Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

[SCChris]

For your interest.

Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rFijZwp1qU

Chris

[GianniFocaccia]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

Excellent video, Chris. To bake breads made of ancient grains must be a way to travel back in time.

[TropicalCoasting]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

Get into some Pharaoh Flour.
Reading the blurb high in protein low in fructose so may be suitable for people who think they are allergic to gluten but are just allergic to the wheat fructans.
Pharaoh Flour Organic 25kg

[SCChris]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

We, most areas worldwide, have seen a increasingly rapid re-discovery of grain varietals in the last 20 or so. In my opinion this is a good thing, it alters the belief that wheat is always a commodity and has set properties, and altering this belief opens the door for other foods. Most people , in North America, don't have any idea that wheat is anything but a single specific grain. Again in my opinion, we are too far removed from our food sources and have little knowledge about how that, whatever we're eating, got there and came from. Hail to the small artisan farmer, miller and baker!

Chris

PS, John how your baking going?

[Greenman]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

There are multiple benefits from 'rediscovering' ancient varieties and providing alternatives to monoculture. (particularly a GM monoculture). The small artisan farmer will likely farm organically and grow his crops in healthy soil that contains the micro-nutrients that are missing from the intensively farmed soils that are used to hold the plant up while N.P.K. is poured into them.

Outcome is a nutritious product for the artisan miller to carefully mill to retain those qualities for the artisan baker to weave his magic without throwing the whole chemistry set at it.

Then we will be able to get something nutritious on our table and a whole bunch of people will probably discover that they had an allergy to the processing and manufacturing methods rather than to the contents of the food.

That is my take on it anyway. Trouble is that if this kind of thing works then a lot of chemical companies and their plant breeding subsidiaries and a heap of people in the 'sickness' business might find themselves pulling weeds in an organic crop somewhere. Be a nice change from having them spray stuff on our food that smells like anything but salad dressing!

[pyg]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

This is Chad Robertson, one of my culinary heroes, and the cover photo of the Scott/Wing The Bread Builders (although Scott's oven is not a great design which you can figure out by reading this forum). Anyway Chad is[was] a WFO pioneer and makes amazing bread. Beautiful dough handling in mid clip.

[deejayoh]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

OK, so I just found this thread - and I have to agree that watching him do that stretch and fold was pretty eye opening.

I found this video which does a bit more explaining on the technique:

http://youtu.be/cIIjV6s-0cA

[Bren]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

Love it! I got to get that book. Tartine bread...

[SableSprings]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

Recently I picked up a copy of In Search of the Perfect Loaf by Samuel Fromartz, 2014 (ISBN 978-0-670-02561-9) and highly recommend it. Don't expect a lot of "new" bread formulas - there are only six - but do expect a very interesting read that addresses the resurgence of old grain varieties and resulting modifications/improvements in artisan baking/techniques. Excellent sections on the return to quality baguettes in France and the how & why of working with sourdough cultures-as well as some really good explanations of what's involved in producing quality rye breads.

I've got a lot of books filled with various & delicious bread formulas, but this is a book that fills in many of the gaps involving why certain methods work well. I was impressed at how well Fromartz introduced many other baker's books (Tartine & Chad Robertson included) and then noted their contributions to creating a "perfect loaf" by the home baker. It's a fun read for anyone who's been following and working with the resurrection of quality bread in the home & commercial kitchen.

[pyg]

Re: Tartine Bakery: New Bread, Ancient Grains

Nice! I will definitely check that out also being a fan of Hamelman and Mcgee. I'm really curious about his take on Hamelman as I think he addresses rye very accessibly and scientifically.