I have to admit it, I am officially in love with breadmaking. During lockdown, it seemed like finding yeast was like finding gold (or as it turned out for a while like finding toilet paper). When I finally found my package of “gold”, that first time when I activated the yeast and unleashed a cascade of bubbles and froth that seemed to have its own life, it was love at first prove.
I am also officially a breadmaking purist (which is really another word for snob who has way too much time on their hands), and I knead the dough by hand with is no dough hook in sight. No electric bread maker or any other thing or shortcut that takes me away from the pure joy of feeling the dough and knowing the feeling of when the dough finally comes together and start to build structure. Then there is a joy of waiting for the dough to prove and watching it grow and grow through the magic of the yeast, then baking it to create the pure essence of life: Bread.
And as if the world of breadmaking could not get any more magical, I then discovered a whole new world of the no knead bread which is really all about waiting and waiting and waiting and then waiting some more. It is about trusting that the magic of the yeast will transform a mess of four, yeast and water into gorgeous elastic voluptuous dough that will bake into a crusty bread with a soft centre while filling the house with the smell of transformation.
Silvia Colloca is an Italian version of Nigella Lawson who showcases Italian recipes lathered in passion and enthusiasm. Her no knead bread recipe has just 4 ingredients and uses a cast iron pot to develop a sumptuous crust:
½ tsp. dried yeast 550 g strong plain or “00” flour 50 g semola (finely-ground semolina), plus extra for dusting 1-1½ tsp salt https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/overnight-bread-baked-cast-iron-pot
You simply mix the ingredients into a bowl, then you just wait for at least 12 to 24 hours, shape it into a ball and then you wait some more until it proves again. Then you bake the bread and you wait some more until the bread cools so that the crust can really form. And then finally you get to eat.
Seems like a lot of effort for something as simple as basic as a slice of bread but there is sweet taste of satisfaction as you bite into your creation that you can’t buy at Coles or the baker down the road.
Most recipes for bread are simply flour, water, yeast and a pinch of salt. The key seems to be to manipulate the ingredients only just enough, through folding and then waiting.
There is an insistence in breadmaking that I respect the process and that every step in that process is given reverence and attention. Breadmaking insists on not being rushed and that the ingredients must be given the blessing of time to be transformed.
The recipe for Ciabatta needs an overnight wait for the starter and then 4 more periods of stretching and folding and then proving for at least 40 minutes each time before you are finally rewarded with that heavenly Italian bread.
Sourdough that amazing French creation takes at least 24 hours from start to finish and needs for the dough to be folded six times (not kneaded) with rests in between.
Feed your sourdough starter to get it active, 4 — 8 hours
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Make levain, stand 12 hours (overnight)
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Mix levain + dough, stand 1 hour
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1st folding, prove 30 mins, 2nd folding, prove 30 mins, 3rd folding, prove 30 mins, 4th folding, prove 30 mins, 5th folding, prove 30 mins, 6th folding, prove 1 hour (or up to 4 hours)
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Cut into loaves, prove 1 — 2 hours
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Shape loaves, prove 2 — 3 hours
(OR prove 1 hour, then transfer to fridge for 12 — 14 hours)
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Bake at 240ºC for 20 mins, then 220ºC for 15 — 20 mins
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Cool (1 hour), slice, eat!
Is the magic of the yeast or is it the slow rhythm of the prove or it is just the joy of creating something so exquisitely textual which is so obsessive?
Or is it that it connects us to soul of our ancestors, and we are transported to a place of simplicity where we didn’t fight against time but flowed with it. A time when it was OK just to wait for life to unfold. And apart from some gentle nudging it was OK to not to rush through each stage of our lives always looking for the next and the next. A time when we simply respected the process until the time is just right.
Not sure. All I know is that my love affair with baking bread is one of my best yet. I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination but when I craft all day to create a loaf of bread, at least in my own mind….I actually feel like one!
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