September 14, 2021 - 1:36pm
Durum
I was listening to BBC World Service today and a news item came on saying that the US & Canadian durum harvests have been very poor this year.
The price of pasta is expected to hike by up to 50%.
Not mentioned on the radio, but presumably supplies of durum grain and flour to breadmakers may be impacted.
Lance
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Conversely, we have had a good time of it in Australia (at least compared to recent history).
Sadly, Australian durum production is normally 15X less than Canada's, so I don't think you will be able to fill the gap.
And since durum is a global commodity, I'm afraid your pasta prices will be going up too ;)
I guess we can all get the pasta machine out and make fresh egg pasta with soft wheat!
Lance
Glad I have 20 lb of durum berries. Now to perfect making usable pasta dough from home-milled durum. Need to buy a ravioli press and extruder.
Nope. What you need is a large, old wooden board of questionable provenance, a large rolling pin and, larger still: big French Grandma arms*.
Beyond the obvious ingredients, the most important component is also the largest of them all: an ingrained sense of familial care and devotion so deep that it is sadly unrecognised and criminally underappreciated by a horde of greedy grandchildren until it is - even more sadly - too late to properly acknowledge.
Oh, and just repeat that every other week for, what, a decade or so? Don't forget the sauce either, of course.
Sorry for derailing that.
* - these are the same as big Italian grandma arms, except for the fact that the grandma they are attached to yells at you in French.