An Artisan Bread Manifesto

Behold, this loaf, the staff of life!

It is beautiful to look at, chestnut-coloured, with a patina of flour on its expanse of crust, dark brown with a bit of char along its scoring lines.

Breathe it in deeply! Close your eyes. It transports you! The aroma is intoxicating, earthy, buttery, and exotic.

Glorious to taste, the crunch of crust, creaminess of crumb, a dense chew with darker notes, the subtle hint of wheat, grass, malt.… Continue reading

The Honest Baker

Jeffrey Hamelman, veteran baker and author of Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes

Jeffrey Hamelman has a problem with artisan bakers.

The legendary American baker and author, writing in the Bread Bakers Guild newsletter, thinks there’s nothing wrong with just being a baker.

The increasing use of the term “artisan,” he says, is a ploy that “elevates bakers’ importance while at the same time separating them from other woefully “non-artisan” bakers.… Continue reading