STIR THE POTS

Bara in Bethesda

I don't think I have ever mentioned my mate Mick from the bread forum, accept for the fact that I would go to visit Wales for a bread baking trip during my month long vacation to Europe!

This is my story of that wonderful gathering.Bethesdabakin',named for the town where it took place.Free wheeling, filled with anarchic bread talk,rough rugby types, a dog named Otto, amongst some of the finest people from different corners of the UK, France, the US and one cute rye baker from Denmark!
Well I am only three days back and I am ready to win the 350 million mega lottery tonight so I can  fly back tomorrow, if I were so lucky!

The first time I met Mick amongst other avid home/pro bakers on Dan Lepards site, there was this feeling that somehow I knew this guy for years? We exchanged formulas, he gave me his sound advice on some leaven care and usage; generally I  asked only his opinion on my latest loaf and he would begrudgingly give my ego some much needed patting on the head.
So Mick who had a long thread on Dan's site relating a project to open a bakery for fellows on the wrong side of the law; that went sour when his former employers who's need for publicity out weighed the kneads that Mick was giving to this band of men who wanted to learn the fine art of baking bread. Dashed hopes and dreams, Mick rebounded on the shores of  France,(nice life!), There he conjured up a meeting of bakers at his homestead in  Bethesda,Wales.   The previous year I missed a chance to meet Mick for a few pints and some bread talk  while on vacation. So he started putting the idea back on the forum and instilled and recruited some of us with the idea to gather and organize with him an event, sort of a Woodstock of bread baking in Bethesda!
Now that I have attended what I believe will be an annual event, where we shared ideas,laughed and above all enjoyed the company of some really great people. This is my chance to share some images of the goings on, which is now a wiki site that Dan Lepard set up that tells what happened and celebrates this event! Another fellow attendee I had met prior to the event James, had a site for the event set up too, the clock at the bottom of the page reset and is ticking off for next year,be there or be square!!

P.S. thanks to all these fine people

1. Mick
2. Dan Lepard
3. Jeremy
4. James (jlangt)
5. John (Mercurius)
6. Dom
7. Alex (black dog)
8. Kathy (may or may not join in the baking)
9. Ben Johnson
10. Rick Coldman (Moonbake)
11. Stig
12. Nina
13. shooz
14. Jack (sideburns)
15. Adam
16. Nick
17. Bradley Prezant

And to TP, spirits were felt, including the Schnapps!!

Mucho Aroha

"Were in the south Pacific and it sure feels good"( Neil Finn)......Well not exactly,as you may of noticed I was in Switzerland for the first half of my vacation and I made a pit stop over in Britain to London via Wales for a bread meeting with Dan Lepard and other home bakers.
My first and foremost thought on arriving to London was to stop by The Providores at Marleyborne High street to visit Peter Gordon and try his food once and for all!
So finally dropping my bags I consulted my Eat in London book and sort of figured my way through the streets of the town eventually landing at the front doorstep and inquiring about the man himself. It just happened that after making a reservation for later in the evening  Peter was walking just down the street and I introduced myself. He told me he had been to a food show and had been up since 4 am in the morning so he hoped to see me later that evening and would instruct his staff that I was coming for dinner.
Camera in hand I was escorted to the dining room upstairs where Peter sat at my table and asked what I wanted, I asked him to decide and he suggested a small degustation with some New Zealand wines to accompany my meal. At his mercy and not feeling worthy at all, Peter excused himself to go home for some rest but assured me he would leave me in the hands of his staff and his chef. He offered to pay for the meal and I would take care of my wine bill, a fair and courteous exchange I concurred!( Sneaky Peter, he gave me the whole meal for free, what a perk!)
The window seat was a nice way for me to take in the London view and soak in the grey wet sky, this has been a dreary summer all over Europe, what is it like in New York I wonder? A basket of bread was offered, I chose the morrocan spiced roll that was speckled and sat impatiently waiting the first course!

My Providores Menu

Crispy tofu and pomegranate roast grape salad
with ricotta, yuzu pickled bean sprouts and
soy-toasted pumpkin seeds.

Tataki of line caught Yellowfin tuna on jicama,
green mango and fresh coconut salad
with sweet nori puree, green peppercorn
lime dressing and crispy buckwheat.

Coconut, black cardamom, crab and galangal laksa
with lime leaf marinated baby octopus,
a fried quails egg, a grilled prawn, green
tea noodles, crispy shallots and coriander.

