With Christmas and its attendant silliness mercifully over, maybe life can get back on an even keel (even in these dark times), and for another thing, that the overblown attention to festive fare should give way to more sensible eating again.
We’re lucky in Valencia to have good German bread. I came to appreciate and include in my daily diet traditional peasant or country bread varieties while living for longish stretches in both France and Germany, the two countries that make the best bread in the world (Switzerland included in that honor roll).
And while most people know baguettes or croissants, bread made of whole grain wheat or rye or spelt (an ancient sub-species of wheat), often more dense or chewy, may be less familiar or even strange to a local palate used to white, soft, and often-sweetish bread.
Such whole grain breads used to be a staple that provided people with a high level of nutrition in the past (long before our sorry era of fast food/junk food/refined flours and sugars…)
I make sure to reserve my Frankensteiner (named after the region of origin) whole wheat and multigrain loaf from Ludwig’s, the little bread shop which opened not quite a year ago just across the main gate to the Valencia plaza.
There’s a selection of wheat and rye loaves and rolls and other specialty breads familiar to the expat community that patronizes both the shop and their Sunday market stall, but apparently, 30 percent of the clientele is Filipino, willing to pay a little bit more for nutritionally-substantial bread made of a bit more expensive materials.
Two hard-working women keep the shop going. With past experience as a baker, Cheryl learned about German bread from a German baker who put in a stint at the start of the business.
Today, Cheryl does the heavy work herself of preparing the different varieties of bread by hand.
Sheila came in later, contributing cakes and snacks to the wares offered.
There’s a man in the picture too, Christian, who moved here from the north of Germany, and who sees to the business side of things, including providing information online www.facebook.com/ludwiggermanbread
Did anyone else come across this bit of epidemiological information that I saw not long ago? Researchers were investigating the marked rise of diabetes in a country that had previously not been particularly afflicted by the disease, namely, Sri Lanka.
Their findings showed that as people’s income levels improved, they were buying and consuming larger quantities of white rice than they used to, resulting in a rising incidence of diabetes.
That echoed the Harvard study and still others making the same link.
We, Filipinos are likely in the same epidemiological boat with all the white rice and white bread we consume.
Healthier eating is the answer. With delicious whole grain rice (produced by Camanjac organic farmers among others, and sold in supermarkets) and better bread choices, both low in the glycemic index (rate at which food turns into blood glucose), it’s a matter of re-training palates to enjoy these foods.
For myself, I hope Ludwig’s continues to do brisk business. It’s become a regular stop on my walks around the village to pick up a Frankensteiner loaf or other varieties of German bread.
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Author’s email: h.cecilia7@gmail.com
