There are a lot of cooks in my family. My kung fu teacher once told me that, being an Italian, there're only two kind of things that we really do: lay bricks, or cook. She was only kidding. Still, I appreciated the sentiment.
My mother and her sisters' promised to never marry any men that cooked, growing up around them their entire lives. Ironically, my mother did, and so did her sister. The later having a successful restaurant today. When I talk to my uncle, and his brother (both restaurant owners), they advize me not to cook. It's a tough life, and it takes a lot of work (I've said it before). My uncle says go into computers, or become an architect. There's some truth behind that. Not in computers. Regardless, I appreciate the advice; but I appreciate them and their cooking even more. I think food, in the right context, not only does a good job of filling your stomach, but your spirit as well. Not everyone can visit people they love and harass them for a cappuccino and then feel all is right with the world. We are a select few. And we're very lucky.
Baking, I'm told, is like an art and a precise science. I think, in this world, we definitely need more almalgamations of the two.
So, being the grandson of a hard-working, immigrant baker, I decided to have my own go at it.
Breads are easy. Assuming you have the patience and the know how; because depending on the bread, it can take a while (days even).
For me, the process of bread making is a therapeutic one. It's pensive, it requires mindfulness, swift blows and concentration. Like Kung fu. Like making tea- without the swift blows, unless of course you're practicing your buddha palm technique while waiting for the water to boil.
I heard bakers liken bread making to sculpting. In fact, I've heard of some bakers who were sculpters turned bakers. I think there are some parallels there. Fresh yeast itself has the visage of a slab of wet clay, and at times, can feel like one. There's a mound of dough, and a slab of stone; a slab of dough, and a mound of stone. The true artwork dwells within, and only the artist can release it. And whether eaten or not, The psyche is more often than not appeased by the end.
I won't offer you a recipe for the bread I baked, because recipes are everywhere. I say this because I want you to look. I encourage you to look. However, what I will do is give you tips I feel are more valuable than a generic recipe for British Farl (that's a kind of bread).
There are three kinds of yeast available today: fresh compressed yeast, instant yeast, and dry active yeast.
Fresh compressed yeast is what bakeries often use. If you would like to do things the 'professional' way, go to a local bakery and ask if they'll sell you some. Grocery stores often sell it in the form of a small cake in the freezer section. I'm lucky enough to live infront a German bakery, so I can just walk down my creepy back alley and buy some from them whenever I need it. However, it's expensive in regard to other yeasts. Also, it has a strong flavour, which more often than not carries over to the final product of the bread. I once made a baguette for a coworker from France, who claimed it wasn't French enough, mainly due to the sour flavour, which, of course, was due to the pungence of the yeast.
Instant yeast is dry yeast you can immediately add to flour and bake with. I recommend this for anyone starting to bake.
Dry active yeast is probably what we all come across the most often. This is the kind of yeast you have to add water and sugar to and wait for until it froths before you can use it. It can take some time.
Now this is important: instant and dry active yeasts are stronger in retrospect to fresh yeast, but lack flavour because they're dried. If a recipe calls for fresh yeast, and you have one of the others, use 25% less.
Also, never mix salt with yeast. Leave them on opposite ends of any baking mixture; salt kills yeast.
All breads take flour. But, flour, although the meat of the bread itself, can be regarded as filler. You can always substitute a good portion of it for some other ingredient, like grain, or powdered milk (which adds for some amazing texture). It is always important when baking, unlike cooking, that you pay attention to ratios. But, you already knew that.
My oven is different from your oven. Ovens always vary. Know this, and if you have a light, turn it on and watch the bread from the outside in, but NEVER open the oven while bread bakes, unless you want uneven baking.
I'm sure these same techniques can be carried over to sculpting. Y'know, when you pretend you're Pygmalion and pretend your bread's like Galatea, and then she's brought to life, and you eat her. Very pagan. Very Greek. I don't know why the myth never turned out like that. All he did was end up marrying her. Poor sap.
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