We are in the southern part of Cantabria, in the municipality of Valdeprado, a mountain area crossed by the Polla River that joins the Ebro in its upper section. There, one of the old flour mills of Cantabria is still active. The Arcera mill has the most important element that any hydraulic device needs: water. Víctor López and Concepción Ruiz, "Conce" as she is called by friends, are the owners of this unique building that the neighbors called "the factory". Among lush and varied vegetation, this family has everything they need for their self-sufficiency. The trees provide firewood that will be used for heating in the winter and for cooking. The pigs eat potatoes, cabbage and beets, all from the garden, of course. We cook it for them to eat it better, but their work pays off, of course. And then I add the flour, which is ground barley, as we have the mill, well, we do it. All good. Conce prepares the pasture with which she takes care of two large pigs daily, because as she says, the quality of the meat depends on what the animal eats. After their slaughter in the winter, they will obtain good hams, sausages and other meat products for the whole year. Normally, Conce also takes care of the animals. In addition to the two pigs, he has rabbits and chickens. Every day, despite the dangers they run, she takes her hens out to peck worms in the meadow and feed on the salvau that she prepares for them. It tastes better, and in the fields, and we already have to be very aware of them, the fox arrives right here, the other day the fox brings us the hens and the kite and that, but it shows a lot in the color of the yolks in the taste of the eggs, when the hen grazes. With this same food, made given, eggs are not like that. The chicken likes to search, it likes to run, sometimes it runs after a butterfly and eats it, and those things, of course. To the shower... Conce treats her animals with love, takes care of them, takes them for walks. Pigs appreciate going out to the meadow for a while every day to wallow in their favorite pond and remove the parasites that attach to their skin. The animals and the garden give these millers all the resources they need. Braiding the onions, which we later bring into the house and hang them up and they keep better. We sow these, we plant them, back in May and by dint of irrigation and that, we take them out and later, they are worth us for the whole year. At the foot of the mill building, Víctor has a small, well-watered garden where he plants his carrots, cabbage, onions, lettuce,... and other horticultural products, both for himself and for the animals. The potatoes are also lovingly grown in the old Arcera mill, where this family has spent their entire lives. His four children were born here, who today live outside the area for work reasons, but who often return to their origins. One of these for you and me, fried with an egg, will taste like donuts. This weekend one of the sons has come and Víctor takes advantage of his help to dismantle all the elements of the mill, since he has to break the stones. After removing the hopper and the dust cover, the miller collects all the flour that has remained between the two millstones. The winch is a simple contraption in the form of a crane. The iron crescent moon hangs from it, to which the mobile stone is hooked with two bolts. With the turn of the spindle, the stone is separated from the gear and can be moved to an improvised bench. There, set the stone with its inner face up. The tool that the miller needs to chop the stones is the pot of spades, whose fine and elongated cut adapts perfectly to the grooves on the surface. To chop the spokes, which are the widest channels, Victor uses the pick pot. With a continuous pounding he achieves the roughing of the channel and the center of the stone, which he will later go over with the spade pot. Depending on the amount of work that the mill does, the miller should go over the wheels every half year or so. The quality of the flour obtained during milling depends on the roughness of the radii and the striations of the stone. When the surfaces in contact are smoothed by friction, the grain is ground with greater difficulty. The crushing of the fixed stone or "bajera" is done in the same way as that of the mobile or countertop. Víctor has prepared the surface of the stones to work for another six months. To lift the more than 500 kilos that the milling stones usually weigh, obtained in the Brañosera quarry, the miller uses the winch again. Now, for the placement of the stone, they pay special attention to the adjustment of the pin axis, which is the one that transmits the movement to the countertop stone. We call this the bed. The stone bed we call it. And this one, when walking, throws it here so that it is stuffed so that it comes out when it is grinding. The dust cover or drum prevents the flour from being thrown uncontrollably out of the stones during grinding. With the assembly of