I don’t have a sweet tooth. I’d rather have cheese than dessert; anything savoury is my go-to. But I do enjoy baking and cooking, and I love bread. Good bread. Quality bread.
Excellent bread is abundant in France. I have my favourite boulangeries that make dense, multi-grain, whole-grain sourdough loaves. Some have nuts and fruit, some are plain. All are delicious, hearty, and chewy. And not made with yeast, only levain, a sourdough starter.
So I was surprised to hear that my friend Sarah, who lives in Provence, makes her own bread. I mean, why bother when there are so many great options at your fingertips? But now, I am eternally grateful for her sharing her gorgeous, healthy starter with me.
I brought back both dry and fresh starters to Canada. The dried starter came back beautifully within a couple of days, so now I am delighted to have an option for storing it if I can’t continue to take care of an active starter.
There are very few bakers in my area who make a true sourdough loaf. Many use some sourdough but add yeast for a quick rise. This bread is always less substantial and is way too fluffy for my liking. One bakery makes its sourdough with an outrageously tough crust and huge holes. I cut the roof of my mouth every time, and it’s more crust than anything else. No thank you.
So I thought it was time to make a proper loaf, not just the focaccia I was honing. I was looking for quality bread flour and thought there must be some great local mills, as we grow plenty of wheat in Canada. Lo and behold, there are lots! I’ve loaded up on rye, red fife, and high-protein bread flour and have been trying several different approaches: hand-kneaded, no-knead, machine-kneaded, as I continue the journey of perfecting my loaf. I’m having a blast in the process, learning, and experimenting.
I was never good at science as a student, nor all that interested in it. I was into art, theatre, languages, all the fun subjects. But, as I’ve matured, I have realized how important science is, and how lucky we are to have many talented and intelligent people in the world who understand so much more than I ever could. So I feel a bit like the lovely character in Lessons in Chemistry, exploring and enjoying the chemistry going on in my sourdough. It’s like the astronaut in The Martian said, “I’m going to science the shit out of it!”. Who knew science could be this deliciously fun?
