When my large, loud family gets together, we eat. It wouldn’t be a family gathering without it. I’ve been thinking about that. Are we gluttons because we always, always have food when we’re together? I think if you could look into our dining room window and see us together, you wouldn’t think we were so different from you and yours. So, why is food such a necessity to our togetherness? It’s something I’ve noticed over the years. Food has a way of connecting people. There is something bonding about eating together. What do you do with a friend you haven’t seen in awhile? You go out to lunch. Don’t first dates always include dinner? Didn’t your mom let you pick your birthday meals? Isn’t there food at every event from a wedding to a funeral? When we are happiest, we eat together. When we are in the most pain, we eat together. It’s the thing that brings us together and helps us to feel loved and close.

I noticed this living in Spain. People who I got to know always seemed to want to feed me (And, trust me, all that white rice certainly added to my waistline). Even those who had almost nothing to give wouldn’t let me leave until I’d eaten something, even if it was just camomile tea with crackers and nutella. Some of the best meals of my life happened that way. I’ll never forget the first time I had papa a la huancaina or papa rellena made by a native Peruvian. And I still want to cry when I think of sitting down to real, no-shortcuts paella made by an elderly Spanish woman who could barely walk but who loved me. These are not small things. I also had some of the most disturbing meals  of my life in this way. And as I’m trying to figure out how to eat a pig’s ear with little hairs on it, and my sweet friend asks me if I like it, I tell her I do. Why would I say that when I feel like throwing up? Because, of course, what I’m really saying is “I love you, and I appreciate you sharing food you love with me.” And that is no small thing, either. So, you see, there’s something about food that even bridges cultural gaps. James Beard said, “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” No matter how we differ from each other, food is a language we all speak.

Ready to Share

So as I muse about breaking bread together and how life and relationships are enhanced by food, I want to share a literal breaking bread recipe – Einkorn Garlic Pull-Apart Bread. You’ve no doubt seen recipes like this before, but we’ve adapted it for einkorn and made it our own. Eating together can and should be both bonding and healthy, and I have no qualms about endorsing this recipe. It is a yeast bread but is made with sprouted einkorn flour. We have been perfecting the process of sprouting einkorn and decided to culminate the endeavor with this recipe. If you’re already sprouting einkorn berries, this recipe is perfect for you. If you haven’t gotten to that yet, stay tuned for our coming article about sprouting, and in the meantime, just use regular einkorn flour for this recipe. It will still work and be delicious, but you’ll miss out on some of the awesome benefits of using sprouted flour. We hope you enjoy making some bread that can literally be broken with those you love.