Save the Date: 9 June 2019
Join me in a dream come true. Finally, I have access to a beautiful space and an oven large enough for me to be able to say, “Sure” to everyone who has ever asked me to teach them to bake bread.
While I have been able to offer private courses here in Rome and elsewhere, this is the first time I can make my courses public.
The day
The first order of business is to make your dough. Step by step, I will guide you through the process, along the way explaining why we do what we do. If you have never made a loaf before you will be amazed at how a little effort transforms four simple ingredients into a living dough. And even if you are an experienced baker, there are bound to be new insights.
The secret of great bread
There is no secret to great bread, apart from time.
We’ll talk about that, and while your bread quietly does its thing we’ll also talk about wheat, and flour and sourdough leavens. I’ll demonstrate some other techniques and make the bread we will eat for lunch.
About me
I’ve been baking bread on and off for the past 50 years. Some time before 1989 I made my first sourdough starter, and it has been with me ever since, travelling from Somerset in England to Italy. I’m also a biologist and so I have a good understanding of what is going on in the starter and in the bread.
In summer 2018 I made a series of 31 brief podcasts dealing with Our Daily Bread, from prehistoric breadcrumbs to tomorrow’s new wheats. I write about bread and baking on one of my websites.
Takeaway
You will leave with your own delicious loaf of handmade bread, plus:
- a “Tuscan” sourdough starter that may or may not be more than 110 years old;
- instructions on how to feed and care for your starter and how to use it to bake more bread;
- an understanding of why I put “Tuscan” in scare quotes;
- a few other recipes;
- maybe some other treats.
And you will have a great day, with good food, in good company.
Small print
The day costs 120€, which includes lunch. All you need to do is turn up. Tickets are 60 € in advance, balance to be paid on the day. Cancel up to 72 hours before for a full refund. There will be gluten.
Next course, 23–24 June 2019
Two days in the Brecon Beacons, Wales, baking in a working watermill. Details
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