I tried out a new method for my 100% wholegrain spelt sourdough. It included a lot of water and some super-stretchy letter folding. Coming out of the oven, it looks and smells wonderful. I feel like a proud Mum.
I am totally in love with the recent podcast series ‘Cereal’ from @farmerama_radio. Yesterday I listened to episode 5, about sourdough and bakers who are championing local flour, community projects and real bread.
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Two threads from it are filling my thoughts right now:
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1 – Removing commodity from our food system at every level.
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This makes me want to ask, how can we get more people making sourdough at home? I think the *making* is the key, as when you start doing that you are naturally led to questions such as ‘where does my flour come from?’
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2 – Around 1/3 of bread in the UK ends up in the bin.
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This astounds me. I moved from the UK to Italy recently – a country that has an incredibly rich history in its ‘cucina povera’ of making stale bread taste a.m.a.z.i.n.g. in thousands of ways. I am reading a book by a local food author/historian which includes recipes like this right now. It might not solve all this problem, but we need to get people cooking with old bread.
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Can you tell how fired up I am?! I am so passionate about local food and there’s nowhere I feel that more than in my bread-making. If you’ve any thoughts, experiences or advice to share, I’d welcome it. I’d also really recommend listening to the Farmerama podcast.
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And, yes, almost forgot, I posted a picture here. This is today’s local spelt flour loaf. I am totally in love with not scoring my bread. Look at the beauty of that burst!
We usually travel into Florence to get our flour – wholegrain local spelt. Not being able to do that, we’re relying on the amazing ladies at the local health food store. They’ve only had semi-integrale (partially wholegrain) spelt recently, so my #sourdough loaves have been a bit whiter. I love not slashing them and seeing where they want to burst out 😉
It’s getting better! #sourdoughspeltwholegrainpizza We took the solid bottom shelf off our oven and replaced it with a grilled shelf. I maxed the oven and put the pizza stone in to heat for an hour. My hubby lifted the entire shelf out and I held my breath as I lifted the dough onto the stone and then topped it. Then we cooked it for 8 minutes. Delicious! .
Am I the only one in the world to use that hashtag? Might have to go and have a look 🙂
How much difference does love make to our food? If water changes structure when we speak to it kindly (as #emoto showed with his experiments), how much does bread change when every part of making it is cherished, from the starter to the cutting? These are the two #sourdough breads I make, with love, each week. On the left, 100% wholegrain spelt, on the right 100% wholegrain rye. Somehow they nourish me and my family more than just flour, water and salt should.
Sourdough ‘Pane Marocca’ adapted for my family. Three ingredients: chestnut flour, wholegrain spelt flour (instead of wheat) and sweet potato (instead of white potato). It is delicious!
My sourdough wholegrain spelt pizza cooked in a home-kitchen oven definitely improving. A 24 hour ferment seems to make the dough easier to handle. This one has Italian tomato paste, portobello mushrooms, raw fontina cheese, oregano, fresh tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.
