He removed the husks and then attempted to grind the grains by pounding with a pestle and mortar, followed by feeding the wheat through a meat grinder and eventually striking it with a hammer on a flagstone floor.
From finding flints and artefacts from Roman times scattered around the farm to playing in the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral, Laudan felt connected to the history around her.
Consequently, after time spent in Nigeria with the Voluntary Service Overseas at the age of 18, she returned to study geology at Bristol University.
Despite being rejected by several cautious publishers the book was awarded the 1997 Jane Grigson/ Julia Child prize of the International Association of Culinary Professionals.
During her time in Mexico, Laudan worked on the ambitious task of writing her next book Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History which was published in 2012.