A Stir The Pots Post

Vermont, lessons from a Master baker

by | Apr 24, 2011 | Bread

It's been years since I first met baker and writer Jeffrey Hamelman at a BBGA book signing event in Long Island City. Eventually I interviewed him here, and also took a course he gave in Vermont. To this day I still have notes from that weekend course. This weekend I took them out to make some bread.

The experience reminded me of something Jeffrey maintains: feed the levain! It's your friend, your child and simultaneously your parent. It demands love and gives it if you do the same. A friend recently described how emotional they felt at the power of the levain's power to create, to give life. They wanted to cry during a production of Easter breads. Religious? No, just the awesome power of levain!

Meaning, provide regular feed, water and flour and you'll see its mysterious and wonderful bacterial self transform into a powerhouse. As Jeffrey taught us. So without further ado, my loaves from my class with master baker Jeffrey Hamelman and using King Arthur Flour… made at home.

 

 

IMG_0759

Pain au levain

 

IMG_0774

 

Walnut, raisin and fennel, Originally walnut and currants….didn't have any currants!

IMG_0770

 

IMG_5277

2 Comments

  1. Brasserie Bread

    This looks absolutely delicious. Your photos are making us hungry!

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Find More

Follow Us

Feel free to follow us on social media for the latest news and more inspiration.

Related Content

Hot Dog

Hot Dog

A Stir The Pots Post   My father’s family were working class East European Jews who came to America and settled...

read more
Challah

Challah

With the recent price hike in eggs, I turned to making Challah. It's a bread that starts with a dough that can even be...

read more
Farmer Bread

Farmer Bread

As noted, I’ve got some nice bags of Swiss flour that I’ve often used on my vacations at my sister’s house in Basel....

read more