I had the ovens, the bread tins, and no shortage of organic wheat.

I had no idea of how to make sough dough bread when I started out, but eventually came out with Sydney's best Sour dough bread though at that time only Demeter was making sour dough, the main difference being their bread had no hint of sourness, so they missed the point.

Sprouted bread was another matter, but I knew I would crack it. And I did, after a lot of trial and error.

When Alexx Slow-Foods hit the market with the Essene Manna it was an instant hit, Every one wanted it, and demanded it.

The following is a detailed 'how to' manuscript. Whether you want to make it for friends; your friendly local health food store, or a stall at your local markets. or the whole of Sydney, it will sell very well. It is a recession proof food. But it's a matter of economics. You have to charge enough to make it worth while. But more about that later.

This is the first published details of how to make Alexx Slow-Foods style essene manna.

You must use durum hard wheat. (I have also made it with rye - the smell of it cooking is to die for). You could also use other grains - rice, quinoa, spelt, but I can't help you with these.

The wheat needs to soak for about ten hours. In colder weather, around twelve hours. Then rinse and drain, but don't let it dry out.

Sprouting is critical. Line a basket or box with black plastic, then add wheat so it is about 1.5" inches deep. Wheat should be wet, but not dripping. Cover wheat with another piece of black plastic. This should go up to the edge of the wheat, but not stop air from getting to the wheat. Now you wait. The soaking will have expanded the wheat. It has all it needs to grow into an upstanding stalk of wheat - but we have other plans for it. The darkness is also critical for it to start sprouting. Large black garbage bags are best for this. For larger quantities, I found the best thing is a tip top plastic bread tray. You can buy these in a grey colour. Now the second day -what is happening? depending on outside room temp, not very much if its cold, but you can see them advancing. The third day gets exciting. You can feel the heat they are giving off. Now you should stir them up, and if you have tiny roots forming at the base, break up the clumps, then cover again. They will be ready the next day. The starch is being converted to simple sugars and this is what we want to work with.

It is critical to grind them when they are ready, otherwise they overheat. the roots grow too long, and they don't make nice manna.

How to grind them?

Small scale, I bought an old meat mincer from Vinnies. When suitably disinfected, it worked fine. After that I bought a new Breville meat mincer which also worked well, until it got louder and louder, and then died.

By then we needed some big guns, and by chance the next door shop had the perfect old machine for a bargain price. The crucial thing about a mincer was to have the right size blade, ie the holes in the blade If it's too small it just makes mush. If its too big, the wheat doesn't get ground enough. I went to a wholesale Butcher equipment shop, and got the ideal blade, and friendly service with a smile.

The ground wheat sprouts go into a big stainless steel bowl. Now they need some water, before they are hand mashed into a not too sloppy mix, and put into oiled tins. As for my sour dough bread, I only used virgin olive oil for this. The dough is weighed to a pre determined weight (about half height of tin) and then placed in hot oven. If you have brick based ovens, use a wire rack under tins.

From the moment the grains are broken, the mix starts to oxidise, so speed is of the essence for a nice sweet loaf to ensure.

Bake in hot oven for about an hour. Now be amazed -be very amazed! This loaf has risen! It rises just enough to allow the loaf to cook well throughout, without drying up.

When the top is nice golden colour, it is probably cooked. (trial and error here).

When you remove from oven leave in tin until cool enough to handle. If you remove from tin too soon, it will fall into a million pieces. Yes, this creation of yours needs kid gloves, but the sensational results are worth it.

When it has cooled down (if there is any left) place under refrigeration. It must be kept cold, as it is virtually a live food, and if left out it will die quite quickly. It will keep in a fridge for ages, so I always put a 5 week use by date on it.

All my stuff in health food shops was on a sale or return basis, but I never had any sprouted bread returns.

Now about the water you add. This is where you can add organic sultanas, dates, or organic pumpkin. The dates and sultanas are best soaked overnight in enough water to soak them, but with little left over, which can be added to the mix.

The result is an orgasmic loaf.

For commercial purposes, you need to think hard about the price. I never charged enough, so although it was retailing for $6.15 a loaf, I was producing too much (with one ton of wheat per fortnight) for too little money.My sour dough loaf was the first to break the four dollar price ceiling, and then later, first to break the five dollar mark.

If you are thinking of selling at a stall in a market situation, think about charging $8.00 a loaf. By the second or third week you will be selling out. (once it gets round to the halls of power). Keep it small scale and gradually up the price to$10.00 (if your game). Cut a loaf up into small pieces to give a taster test. If they baulk at $10.00, cut loaves in halves. At least you will still have your friends, and will always be invited to parties.

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