LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
[Letters of the length of one of our leading paragraphs are often more read, and therefore more effective, than those which fill treble the space.] HOW TO USE MALT FOR FOOD.
ITo THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—" John Barleycorn " says in your issue of March lith that " the Prime Minister's view was that for malt already made nothing could be done but to use it for beer." I write to say that malt can be turned into most wholesome flour by simply sterilizing it. Many brewers have all the apparatus necessary for doing this in bulk, the cost of which would be small, and any one can try for himself the effect of sterilization as follows:— Heat the malt in a saucepan held over the fire and kept moving so that the malt cannot burn. When it is thoroughly heated and a little darker in colour, transfer to a water bath and keep it at a temperature of boiling water for half an hour. When cool, grind and sift. Make a loaf with flour containing one-eighth part of this sterilized malt, and the result will be a good appetizing bread, having the aroma and taste of good farmhouse bread. If another loaf is made with flour containing one-eighth part of unsterilized malt, the inside will be found to be a sticky, unwholesome mass. It has been estimated that the present stock of malt is sufficient to support the whole country for several weeks, and at this present time of scarcity to turn this into beer, instead of into good flour, would be an unpardonable blunder. You can judge by the sample sent if this is any exaggeration.—I am, Sir, he., as taste goes, excellent, and though we do not profess to be experts, we have little doubt that the facts stated and conclusions drawn by our correspondent are correct. In a word, if the Government were not wanting in courage, they could even now and at the eleventh hour save a month's food for the nation. if they fail to do so, and the pinch becomes as bad as they expect it to become, what answer will they give the people when they ask: " What has become of our barley? "—ED. Spectator.]
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