Cloud

Since moving into our temporary home and using our temporary-too-small kitchen, I think I’ve spent more time reading about bread than baking bread. First, I read a review copy I received of In Search of the Perfect Loaf by Samuel Fromartz. This is a memoir of a bread baking journey. Fromartz set out to learn from other bakers in order to perfect his home bread baking, and in the process learned about different types of wheat used for flour in addition to learning new baking and dough making techniques. Time and again lately, I’ve been reading about the use of locally grown types of wheat that are fresher and more flavorful than the packaged stuff from the grocery store. Different flours present challenges and require adjustments to mixing and hydration percentages in recipes, but it’s so worth the effort to try what’s available and support the small-scale crop diversity. Fromartz visited bakers in Paris, Berlin, Cucugnan in the South of France, San Francisco, and Petaluma. Della Fatto...