Artisan Breads
I've always been a fan of bread. I knew Modern Bread even before I knew anything about Branding. The healthier version my mom recommended? The regular bread without the Tutti-Fruity bits.
I've had bread with regular butter, jam, peanut/chocolate butter, spicy tomato salsa, and yummy paneer stuff. Not so much dinner food, but definitely a breakfast and lunch item. In fact a hot Tawa-ghee toasted bread with Tomato Hot and Sweet ketchup was a regular after school snack.
I was never a big fan of the bread and olive oil combination though, even with very sad unaged Balsamic Vinegar. The only reason I wolf it down at a restaurant is because I'm really, really hungry (and then I also get to doggy pack my favourite food and have it the next day. Yay!).
So what am I doing in a three month class learning everything about artisan breads? Actually enjoying it. I love the smell of yeast. Love to see it grow - double in volume and burst out of the bucket even. I love to touch dough. Sometimes soft, sometimes wet, sometimes elastic, and sometimes too darn elastic. Roll it into a baguette and it just comes back to being a small loaf. Sometimes it looks like a pregnant snake (I know!) or just a very hungry snake that's just had a giant rat for lunch. Oh so much fun!
What is actually fun is how our chef gets us to learn. To smell, to look for signs, to taste, to try, to poke, to stretch, to falter and to hopefully succeed at the end of the course. It's like being in a very fun play area.
In this class I'm thoroughly transported to a world I do not control. The dough rules. It tells us what to do when. And we watch. The mixer takes it's time to knead. The use-your-hands-to-knead technique is pretty much the 20 count fold and 20 minute wait process repeated six times. Then the resting process. Just to keep lifting the linen to look at a monster growing below is exciting. Then there's the pre-shaping, then the resting again before the actual shaping. Then there's the proofing. And finally the wait for the brown browns of a good dark crusty bread. No golden browns here. Did I mention the many days required for a proper fermentation even before we start with the breads?
At the end of three months if I do not learn how to make great breads, I'm happy to just have had a ton of fun and to have gained a lot of patience.
I've had bread with regular butter, jam, peanut/chocolate butter, spicy tomato salsa, and yummy paneer stuff. Not so much dinner food, but definitely a breakfast and lunch item. In fact a hot Tawa-ghee toasted bread with Tomato Hot and Sweet ketchup was a regular after school snack.
I was never a big fan of the bread and olive oil combination though, even with very sad unaged Balsamic Vinegar. The only reason I wolf it down at a restaurant is because I'm really, really hungry (and then I also get to doggy pack my favourite food and have it the next day. Yay!).
So what am I doing in a three month class learning everything about artisan breads? Actually enjoying it. I love the smell of yeast. Love to see it grow - double in volume and burst out of the bucket even. I love to touch dough. Sometimes soft, sometimes wet, sometimes elastic, and sometimes too darn elastic. Roll it into a baguette and it just comes back to being a small loaf. Sometimes it looks like a pregnant snake (I know!) or just a very hungry snake that's just had a giant rat for lunch. Oh so much fun!
What is actually fun is how our chef gets us to learn. To smell, to look for signs, to taste, to try, to poke, to stretch, to falter and to hopefully succeed at the end of the course. It's like being in a very fun play area.
In this class I'm thoroughly transported to a world I do not control. The dough rules. It tells us what to do when. And we watch. The mixer takes it's time to knead. The use-your-hands-to-knead technique is pretty much the 20 count fold and 20 minute wait process repeated six times. Then the resting process. Just to keep lifting the linen to look at a monster growing below is exciting. Then there's the pre-shaping, then the resting again before the actual shaping. Then there's the proofing. And finally the wait for the brown browns of a good dark crusty bread. No golden browns here. Did I mention the many days required for a proper fermentation even before we start with the breads?
At the end of three months if I do not learn how to make great breads, I'm happy to just have had a ton of fun and to have gained a lot of patience.
posted by DSK at 1:58 PM
5 Comments:
Earlier,appa always wanted me to make bread right from scratch, maybe u can make it on your next visit.Have fun kneading till then.
Awesome, looking fwd to great breads:)!
Glad u r having fun.
DSK!!! With your updates and blogs on pastries and breads, you will kill me! Just reading such stunning visual descriptions of bread is making me salivate!
@ Geeta: Step 1: Buy me a brand new convec oven.
@ Ravi: So are they special this time?
@ Vigyeta: Read, take a whiff and walk away. That's the secret!
have patience my dear.......
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