Gluten! Gluten, the protein structure in wheat flour that makes it possible for a pizzaiolo to toss pizza dough into the air in order to stretch it; the fine balloon-like network of bubbles that makes white wheat bread the bread with the biggest potential air bubbles baked into a finished loaf. Gluten can be developed … Continue reading Gluten!
Category: Bread
Stencil on Bread
I am interested in the surfaces of breads. When we think back on the history of bread, how often is surface decoration part of one’s vision? I bought this stencil at a stationary store. This is an experiment I made when writing an article for Mother Earth News about stencilling breads. Shouldn’t we imagine stencilled … Continue reading Stencil on Bread
Salt Rising Bread Recipes and Instructions
Jenny Bardwell, Guest Speaker Bread History Seminar #20 February 18, 2021 9am Pacific: 6pm Belgium: 9:30pm Bangalore SALT RISING BREAD (made with potatoes + cornmeal or garbanzo) Yield: 2 loaves STARTER: Slice 2-3 potatoes (with the peel) into a quart mason jar. Add 1 tablespoon of cornmeal, 1 tablespoon of garbanzo flour (optional), and … Continue reading Salt Rising Bread Recipes and Instructions
Bread Fanny Pack
Besides being pretty certain this detail is from a painting in Madrid, I have no idea what painting it is. If any of you recognize it, please make a note in the comments! Thank you! This detail caught my eye today because I love the woman with the child in tow freeing up her hands … Continue reading Bread Fanny Pack
Luxor. 2019.
Winter. This lovely woman you see here is showing me how she makes bread in her backyard oven. A friend is pointing to the aluminum pots baking in the embers underneath the oven floor. This type of bread oven is fired from below. There is a large hole in the floor through which flames rise … Continue reading Luxor. 2019.
Recipes: Prison and Slave Breads for William Rubel Thursday Bread History Seminar #19.
These recipes were first published for people attending my Thursday Bread History Seminar on prison and slave breads on February 4, 2020. There is no cookbook where you can look up how to make breads for prisoners, or for the enslaved. Prison and slave breads are really and truly written in the hearts of jailers … Continue reading Recipes: Prison and Slave Breads for William Rubel Thursday Bread History Seminar #19.
Page of Useful Research Links
I am just starting work on this page -- late January 2021. My bookmarks could be used to define the meaning of chaos. I use two browsers so even if my bookmarks were well organized on either browser, and they are not well organized on either, it would be hard to find what I want. … Continue reading Page of Useful Research Links
Pane Carasau
Sardinia. 2005. Pane Carasau. This is the first baking. The dough, a yeasted dough made from semolina, is rolled out using a sheeter. The baker, a female pensionnaire. While production is in a family house, the oven in the living room, there is enough production to provide for a commercial mixer and sheeter. Note how … Continue reading Pane Carasau
Ship’s Biscuit Recipes and Instructions
Jeff Pavlik, Guest Speaker Bread History Seminar #18 January 21, 2021 9am Pacific: 6pm Belgium: 9:30pm Bangalore These are various ways to replicate the basic ship’s biscuit of the eighteenth century using readily available ingredients. The final amount of dough made using these recipes will equal a ration of one pound of biscuits after they … Continue reading Ship’s Biscuit Recipes and Instructions
Using a Bread Stamp from Uzbekistan
I made this cracker with an Uzbek bread stamp. Etsy is where I buy stamps of this kind. They are used to keep flat breads from fully rising. If you don’t prick flatbreads prior to baking, then they will puff up into a ball — desirable in chapati and pita — not desirable for other … Continue reading Using a Bread Stamp from Uzbekistan