Cassava quinoa crisps with aubergine and
moromi miso salad, asparagus, wild mushroom,
black bean and cherry tomato ragout,
sumac labne and ginger rosemary dressing.  

Roast Gressingham duck breast on new potato, green
bean, shallot and shiitake salad with a crispy spiced
foie gras pastilla and pomegranate cumin dressing.

 

As if not already overwhelmed by Peter’s wonderful invitation, I took a moment to absorb my wine and soak up the atmosphere in the low key and yet warm room I saw my server coming with a glass of wine and quickly took note of its bouquet and all those other wine sort of terms. Losing sight I was  forgetting to write down the name of each wine, I couldn't wait to see the next plate of food and snapped away! So I got serious and tasted each wine and dish while studying the menu to keep me on track with the ingredients. it seemed hopeless though, I am a lazy reviewer and just soaked up all the goodness on my plates. As each course was brought to me I started to focus and kept mental track of what it was I was going on with my palate! Peter’s wonderful staff  took care of me but didn’t smother me like in some other places, later as the dining room was filling up and I lazily finished my macchiato,  I  felt as if my tongue had been literally bombarded with subtle but intense flavors that were lingering as I walked back through the wet streets of London. Thank you Peter, your a gentleman!

Facts
Location:  109 Marylebone High Street,  London, U.K. W1U 4RX
Telephone: (+44) 020 7935 6175
Fax: (+44) 020 7935 6877
Nearest Tubes: Baker Street, Bond Street, Regents Park
Smoking not permitted
Bookings are taken

       Hours

Monday - Friday
12:00pm - 2:45pm

6:00pm -10:30pm
Saturday Brunch
12:00pm - 2:45pm
Dinner
6:00pm - 10:30pm
Sunday Brunch
12:00pm - 2:45pm
Dinner
6:00pm - 10:00pm

 

Fondue

What is more Swiss than fondue, chocolate??    
Well sure but  this is fondue post, that gooey cheese hot and full of flavors, garlicky and wine laden skewered with morsels of bread. Enjoyed on rainy cold day`s with some wine.White from the region of the Vaud on the banks of lake Léman where I recently camped  in a tent with my family, that is another chapter in itself!

This is my sisters recipe, it`s a knock out!

4 people
800 grams grated cheese (400g each of  Gruyère- and Vacherin)
3-3.5dl white wine (depending on the consitency
1 tablespoon corn starch
garlic to taste
pinch of baking soda (so you can digest!)

1 kilo of good Swiss bread cut into bite size pieces or something relatively tasty

kirsch if you like maybe added in or  later after the meal is  damned good too!

Put the smashed garlic(minced) in the fondue pot,add the white wine and dilute starch.Heat the wine and slowly add the cheese stirring in a figure eight, when the cheese is melted put the pinch of soda inside and get ready to enjoy!!!
Don`t forget some good wine and some schnapps later for a nostalgia trip aka 1970`s!!

BauernBrot

   When I first arrived in Switzerland my sister asked if I would like to see bread being made by a local farmer, "sure why not,"I said, " but we wake up early!"  We woke up  at 5:00 in the morning ,as I stumbled into my clothes half awake  we made our way passed  the fields.The cool air made redolent by the odor of wafting " farmers perfume", as my brother in law called it, that`s cow shit to you and me! "Slow down, or we will arrive too soon!!!" my sister said.  Walking like a  New Yorker I had forgotten that I was on vacation. I needed to take in the country air and surrounding sounds from the dark woods,fields of corn and fruit trees, as the early morning light was creeping on the horizon.
So as we made our way over the final hill my sister explained the history of the Schmutz family farm.Which by necessity in the 1850`s was turned into a vacation home by Frau Schmutz when Her husband died, his widow needed to find a way to provide for her 12 children.It`s first incarnation was a retreat  for wealthy city dwellers seeking some fresh air and country food, and was later converted to a spa for people seeking a cure in the mineral baths from as far away as Alsace and Basel.

