Bread and Thoughts

On Friday the 16th of May I headed to the Balmoral Show to do a demo on bread intitled Bread & Thoughts a mixture of verses, poems and a demo on how to make sourdough flat breads.

The reason I mention the 16th of May is that it the patron saint of bakers day, a fitting day for such a demo.

The main theme was real bread, asking what is bread and what is not bread. To do this I enlisted the help of a supermarket loaf read out the contents of this factory product then smashed it to bits with a rolling pin. 

So next time you are in a supermarket have a look at what's in their bread and remember that bread is flour, water and salt at its purest and sometimes yeast. It should never have E numbers, acids, improvers or added proteins.

Bake your own or support your local Real Bread Bakery, why not do both! 

So to return to a calm I have an old Scotish verse for you to read.

Be gentle When you touch bread. Let it not lie Uncared for - unwanted. 

So often Bread is taken for granted.

 There is so much beauty In bread - Beauty of sun and soil Beauty of patient toil. 

Winds and rain Have caressed it. 

Christ so often blessed it. 

Be gentle When you touch bread.

I think it's fundamental that when you are baking bread or cooking anything that you understand the ingredients, know where they are grown, raised. 

Connect to the soil, which all life on earth depends.

 Grow your own food where you can even herbs and salads in a window box is a start. 

You must also be calm and in a positive mood when baking bread, the dough will know. 

 Sourdough recipe 

The starter - mix equal amounts of flour and water leave uncover until it starts to fizz then add more flour and water and cover with cloth in a cool place. Keep refreshing the starter with equal amounts of flour and water every other day until you have around 500g of starter now you are ready to bake.

Making the bread in 10 steps 

Strong white bread flour 500 grams 

Soft sea salt 10 grams

100 grams of starter 

Water 375 ml 

1. Weigh out flour and salt mix in bowl 

2. Measure water in jug and add starter to jug stir until start is well mixed with water 

3. Mix water and starter with flour until a light dough is formed 

4. Cover with a cloth and leave in a cool place for 8 hours 

5. Lightly flour a surface and gentle turn out dough from bowl at this stage you can either make 1 large loaf or 2 small ones. Either way you should fold the dough twice and shape into loaves. 

6. Leave in a cool place for around 8 hours 

7. When ready to bake ( the dough should spring back when you gentle press with your finger) place a baking stone or heavy frying pan with metal handle in the oven a set temp to its highest. 

8. When the oven is hot add a tray of water to the bottom.

9. Turn out bread onto floured baking stone slash the top of the loaf and spray with water place in oven and bake until golden, the base of the bread should have a nice hollow sound when tapped if not bake a little longer.

10. Leave to cool for at least an hour then enjoy