Cornflakes
How are they made? What is in them, exactly? Is there something off of which they flake? Is there a batter? How does it get into that flake shape? Are there little flake pans? Is there a little machine that blops batter out into little flake forms to be toasted? These questions have troubled me since breakfast.
Well. According to Wikipedia, a most trusted source, "The idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they got instead was flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients."
This strikes me as insane.
a) why were they cooking wheat? besides the fact that "doctor" kellogg was, apparently, unconditionally opposed to sex. just against it in general, in all its forms, for no reason i can ascertain through the course of my admittedly cursory research. point being, he was certifiably deranged. and if the sex thing didn't convince you, it may interest you to know that kellogg was played by anthony freaking hopkins in a movie written by t.c. boyle. and scene.
b) why does cooked wheat stale so quickly? how long did these pressing matters take?
c) why would the next logical step when finding stale cooked wheat, budgetary crisis or no, be to form it into a long sheet? is stale wheat really more edible in sheet form?
d) still unclear on how dough -> flakes
e) when i see a stale wheat flake, i toast it?
anyway. life's really exciting at the moment.
Well. According to Wikipedia, a most trusted source, "The idea for corn flakes began by accident when Dr. Kellogg and his brother, Will Keith Kellogg, left some cooked wheat to sit while they attended to some pressing matters at the sanitarium. When they returned, they found that the wheat had gone stale, but being on a strict budget, they decided to continue to process it by forcing it through rollers, hoping to obtain long sheets of the dough. To their surprise, what they got instead was flakes, which they toasted and served to their patients."
This strikes me as insane.
a) why were they cooking wheat? besides the fact that "doctor" kellogg was, apparently, unconditionally opposed to sex. just against it in general, in all its forms, for no reason i can ascertain through the course of my admittedly cursory research. point being, he was certifiably deranged. and if the sex thing didn't convince you, it may interest you to know that kellogg was played by anthony freaking hopkins in a movie written by t.c. boyle. and scene.
b) why does cooked wheat stale so quickly? how long did these pressing matters take?
c) why would the next logical step when finding stale cooked wheat, budgetary crisis or no, be to form it into a long sheet? is stale wheat really more edible in sheet form?
d) still unclear on how dough -> flakes
e) when i see a stale wheat flake, i toast it?
anyway. life's really exciting at the moment.