Exponential Growth

Breadwinner

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:33:03 +0000

Images from the Breadwinner bread fair. Photographs by Julian Hughes.

Upcoming events

admin — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:58:33 +0000

Loughborough’s Culture crosses the Atlantic

admin — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 09:09:12 +0000

I recently received news that the Loughborough culture has made it to Texas, USA.

Posting culture

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:05:07 +0000

A few weeks ago I packaged up some Loughborough Culture and posted it to the Czech Republic. Finally I received news that it had reached its destination and survived the journey in tact. I look forward to hearing tales of baking from Pacov.

Nettle and Seaweed Bread

admin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:32:26 +0000

I have been trying out variations to the basic sourdough bread recipe. I have added honey, raisins and seeds to make a sweet rye loaf. Probably the most unusual loaf I’ve made so far is this nettle and seaweed bread – adding fresh nettle leaves and rehydrated seaweed to the dough. It was surprisingly good.

Flower-pot bread

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:43:06 +0000

Deborah, a Culture Caretaker from Loughborough, just sent me this fantastic picture of a loaf of sourdough bread baked in a flower pot. Please send pictures of your bread experiements and any recipes you have found or created.

Wild Fermentation

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:37:54 +0000

Last weekend, I attended a Fermentation workshop with Sandor Ellix Katz. Sandor is an expert on ‘Wild Fermentation’ and has researched food cultures (in both senses of the word) around the world. He describes fermentation as ‘the transformative action of micro-organisms’. In many industrialised processes we have isolated an individual micro-organism, such as a particular strand of yeast, to produce a standard product such as beers and wines we buy in the supermarket. However, in the natural world, fermentation is the result of a ‘community of organisms’ and the flavours produced by wild fermentation are as diverse as their locations.

Sandor describes ancient rituals that humans have been practicing for millenia to preserve and enhance the flavour of foods, and shows us simple and practical ways to ferment foods at home. We are introduced to ‘Kefir’ grains, which are used to make a fermented milk drink. We have a go at making Saurkraut, a process that uses naturally occuring micro-organisms on the vegetables to start the fermentation process. And we sample mead that has been made simply by leaving honey and water to ferment.

I am struck by the simplicity of these processes and the unusual flavours fermented foods have to offer. Sandor’s passion for living cultures is infectious.

Loughborough’s Culture seized at Shanghai airport

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 08:57:40 +0000

A Culture Caretaker who had been studying in Loughborough attempted to take his sourdough culture with him to Japan. Sadly, the culture was confiscated when he changed flights at Shanghai airport. We can only hope that one of the airport authorities recognised the cultural significance of the small pot of slightly smelly liquid and took ... [Read More]

Project launch events

admin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:45:42 +0000

This week saw the launch of the Exponential Growth project in Loughborough. On Wednesday afternoon, fifteen people took part in sourdough bread-making workshops, making a variety of wheat, spelt and rye loaves. The bread came out delicious, if a little characterful in shape. Yesterday the bread was available to taste at a stall on Loughborough Market. Many passersby stopped for a bite and there was a lot of interest in the project. Over fifty people took some Loughborough culture away with them, far more than I had anticipated. By the end of the day I had run out of containters and recipe booklets, and was handing out starter culture in plastic cups. Next week the map will be updated.

Learning from my mistakes

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:12:26 +0000

Over the past few weeks, I have been growing the Loughborough culture. My first attemtpt at growing the culture resulted in an incrediably unappealing smell: I had left a plastic lid covering the culture, starving it of oxygen. A living culture needs to breathe, and I had suffocated it. Refreshing the culture with fresh flour and water every day and covering it with a cloth repaired the damage. I now have two bubbling bowls of starter culture.

I have been trying out recipes for sourdough bread in preparation for the launch events next week. I am learning that the two essential things in sourdough baking are Time and Temperature. My first rye loaf was pretty good, but I burnt the top. I made a large and delicious wheat sourdough and a small rye seeded loaf. The experiments continue.