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query about Canadian bread

"Amy Smereck" <amy.smereck@insightbb.com>
Sat, 12 Jan 2008 09:22:12 -0500
v108.n002.2
Alan,

I haven't read the play, but my thoughts are the following:

If he is brain damaged, and has been for that long, the obsessive 
bread-baking comes from memories which are very deep, going back to 
childhood.  Childhood food memories are often memories of comfort, of 
being provided for, of love.  Probably, he is baking from those 
memories, doing what mother or grandmother did, combining flour, 
water, salt, yeast, without measuring, without recipe, just by 
instinct.  There might be some honey or sugar, maybe a little oil.  I 
would deduce that it is a very simple recipe, made with the most 
commonly available flour.
The rythmic kneading would be comforting, as well as the product.

If he lived on a wheat-producing farm as a child, bread might be made 
with that grain ground at home, but more likely the wheat would be 
sold or taken to a mill to be ground.  I would watch for the 
symbolism with the bread.  Whole wheat is thought of as wholesome, 
rustic.  White flour would have been seen as more refined, more 
upscale - often children prefer it for its milder flavor and texture.

I don't know if rural Ontario would have produced much 
wheat.  Probably the agriculture would have been more along the lines 
of dairy farms, feed corn, alfalfa...If you feel compelled to 
accuracy, research whether or not this was true for the time of the 
man's childhood.  My sense is that you can't go wrong with the 
simplest, most basic and wholesome whole wheat.

Amy Smereck