Beebox

Hier geht's zur deutschen Version dieses Posts Two weeks ago, I flew to Columbus/Ohio, to visit my daughter. In my carry-on I had a freezer bag with sourdough, hoping it wouldn't cause suspicion and confiscation at the airport security. Valerie had asked me to show her and her co-workers at " Two Caterers ", how to bake a high hydration bread à la Chad Robertson of Tartine fame. "Tartine"-breads are known for their "holyness", and their excellent taste. They are great favorites of mine, and I bake them in all possible variations ( Brewer's Bread , Acorn Levain ) The next day I walked to a nearby "Giant Eagle"-supermarket to look for ingredients. I wanted to bake a porridge bread (the grain mush makes it especially moist). And it should have nuts in it. The fancy salad bowl was barely big enough for mixing the flours The different flours I needed were easy to find, and, also, rolled oats for the porridge. For the nuts I opted for a...

When I first learned of genius entrepreneur Nathan Myhrvold's endeavor to create THE Ultimate Work on Bread Baking, pouring thousands of dollars in his state-of-the-art scientific laboratory plus baking station, I was rather skeptical. After Modernist Cuisine now molecular baking? But a presentation last summer at the Kneading Conference in Skowhegan/ME, with stunning photos of the process, was so convincing that I overcame my doubts (and qualms about spending so much money), and ordered my copy at Amazon. The massive metal box set (History and Fundamentals, Ingredients, Techniques and Equipment, Recipes I and II, and a spiral bound kitchen manual with formulas) arrived in November, too heavy for one person to carry. Totally awed by those gorgeous, atlas-sized tomes, I asked myself the obvious question: " Am I good enough for this Rolls Royce of baking books ?" "Am I good enough for this?" Being the anal Virgo, instead of undisciplined rushing at the ...