Measuring Flour

I learned to make breads and buns in the restaurant kitchens of Chinese friends, where scales, measuring cups, and measuring spoons were unknown. That is to say that I learned the look and feel of a properly made dough and knew from that how much water to add to the flour. I was taught that flour from different mills and in different seasons has a variable degree of absorbency and that I could never rely upon one precise formula if the heavens were to change or my location within them.