Breads and Grains

Bread is an object of reverence in Georgia, where until recently most families were close enough to the land to appreciate the labors of growing, harvesting, threshing, and milling wheat. Many rituals grew up around the storage of grain and the preparation of bread. In highland households, wheat flour was kept in a special chest, which only the eldest woman in the family was allowed to open. As added precaution, a piece of charcoal was frequently buried in the flour to keep out the devil. So respected was bread that even the dough left in the kneading trough and on the baker’s hands was meticulously scraped clean and formed into a small loaf that was handled with particular care.