Chronicles of Gastronomy
Bakers Knead, Rise and Eat
By Avice Meehan
Peter Crippen slides baguettes onto a red-hot baking stone while Gloria Gourley dumps ice cubes into a hot pan to create the all-important steam during the March gathering of the Ministry of Bread in the Batelle Chapel kitchen.
One baker prepped her baguette dough in the cab of her pick-up truck while another set a timer to keep track of when turn the dough stashed under her office desk. Regardless of the approach taken, roughly a dozen people gathered on a March Thursday in the Batelle Chapel kitchen for an important ritual: finding the magic in flour, water, a pinch of salt.
Started three years ago by Felix Graham-Jones, the Ministry of Bread is still going strong and working its way around the globe from crumpets and steamed brown bread to Panettone and pita on the second Thursday of every month. Pasta is up next for April with the possibility of homemade tomato sauce from the garden of Marie-Christine Perry.
“Every month, I am blessed with new perspectives on baked goods,” said Graham-Jones, who originated the idea in consultation with Erik Olsen, pastor of the United Church of Christ. “It has been a total delight and the whole thing surprises me.”
Each month, the group identifies what they want to bake—no repeats allowed per Graham-Jones—and the then the fun begins. For March, Liane Burke was on tap to lead the baguette brigade, and most came with dough ready to be shaped for the final rise. Happily, Gloria Gourley went rogue with a different recipe, arriving with warm loaves and an ample supply of herbed butter. “I could hang out all day and eat bread,” said Peter Crippen, who also bakes bread for a living at the nearby Ice Box Café.
Burke demonstrated how she shapes a baguette, deftly turning the dough and stretching it to create to tension and then tucking the ends into themselves. The banter flew with the assembled bakers shared top tips about the merits of 5 grams versus 10 grams of salt, the merits or demerits of leaving hot bread on parchment paper, the value of mincing raisins for brown bread and what happens if dough sits too long and over proofs.
Throughout the evening, dough went into the ovens and bread came out. Loaves were sliced and assessed for flavor and texture, each baker standing back and seeing how each batch differed. And then it was KBRE until next time: that is knead, bake, rise and eat.
