Notes from the Garden. From Process to Perception: The Color of What We Eat
Tucked in the notes of Chef G, Ii came across a pearl. Weaving a bit of reference into a culinary narrative it is four deceptively simple steps that reveal the back bone of milling wheat. A closer look, and they unfold into a philosophy of precision and respect for the raw ingredient.
The Milling of Wheat
The plant of a flour mill has four main functions:
- To store a reserve of wheat (normally about six weeks supply)
- To eliminate all impurities from wheat and prepare it for milling
- to mill wheat and separate flout from bran and skins of the wheat
- to store the milled products before despatch
Whilst the third of these is obviously the heart of the process, it could not work for long without the assistance of the others*
Its a reminder that in food the unseen structure matters. Every dish begins with a process. In this case, it begins with wheat: Stored, Cleaned, and handled with intention every step of the way.
*Noted the Flour Advisory Bureau Arlington Street London.
From Process to Perception: The Color of what we eat
in tracing the quiet logic of wheat milling – from storage to dispatch – Chef G’s notes offer more that mechanics. They lay the foundation for understanding how even the color of food, something we often take for granted , is shaped by both process and perception.
Take step 2: eliminate impurities. It seems purely functional – about cleanliness and quality control. But historically, this was also aesthetic gate keeping. Tis where color enters the story.
As highlighted in the May issue of Bon Appetit, white has long help cultural weight in the kitchen. White sugar. And for much of history – white flour. Coarse, dark loaves were reserved for the working class and times of scarcity. Pale flour meant purity and wealth.
Today the pendulum sings again. Whole wheat, once seen as coarse or austere, now signals wholesomeness. When the wheat is sifted we are not just cleaning grain. We are filtering a cultural memory where technique meets color theory and paints the canvas of taste.