Oracle (27 page)

Wholemeal flour rots quickly in damp weather, much faster than dried grain, so most flour was cooked pretty soon after it was ground. Most women would spend part of their day grinding flour, often on their doorsteps in the sunlight, chatting with their daughters or their friends as they shared the task. The process is thousands of years old, and still takes place in parts of the world today. In 1978 I was invited to share the daily job of hand-grinding wheat in a stone quirn outside a farmhouse on the island of Crete.

Bread made with yeast was probably known back in Mycenaean times, as they traded with Egypt where it had been known for about 2000 years. But in the time of this book only the very wealthy ate wheat bread. The poor ate barley bread. Barley flour doesn’t rise well with yeast, so their bread was probably heavy, dry inside and with a hard crust, and a bit gritty too.

The Mycenaean palace may have had big open clay ovens in the Eygptian style. In these, a fire was lit and when the oven was hot, the coals shovelled out, and the bread sealed inside with a few handfuls of clay till it was cooked.

Everyday bread, however, was made in small loaves or cakes, just barley flour mixed with water, and some honey, salt or fruit if you were lucky. It was placed on a flat rock or a tile, put on the warm hearthstone by the fire, then covered with a ‘bread rock’ or ‘bread tile’, hollowed out to fit over the bread. Hot coals were shovelled onto the bread tile to cook the bread, though
if the fire was hot enough, and the hearthstone hot too, then the bread could cook more slowly just by the fire. Flatbreads were also cooked on the hot hearthstone, too.

1 cup barley flour (from a health food shop, or use a blender to pulverise ordinary barley)

1 cup water

2 tbsp honey

¹
/
₄
tsp salt

Mix the ingredients into a ball, then divide into thumb-sized pieces pressed out as flat as you can (the thinner the better). Cook on a hot stone by the fire (make sure the stone is dry all the way through, or it may explode and kill or blind you), or, better still, fry over a low heat on a non-stick frypan till just brown on one side, then turn it over with a spatula and brown the other side. Eat hot, with more honey.

Alternatively, if you have a campfire, take a clean (i.e., never-used and well-washed) ceramic flower pot. Oil both the inside of the pot and its saucer, so the bread won’t stick, then dust them with flour. Place the bread on the well-oiled saucer, cover it with the pot, then place it by the fire and shovel on coals, leaving the hole in the top of the flower pot free so that moist air can escape. NB: Wear gloves, boots, and long sleeves and trousers in case the coals roll onto you and burn you badly.

This ‘flower pot’ bread can be extremely good, though it’s much better when made from wheat flour and yeast. You can also bake bread from either wheat or barley in a flower pot in the oven. Again, be warned the pot will be very hot, and use gloves and take care not to burn yourself.

Cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk cheeses were eaten at this time—probably much more goat’s cheese than cow’s milk cheese, as cattle were more useful for pulling ploughs, and needed much more good grass to give milk. Goats, on the other hand, eat almost anything that grows.

1. Walking on a sword. This can be done, but takes years of practice—without a sharp sword—and a most experienced teacher. DO NOT TRY ANYTHING LIKE IT.
   
2. Being thrown from catcher to catcher down a flight of stairs. Like the acrobats on a flying trapeze, this too is possible—with talent, experience and lots of practice. And even then it’s dangerous. AGAIN, DON’T TRY IT.
   
3. Leaping onto a horse from behind—and all the rest of Euridice’s horse-riding tricks. Do not try these. You may end up dead or injured—and it’s not fair to the horse, either.
   
4. Angering the king—or whoever else wields power in our world.
   

We live in a democracy, governed by the rule of law. Theoretically we can criticise the powerful: politicians, business, multinational companies…

But power can be used against you too.

If you are reading this I hope you do have the courage, many times in your life, to stand up and give voice when the wrong things happen. But always be aware—as any ‘whistleblower’ will tell you—that telling a hidden truth almost always comes with a cost, to you and yours.

Truth is a sharp weapon. It can hurt those who use it, as well those it’s aimed at. As Thetis in this book would tell you, truth is rarely simple, and the burden of speaking it is often hard to bear.

Jackie French is a full-time writer and wombat negotiator. Jackie writes fiction and non-fiction for all ages, and has columns in the print media. Jackie is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors. She writes across all genres—from picture books, humour and history to science fiction.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Historical

Somewhere Around the Corner • Dancing with Ben Hall

Soldier on the Hill • Daughter of the Regiment

Hitler’s Daughter • Lady Dance • The White Ship

How the Finnegans Saved the Ship • Valley of Gold

Tom Appleby, Convict Boy

They Came on Viking Ships • Macbeth and Son

Pharaoh • The Goat who Sailed the World

The Dog who Loved a Queen • A Rose for the Anzac Boys

The Donkey who Carried the Wounded

The Horse who Bit a Bushranger

Fiction

Rain Stones • Walking the Boundaries • The Secret Beach

Summerland • Beyond the Boundaries

A Wombat Named Bosco • The Book of Unicorns

The Warrior – The Story of a Wombat

Tajore Arkle • Missing You, Love Sara

Dark Wind Blowing

Ride the Wild Wind: The Golden Pony and Other Stories

Non-fiction

Seasons of Content

How the Aliens from Alpha Centauri

Invaded My Maths Class and Turned Me into a Writer

How to Guzzle Your Garden • The Book of Challenges

Stamp, Stomp, Whomp •

The Fascinating History of Your Lunch

Big Burps, Bare Bums and Other Bad-Mannered Blunders

To the Moon and Back • Rocket Your Child into Reading

The Secret World of Wombats

How High Can a Kangaroo Hop?

Outlands Trilogy

In the Blood • Blood Moon • Flesh and Blood

School for Heroes

Lessons for a Werewolf Warrior

Dance of the Deadly Dinosaurs

Wacky Families Series

1. My Dog the Dinosaur • 2. My Mum the Pirate

3. My Dad the Dragon • 4. My Uncle Gus the Garden Gnome

5. My Uncle Wal the Werewolf • 6. My Gran the Gorilla

7. My Auntie Chook the Vampire Chicken

8. My Pa the Polar Bear

Phredde Series

1. A Phaery Named Phredde

2. Phredde and a Frog Named Bruce

3. Phredde and the Zombie Librarian

4. Phredde and the Temple of Gloom

5. Phredde and the Leopard-Skin Librarian

6. Phredde and the Purple Pyramid

7. Phredde and the Vampire Footy Team

8. Phredde and the Ghostly Underpants

Picture Books

Diary of a Wombat • Pete the Sheep

Josephine Wants to Dance

The Shaggy Gully Times • Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip

Baby Wombat’s Week • Queen Victoria’s Underpants