the hopper, the mill has been prepared to grind the grain. Fortunately, with his skill, Victor hasn't shattered the stone during the dive. In case of rupture, the broken piece would have been replaced with dried figs. And then, to fill that hole it has, to avoid that, it was arranged with mashed figs, well mashed figs, you put them there, you made a shell on top of that paste and that didn't go away. If, for example, you put plaster, that would go away immediately. Before grinding the wheat to make bread, the miller passes it through the cleaner, which is a machine made up of a cylinder with holes, into which the grain falls in doses. A fan, located in the top drawer, produces the necessary air to separate dust and lighter dirt. The clean grain falls down the inclined surface and is collected in a sack. The cleaning of the grain was only done with the wheat, since the other cereals were destined for cattle feed. When the grain is already clean, the miller pours it into the hopper and releases the water that puts the entire grinding system into operation. The pressure of the water, which goes down piped, prints a rotation movement to the impeller or rodezno that, through a central axis, is transmitted to the top stone of the mill. The grain in the hopper falls in doses between the two stones, due to the vibration transmitted by the grooves of the shaft. When the wheat is between them, its tendency is to come out through the spokes, but the movement of the worktop crushes it into flour, which in turn is crumbled by the grooves. The ground flour is ejected from the end of the spokes, and is collected in the drawer. Until the hopper is emptied, the miller can do other work, but he must ensure that the stones do not run out of grain, because the flour would burn and the friction between them would wear out the surfaces. A small device with a bell alerts you when the grain left in the hopper is going to run out. Since Víctor does not need any more flour to make the bread he needs in the next few days, when the grain in the hopper runs out, he stops the grinding system. The flour is ready to make the bread, but first you have to pass it through the sieve or sieve to separate the bran. Víctor takes the flour to the sifter, which also works with the driving force of water. The product resulting from the milling falls into a large horizontal container, made up of a dense mesh, which only lets out the fine flour, separating the bran. The two products obtained are separated inside and go through augers to two different bags. The flour will be used to make bread and the bran as animal feed. This family of millers, as they have done all their lives, grind their own wheat every week to make the bread they will need for the whole week. Conce handles this task in the small oven, starting by heating the water she needs to prepare the dough. Moving the sieve over two slats or sifters, Conce sifts the flour over the trough and separates the bran to use as food for the pigs. Now we are going to introduce the yeast, which consists of a piece of dough that is left from the previous time, which is called "recent", and then, the day before making the bread, it must be made larger. I'm going to collect the water so that it breaks down the salt. To better distribute the salt throughout the dough, Conce leaves it in a container of hot water to dissolve. Well, to undo the yeast. Push hard, push hard. And to catch more. It's time to knead. The yeast is already in the trough and you have to mix it with the flour. While her daughter pours the hot water with the dissolved salt little by little, Conce mixes the flour, yeast, salt and water dough vigorously, giving it the precise point so that it does not stick. For this task, strength is needed in the arms, since the dough is very heavy and hard to work with until all the ingredients are well combined. Well, you can see that it is compact and you just have to work it like that. It is already compact, everything is well united, the salt, everything. This is called the masera. cover it up Because the saying goes that the mass and the child, in summer it is cold, and you have to dress it well. To sleep here, honey. Well, now we have to bless him: In the name of the father, of the son, of the Holy Spirit, Amen. A) Yes. To sleep here for three hours, you have to sleep. Now you will have to leave the dough for about three hours, well covered with the maseras, so that the yeast ferments. It is the same dough that will indicate the moment in which you can start making the breads. So that the dough does not spread. So that the dough does not spread, it sticks there, and then, to see the process when it is raised. When the dough is here, it has to be raised. Now it's down and then it'll be up. Conce lights the oven with the bushes and firewood provided by the surroundings of the mill. Well, the best of this is hawthorn, which is better for fire and is the best firewood for cooking, hawthorn. While