Beebox

Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts Whenever I'm visiting my hometown Hamburg, I check out new bakeries. Two years ago I noticed people lining up in front of Bäckerei Jochen Gaues, in Eppendorf quarter, where my Mom lives around the corner. Taking this as a good omen, I joined the waiting line. The shelves full of loaves and rolls looked promising, all with fairly dark crusts - boldly baked, as Ken Forkish ("Flour, Water, Salt and Yeast') would call it. A paradise for crust lovers! Like Forkish, Jochen Gaues is a purist baker, his breads are made with flour, water, salt and yeast. No dough enhancers, no preservatives, no artificial flavoring. Only sourdough and passion for his craft. And he shared his recipes in a beautiful baking book, too. His sunflower seed rolls are hearty, crusty and delicious. (I tweaked the recipe a bit, of course, as I always do). The crumb is rather light and more airy than chewy. You can enjoy them with cold cuts, German meat sala...

Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts Before my friend " The Rye Baker " Stanley Ginsberg went on his mission promoting European rye breads to American bakers, he had published another remarkable baking book: " Inside the Jewish Bakery - Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking". I was among his test bakers. One of my test recipes was the Polish Potato Bread - Poylner Kartoffelbroyt - with its unusually high potato content an interesting recipe, but, as I soon realized, somewhat challenging in its preparation. My first Post-It notes about the recipe I had problems gauging the necessary water amount, first the dough seemed too dry, then turned sticky from the potatoes. Not only that: Stanley had warned of dire consequences if you tried taming the gooey dough with more flour - it would turn into a brick! Somewhat intimidated, I jotted down on my note pad: " No shaping possible ". In the end, somehow, I managed to get the sticky ...