by Cheryl Pearson
Up before the hens, my daughter. Just her and the cows in the blue hour. Them tugged of milkweight and loosed to steam like warm loaves in the cold air. Her in an apron, hair pulled into a bun. I know how she works: the way she takes the dough’s wet slack, punches it down into flour.… Continue reading
Who are your bread teachers?
Nina Raginsky asked me this question last week when I chatted with her. Names of book authors came first to mind, but there were far fewer real acquaintances who taught me anything about bread.
I’ve written of my Aunty Betty, my earliest bread teacher.… Continue reading
Nina Raginsky is on to something!
Her Pain Sauvage is nothing short of a revelation, being made without any leavening of any kind. No sourdough, no commercial yeast, just whole flour (and grain meal), water and salt. And it makes the most delicious bread.
Remarkable!
She lives on Salt Spring Island in a 100-year-old house, which she calls her “Maison Sauvage” and tends her garden, which she calls her “Jardin Sauvage.”… Continue reading
Might the humble French baguette be on the verge of a renaissance?
In November 2019, I lamented in a blog post that the venerable baguette might be in decline. Scores of rural French boulangeries were closing. They were unable to compete with megastores like Carrefour and Super-U, which sell TVs and liquor alongside peanut butter and pork sirloin.… Continue reading
This painting, “The Milk Maid” by Johannes Vermeer, is a masterpiece, painted in 1658 and startling in its realism. The canvas shimmers with its depiction of light and colour and the stillness and warmth of the scene. The woman pouring milk into a bowl is evocative, stirring.
What the woman is making is interesting, too.… Continue reading