the dough increases in size due to the action of the yeast, during this waiting time, the oven will reach the ideal temperature for baking. The oven has to be white. Now you turn it on and it stays completely black, and when it's hot the oven has to be completely white. To raise the temperature, Conce keeps adding firewood that produces a lot of flame until the interior of the vault turns white. When three hours have passed, the dough has already fermented, and since it is soft, it has stuck to the masera. Conce knows that this is not a bad thing since she has spent almost all her life making bread for the family. When I was 14 years old, I started making bread. Well, from my mother. There were many of us at home and we were 12, my father was the only son, we were nine siblings so we had to make a lot of bread. Many years we were at home twelve. The children, my parents and the paternal grandmother, who died at the age of 95. The amount of dough he takes for each loaf is measured by eye, since he does not need to give an exact weight to the pieces, as happens to bakers. Now I'm trimming it, it's called trimming, trimming the bread, and look, now I'm closing the bread, now I'm closing it. This is going to be the bottom of the bread, like this, this is the face, and it stays at the bottom and at the time of putting it in the oven it is turned over, at the time of putting it in the oven it is the bottom face that is on top, that's the one on the right. To wrap the bread. The mass and the child in summer is cold. The child must be clothed in summer and in everything. A) Yes. Although in each batch she usually makes 24 loaves, today she is not going to make that many, but she will prepare some "thin" ones and some pieces of traditional pastry. We are going to make the thin ones, they are some that are smeared with oil and put in the first ones. Well, let's do it, I'm going to make the loaves, some thin ones, I'm going to make an Easter cake and a sobao, which has butter, egg and sugar. With the last portion of dough, Conce is going to prepare an Easter donut filled with home-made ingredients, which is traditionally eaten as revenge for the abstinence days of Lent. Homemade, all homemade. The pigs have not eaten anything artificial. Collard greens, potatoes, spiced over here. Chorizo, loin and streak bacon. I put this... Well, now, covered too, like this. Well, here I am going to make the piece of dough that I leave for the next time it cooks. Now I keep it here in the clay pot, and the day before I make the bread again, make the yeast to bake it like I did yesterday, the day before it has to be done. This is the recent, for when it cooks another day. Well, sweep the oven with the chamariscos. So that the embers do not stick to the bread. The oven has now reached the ideal temperature for baking bread. Víctor "rescoda" the solero with a broom made with "chamariscos" and Conce, later, sweeps it with some damp rags. Well, to sweep the oven. The chamariscos are used for the biggest embers, and this, even better, for the caniza. And the saying goes that due to a badly swept oven there is never lost bread. I am going to put the luminary, to have the flame and it is seen to make the bread. And I cover the oven a little so that the bravery goes down. I leave it there while I prepare the thin ones. The first pieces that Víctor introduces in the oven are the "thin" ones. On the shovel, sprinkled with flour, Conce places the dough and adds a splash of oil on top. Then, all that remains is to wait and control the action of the heat, which will be very fast, since the "thin" ones require little cooking time because they contain little dough. The "thin" ones have been cooked and they must be removed from the oven quickly so that they do not lose the heat that is needed to bake the bread. To put the loaves. Without stopping the activity, this couple introduces the loaves in the oven, cutting a circle on the upper side with the knife. The process is identical to that of cooking the "thin", only the loaves will need more time in the oven. Within a few minutes, the pieces are cooked and must be removed from the oven. From the sound, Conce knows if the bread is ready. When you hit him like this he makes bread, bread... look. Pam, pam... The batch has gone well, as always. This self-sufficient couple will have bread for a few days and there will still be enough left over for their children to take to the capital As long as the Polla River continues to give them water to move the stones and irrigate their orchards, this couple will remain here, in this old mill where they Victor's grandfather was a servant. Today, the children, although they live in the city, are interested in conserving and maintaining the centenary Arcera mill, in which a whole family history has passed, which is theirs. I'm Eugenio Monesma, director and producer of the documentary you just saw. 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