bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 3 (2018), pp. 40–41
BREAD When I tell people I make my own bread, most get a look that says I’m either magical or crazy. They don’t realize that grocery stores and bakeries don’t have the monopoly on making a basic, simple combination of ingredients that has been crafted by regular people for thousands of years. Good, fresh bread is easily one of my favourite foods. It’s comforting and familiar, carrying a storied past. It has sparked riots and revolution and plays an important role in the course of culture and history.
THE STORY OF BREAD BEGINS thousands of years ago; it is believed that when humans learned how to grow and process grains they started to settle down into communities rather than maintaining a more transient existence.
Early bread was merely flour and water, baked into a cake over the fire. The Egyptians refined the process into a more recognizable product, due in part to the incorporation of wild yeast. You may not know it, but yeast is in the air all around us. It can be “harvested” with fruit juice or a water and flour blend left open on the countertop. What you end up getting is the beginnings of sourdough (wild yeast is sourer than the kind available commercially). Once this occurs, the wild yeast starter can be blended into flour and water and its growth tempered by salt. Rather than re-starting the process each day, the Egyptians figured out that saving a piece of today’s dough and mixing it into tomorrow’s flour and water would also do the trick. Today, that is considered an artisanal technique. Back then, it was just smart home economics.
At its simplest, yeast-risen bread has four ingredients: flour, yeast, salt and water. Flat breads (like tortillas) sometimes omit the yeast, but often have small amounts of chemical leaveners (baking soda, baking powder) or fat (lard, butter, oil) for rise or texture.
Canada, I’m very proud to say, produces some of the world’s best bread flour. Thanks to our often-despised cold weather, Canadian wheat flour tends to be higher in protein, which is ideal for making most types of bread. The gluten protein in the flour helps produce a matrix to support the lift the yeast creates before and during baking. Higher gluten (“hard”) flour is best for bread, while lower gluten (“soft”) flour is better-suited for tender products like biscuits, cakes and cookies.
Almost half of Canada’s flour comes from Saskatchewan, though it is produced across the country. Ifyou are interested in making a “Canadian loaf”, try to find some Red Fife wheat. This is a Canadian strain of wheat, usually ground fairly coarsely, that has been known to make artisanal bakers wax lyrical. I bake with it regularly and really like it. And wouldn’t that be a brilliant conversation piece for your dinner parties while posted abroad?
Finding a good loaf can be difficult. Many consider France as the pinnacle of delicious bread and there is no question that France takes its bread seriously. It has laws dating from 1905 that ensure there will be bakeries open each day of the week, designate permitted ingredients, provide naming conventions and decree how it is to be made [insert sigh of delight]. But despite its pedigree, it’s harder to find the good stuff than you might think, as the country has fallen victim to industrial production that is quick and efficient, but usually not delicious. It’s worthwhile — even in France — to seek out artisanal bakers, whose attention to good ingredients and traditional techniques often produce a more enjoyable loaf.
If you are someone who can’t digest gluten, all is not lost. There are huge numbers of blogs and websites dedicated to providing gluten free (GF) recipes to help you reclaim the foods you love. I have found a great rice flour-based substitute recipe (alittleinsantity.com) for bread, cinnamon roll and cookies. Have a look at www.KingArthurFlour.com (search recipes for “gluten free”) for even more ways to use it.
And if you still don’t believe you have what it takes to bake your own loaf, remember: you’re a Foreign Service Officer. You’ve handled much tougher assignments. Give it a try once and you may find you have a satisfying and practical new hobby.
Recipe // Recette: My Nanny’s Molasses Bread
I’m just going to say it: making bread is not rocket surgery. Truly — I’ve been doing it since the age of 12. It involves learning a few techniques and waiting a bit. That’s it. This recipe makes a fantastic grilled cheese and is wonderful buttered, alongside baked beans.
Ingredients
2 %cups warm water
¥cup =— molasses
1tbsp salt
+ 1tbsp = butter
; 6cups I bread (preferred)
or all-purpose flour
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Method
. Pour 2 cups of warm water over the
Shredded Wheat into the bowl you will use to mix the bread in. Add the molasses, salt
and butter.
. When the water is just lukewarm to the
touch, add the salt, yeast and flour. If using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment and turn the mixer to low. If using your hands, start mixing. If the dough is too dry after a minute or two, add up to % cup of water slowly; you might not need it, depending on the weather and the flour you use. Knead until the dough is soft and silky, but not sticky. Feel free to bash it against the counter a few times if you’ve had a hard
day. It helps develop the gluten.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic (to keep the moisture in) and then a dish towel (to keep the heat in). Let rise until doubled, about 1.5-2 hours. Setting a timer on your oven or device is a good reminder when to check back. Go live your life. Take the kids to sports practice. Buy groceries. Drink a glass of wine.
Line two 9”x5” glass (preferred) or metal bread pans with parchment paper or grease them well. Punch down the dough and divide in two. Stretch each piece into a large rectangle, fold the rectangle into three like a letter. Starting at one end, roll it up to make a short, fat log. Place the loaves in the bread pans and cover with plastic. Let rise again until dough is about 1” over the rim of the pan, about an hour. Watch Netflix or read the paper.
Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes, turning the bread at the halfway point (for even browning). Removing the bread from the pan and parchment for the last 10 minutes of baking, if you used parchment paper. This helps crisp up the crust — not an issue
if you chose to grease the pan.
6. Remove the bread from pans. Cool on wire racks if you intend to slice or just dig in if you prefer to rip it into pieces (very soul satisfying).
… Best enjoyed fresh, but can be sliced and
frozen, wrapped first in foil, then a plastic bag.
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 3 (2018), pp. 40–41. Read the rest of this issue →
