How it started
If you haven’t seen the movie, Chef, which was created by John Favreau, add it to your watch list. He is the main character and was trained by a professional chef, Roy Choy, for the movie. He then created a netflix series, The Chef Show, where he goes to different famous eating establishments, talks and cooks with the original creators. In some episodes, he has friends over to his own kitchen and they talk and cook. It is as simple as it sounds but I found his passion for learning so inspiring. I thought if he could do it, so could I. Why not try?
I had already been interested in making my own bread so one episode in particular stuck out to me. Tartine. Tartine is a large bakery in california and their craft is unlike anything I had ever seen before. Luckily, the owner and creator had written several books already which I quickly purchased along with Bread Baking for Beginners by Bonnie O’hara. I found King Arthur to be one of the best resources for a starting place.
Below was the first loaf I ever baked. The rustic sourdough bread which uses yeast and sourdough starter to leaven. The moment I tasted this bread, I was hooked. Not only the smell of it baking but the taste was so fresh and the texture was amazing. But, i didn’t know why it didn’t look like the bread I saw from Tartine. (which I laugh about as I write this because I know why now and its so self explanatory).
I will also note that Eric was just as excited as I was about my bread baking interests!
How it grew
Throughout my research people would talk about the perfect texture, taste, crumb (the inside hole structure of the loaf), color, caramelization, flours, gluten, etc. I really dug deep into the science behind naturally leavened sourdough. A lot of people ask me why it takes me so long because when I say I bake bread they are thinking breads that use instant yeast. To me, the amazing thing about sourdough bread is that it is NATURALLY LEAVENED through daily care of a sourdough starter. Using the natural bacteria in flour, bacteria present on surfaces, mixed with water, over time, ferments to produce gases strong enough to leaven bread. Each person’s bread will taste different based on their specific bacteria! I found so many people out there who were also trying to perfect the same thing I wanted to and that inspired me to master it.
Below is my first ever naturally leavened sourdough bread. I used King Arthur recipe and was absolutely thrilled!!! eric and I had so much fun waiting to see how they looked. These loaves are noticeably darker in color than the previous and very plump from the happy starter. The holes on the inside were a real treat too. But, I wasn’t ready to say I had perfected the craft. At this point I could follow a recipe and was learning more but I didn’t quite know it like the back of my hand yet. Like why were the holes uneven on the inside? Or is it bad for the top parts to burn a little?
THEN we moved...
I would also mention that we were building a house and about to move for the first time during this time. With naturally leavened sourdough, it takes a couple days to plan for baking day so it was hard to time things correctly. When we first moved in I was craving bread but honestly didn’t have the mental capacity to go all in so I went looking for an overnight recipe. One that I could mix everything all at once and then bake. See pictures below. What I like about this recipe was that it used a lot of whole wheat flour so I got some good fiber content out of these. The only thing I didn’t like was the overall taste. Because it was fermented overnight and then baked, the taste was a little more sour than I preferred but was delicious overall.
Time -Where the bread journal began
My goal was a crispy dark brown crust with a soft, sweet, slightly sour inside with a perfectly even crumb (holes on the inside of the loaf). Not as easy to achieve as you think. With moving, unpacking, establishing a new routine it was hard to find time to bake. I realized if I was going to do it for real I needed to write things down so I started a baking journal. Tartine and King Arthur were the best resources for fully understanding the science. I will never forget the first time I baked THE PERFECT LOAF. I had been taking polaroid pictures of my bakes for my journal. I will insert the page from THE DAY. I was so happy! 🙂 Yes, I am wearing a shirt that says “you’re my lobster” from friends…. The rest of the post is pictures. I am mainly making this post to document for myself or give someone else some inspiration but feel free to ask my anything about it.
The fun part
Once I knew I could bake the perfect loaf, my creativity could finally come in. I tried different shapes and even different ways to bake. My latest interest is adding color!! I think I have followed 30 new bread instagram accounts within the last couple months and I am finding so much inspiration from other bakers. Hopefully I will share more on social media in real time so my blog posts aren’t 200 pages long. haha. Maybe!
