Saracen

On the backside of town, an archeological dig has been started.  Two areas are being uncovered; one consists of the ruins of two Roman bakeries and a silo with the remains of grain still in it.  Looking at the ruins, I can just imagine the taste of the fresh, oven-baked bread.  Too bad I can’t eat the wheat likely used in the breads they made.

Banana Bread made with saracen & barley flour

Most people who can’t eat wheat are celiacs; they can’t eat anything that contains gluten.  Me?  I’m just intolerant to wheat but I pick up many tricks from celiac recipes and, now, Saracen is a regular part of my diet.

Saracen, also known as Buckwheat, has a long history.  Saracen pollen has been discovered in 4000 year old acheological digs in Asia.  In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, it was the poor man’s wheat in both the US and in Europe until wheat flour became affordable for the average household.  Note that Saracen is not a cereal, as is flour, but rather a psuedocereal and not related to wheat at all.

In Europe, Saracen is mostly associated with Breton crepes and gallettes.  In the US, it provokes images of homemade southern breakfasts pancakes on a cold winter’s morning. 

Although still a common ingredient in Breton cuisine, Saracen is mostly considered a specialty foodstuff and not used in day-to-day cooking.  Now, it has re-invented itself as a gluten-free option for celiacs; it’s nutty flavor enhancing sweet breads, crepes and pancakes.

Saracen (Buckwheat) Banana Bread recipe

Dry Ingredients

1 ¼ cups Saracen (Buckwheat) flour

½ cups white corn flour

2/3 cups sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

Liquid Ingredients

¼ cups melted butter

1 egg

Other Ingredients

2 over-ripe bananas

1 cup brown sugar

Mix the liquid ingredients with the dry ingredients then mash the over-ripe bananas into the mix.

Pour the ½ the mix into a greased loaf pan and pour a ½ a cup of brown sugar over the mix.  Finish pouring the rest of the mix in and cover the top with the rest of the brown sugar.

Bake for approximately 40 minutes at medium heat.


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The A-3, The Hottest Amusement Park in Madrid

Why isn’t the A-3 a toll road? It is more than a means of getting from Madrid to Valencia; it is an amusement park. So why not charge an entrance fee? .


Driving down the A-3 this morning, I saw the electronic billboards flash warnings about a speed limit control campaign. I started chuckling as I drove past the third one without having seen a single speed limit sign.

Aside from the Clowns who typed out the message that morning for the electronic billboards, there are Roller Coasters, Merry-Go-Rounds and Bumper Cars. I can enjoy the park every morning if I like. The provincial government is missing out on a big revenue source.

Where to find the rides:
Roller coasters. All the off ramps from the highway which branch off again to other highways, towns or re-enter the main highway. What makes these roller coasters so thrilling is that the exit sign for the town or highway you are looking for will likely be posted on the off-ramp after the exit and not before. My favorite? Try exiting onto the M-45 and try to make it to the M-50.

Merry-Go-Rounds. All the round-a-bouts leading to and from the highway are so skillfully planned you can get motion sick from the ride. Small signs are posted at each of the round-a-bout exits with short messages such as “Madrid, M30, M40, Valencia” and “Santa Eugenia, Centro Comercial, M-40”. Wait, wasn’t the M-40 mentioned twice? And which way are the other two highways, the M-45 & M-50? Let’s drive around again. My favorite? Exit 11 and, then, try to find IKEA.

Bumper cars. This is one of the best rides on the entire A-3. I like it mostly because of the adrenalin factor. Bumper cars are played on the entrance and exit ramps. What typically happens is that an exit sign (with an arrow) indicates that your exit is the next one. It is hung over a lane with a dotted white line, obviously an exit lane. But - NO - it is the end of an entry lane! Bump the car to the left to get back in the travel lane quickly before your lane ends. My favorite? Exit 6 driving towards Valencia.

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Venus Hill

I bought a house in a small town in Spain. It needed, and still needs, plenty of  work and redecorating but it had a good roof on it, all the plumbing & appliances worked and I could afford it.

Funny thing about small towns is that many times your new, potential neighbors are not forthcoming with all the pertinent information about the house you want to purchase no matter how much they like you or how much you insist.

This is understandable, really.

They liked the lady that lived here, knew she was getting older and didn't want to ruin her sale. Of course, they wouldn't have but I would have asked for a lower sale price had I known that the enormous pine tree out front had been loose at the roots a few years before, or about the dampness in the garage (Spain had experienced at least 5 years of drought - now over - before I purchased) or the strange plumbing adjustments made by the owner's by-then-deceased tailor/handyman husband. Shame on me for not inspecting the house better.

However, the most pertinent fact remained elusive for about a year after the purchase; my house was built on the site of the ruins of a Roman Temple of Venus.

I discovered this fact by accident. I was having a beer at a local bar when I stopped to look at the photographs hung on the wall. They were snapshots of different events in town over the past 80 years or so; a town fair, a mayor with a celebrity, the new mill and an archeological dig. I asked the bar owner about the dig photo. Who was the man in the foreground? What was he holding? and then I realized that he was standing where my house now stands!

Some still refer to this hill as Venus Hill. From here there is a panoramic view of the river, cliffs and fertile plains of the Jarama river. A nice view for Venus.

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