Today we would get a demonstration of Margret Schmutz`s Bauern brot, or farmers bread. First she would make the vorteig (pre-ferment or sponge), this she did by taking an old dough from the previous bake and adding to it, flour, water, yeast then set this dough overnight to ferment. All done we went back home and  would see her the following morning! The next morning we were invited in through the kitchen to the ancient mixer with it`s mechanical arms ready to mix the flour and water Margret had added by sight and feel alone. This certainly was a traditional dough handed down by generations of women who didn`t use scales or thermometers like today`s modern bakers, it`s a touch and feel approach. Once the dough was made it was  sat in the bowl for an initial bulk ferment of three hours; my quizzical mind felt this approach would be somewhat reminiscent of another home baking neighbor Claudia, whom I had seen make bread in a  similar method, albeit different from one  I would myself use Being in enough trouble with our Presidents actions around the world, my intention was to not to rock the boat, certainly I couldn`t be the impertinent American guy telling these women how to bake my way! Margret having lit the oven with branches and paper,left the oven to heat until we returned and the dough was ready to bake. The dough was removed to a bench, cut in relatively large pieces and shaped, rooughly into rounds, slashed and straight into the oven without a rest or even a second proof! Margret explained that the heat of the oven would give the second rise, it still seemed odd to me as I knew that the bread wouldn`t have a real holey crumb or would the shape stay regular, rather it would burst and have a strange top knot look and apperance?(with hindsight I think it was a way of saving on time and using less fuel in the oven, waste not want not?) Hmmmm no arguing here, Madeline Schmutz the matriarch handling the peel while Margret fed her the loaves, kept pace even as her bent  figure kept a pace that belied her octogenarian frailty. We went to wait in the dining room for the bread to be baked as my sister chatted with her neighbor over coffee, bread and confiture all home made; through the window I could see in the trees the outline of the fields of corn and the distant village, probably like the guests who once sat at the same tables removing themselves from the city air for a quiet rest.  the baked loaves came out an hour later, each getting a tap on the bottom to hear for the hollow sound and a brush to remove some excess ash. We said our goodbye`s and vielen dank as we passed the kitchen where Madeline was cooling a deliciuos looking Reneclaude tarte the traditional way, with a wooden spoon under to keep it crisp, who is going to argue with tradition anyway....I am not the decider!!!

Chaugummi brot!

Halo! Halo! A usual welcome from my nephew Frank whenever he announces his presence or is playing with his toy cell phone.While I am here in  Schweiz I have decided to bake some breads for my sister and to practice my up coming trip to Wales with my mate Mick. Frank  is in tow along with his sisters watching me knead and fold my bread in the Dan Lepard fashion by hand! I have successfully made a leaven, all the while traveling around different landscapes of the various cantons of Switzerland, taking in huge amounts of chäs (that is cheese to you and me dear readers!). I visited a schau backerei, a grain mill and well generally tried to be the ambassador of American home bakers, thanks to a somewhat sceptical Swiss public, who question me, quite often I may add, on the state of fast food being our gastronomical gift to the world! I quickly remind  them of the news of our success in bread competitions by leading bakers such as Jeffrey Hamelman, Craig Ponsford just to mention a few, and tell them we have chefs who don't only cook at the golden arches!!
So I browse through my collection of formulas and have already made a rendition of Jim Lahey`s infamous filone from his bakery from my last installment. Not only was it devoured with absolute gusto but I even followed Jim`s  method  to the teeth  minus the  creuset  pot. We  used  dinkel, (spelt) rather than wheat, the thought being we would stay within the theme of Romans, as the town where my sister lives, Lampenberg, was named after the Roman family whose relics showed them to be named the Lampos!!
Oh yeah your wondering what the title refers to? The title for this post is translated thus, chewing gum bread! What? Well I have made some real winner loaves of bread so far according to my family and new found friends. From a not so pretty first spelt version of (Lampenberg) Vermont Sour dough from Jeffrey Hamelman`s book, to a Pugliese, hazelnüss und rosinen Benoiton and finally a Coupe de Monde potato rosemary Batard! So why chaugummi brot? Well I successfully had two different dough`s ready for shaping when Frank said he wanted to taste the raw dough,(yuch!) he quickly snatched the empty bowl where the dough had been fermenting and fingered the  bits of dough around it`s edges, while I chided him for his taste for the sticky bits and tried to wrestle the bowl back.Frank flicked onto the table what I believed was a bit of potato covered dough, I quickly wrestled it away and  folded it into the dough, sealing the final fold when in a look of complete dumbfounded surprise Frank announced to Momma that  "Unkel Jeremy is a little dumb, because he just put my chewing gum in the bread!" My sister mortified felt we should eviscerate the loaf and remove the offending alien from the depths of dough! I concurred, but  only half jokingly said we should leave it in as a special secret ingredient!
So in the following days or perhaps my return to New York I will share some interesting pictures as well some fascinating stories about this trip......keep chewing, bread not gum!