Tag: sourdough bread

Lóránt Farkas – baker

Place: Csíkjenőfalva or Ineu

Having gone to the village of Csíkjenőfalva or Ineu, we entered a gate to the garden of Lóránt Farkas where we passed his house, various trees, a well, free-ranging hens, and lots of firewood for his oven. Next, we entered his workshop where he was busy baking bread. In fact, he starts making bread early in the morning, and he had already completed kneading pieces of dough and put them in baskets for leavening.
He’s a baker and a cook, but he also does other types of work. During our visit, he was making sourdough breads for friends and family, about 15 in all. In fact, he‘s using the same sourdough as his grandmother started 80 years ago.

2 millers, one 14 years old and one 85 years old in the village, are providing him with flour, while local farms provide the cereals.

He told my guide that he makes spice mixes from herbs in the mountains. In addition, he had hung up bundles of herbs on the wall of his workshop.

He’s using 7 types of flour:
⦁ wheat
⦁ rye
⦁ millet
⦁ semolina
⦁ buckwheat
⦁ walnut
⦁ Graham

In addition, he’s using salt from the town of Corund.

He thinks factory bread is not good.

Having entered his workshop, we could watch him making bread manually, kneading the dough, applying flour to the dough, weighing the correct amount of dough and putting it in baskets.

He was using a wood-fired oven made of clay. Upon arrival, he had heated the oven, and he was busy kneading pieces of dough, weighing them with an old-school weight, cutting off excess dough and putting the required amount of dough in each basket. Interestingly, he was using a mortar and pestle with stones as a counterweight to the dough, using an old-school weight.

When he baked all the bread, he emptied the oven of ash, next he put some boards in the oven and fired them up.

He bakes bread 3 times a week, and he ferments vegetables and fruits.

He delivers the bread to friends and family, and payment is done by bartering like palinka, cold cuts, etc., with no money exchange.

He was raising ostriches in the past: he got 4 horses, 2 goats and 2 pigs for one ostrich chicken.

Near one of the walls of his workshop, there was a wooden handle leaning on a shelf filled with lots of glass jars. He used the handle to put pieces of dough in the oven and take them out when they were ready.

He laid the bread on a table and put it in baskets when they had cooled down.

When we were ready to leave, he kindly gave us two breads.

11/10/2024
Sourdough bread course

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A small bakery called «Ille bakeri» recently arranged a course on how to make a sourdough bread in 4 hours. Upon arrival at Mølleren Sylvia , the baker Martin Hveem Fjeld had put 11 bowls, one for each participant, on a table. Before starting the course, each of us should make a short presentation. Some of us had already made sourdough breads, but with very variable success. I had tried it once at another course, but I didn’t go on afterwards. Anyway, when we started baking, we were all on more or less the same level.

Martin had already made a sourdough starter, and having poured a fixed amount of water and sourdough starter in each bowl, we should first stir the mixture well. Next, he poured a fixed amount of wheat flour from Holli mill into each bowl, which we should stir until both water, starter and flour was mixed well together. Martin‘s only using wholemeal flour meaning that it contains both endosperm, germ and bran, keeping both taste and nutrients.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cereal_germ#/media/File:Wheat-kernel_nutrition.png

Gluten (from Latin gluten, “glue”) is a composite of storage proteins termed prolamins and glutelins and stored together with starch in the endosperm (which nourishes the embryonic plant during germination) of various grass-related grains.

Gluten is appreciated for its viscoelastic properties. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it rise and keep its shape and often gives the final product a chewy texture.

Gluten enables dough with yeast to leaven because it forms a network of small walls which confines carbon dioxide and water vapour inside the dough. It also works as a binder in the dough, making it easier to work with.

Holli mill grinds grain by means of millstones where the germ is ground into the flour such that it contains more fat than grinding by means of a roller mill, which is used for industrial production of flour.

Sourdough starters contain yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. While the yeasts expand bread by leaving air pockets after baking, the lactic acid bacteria improve taste, sight, smell and touch of bread as well as their shelf life, nutritional value and wholesomeness. A sourdough starter contains thousands of different microorganisms, which will leaven the bread much slower than when using baker’s yeast.

After about half an hour, we were told to pull the dough away from the wall of the bowl, then let it fall back again. After we had completed this task, we should let the dough rest for about one hour before repeating the same procedure. Since the dough was very wet, we needed to scrape off the dough from our hands and inside the bowls by means of a spatula. During the stay inside the bowl, we could observe formation of bubbles appearing in the dough, which was a sure sign that the yeasts were turning sugars into carbon dioxide. After a break, we restricted the fermentation by adding unrefined salt.

Besides, by adding salt, the gluten network in the dough is broken up such that it will be arranged anew and form stronger and more bonds. Since we added unrefined salt, which contains some essential trace elements in very small concentrations. The main ones are calcium, magnesium and sulphate, which, while they are there in tiny concentrations (parts per million), they are important to human health and to bread production.

Next, we should turn the bowl such that the opening faced downwards and scrape the dough out of the bowl, letting it fall down on a wooden table on which we had applied flour in advance. We tightened up the dough by means of a dough scraper. This consisted of holding the scraper obliquely and pushing it below the dough, forcing it upwards, then pulling the scraper out. It seemed very easy when Martin did it, but when I should do it, the dough was so sticky that it got attached to the scraper. Unsurprisingly, several of us needed help to finish this task.

After a break, we watched Martin turn the dough into a sausage-shape, folding the dough onto itself, pulling the far end of the dough left and right, braiding the parts of the dough and folding them back on the dough. Having done the same at the middle and near end, he put the dough into a basket called a banneton in which he first poured a small amount of rice flour. They are called hevekurv in Norwegian, meaning leavening basket, because they are used to let the dough leaven.

Next, we should do the same as he did, but almost all of us asked Martin to help us with this work, which seemed easy when he did it, but not so easy when we should do it. Finally, everyone had a banneton with sourdough and having got both sourdough starter, flour, spatulas, a razor blade with a wooden handle and a dough scraper, we left the premises. We were told to let the dough stay in a fridge for at least 12 hours before baking it and we should use the razor blade to make some cuts in the dough such it could expand through the cracks during baking.

I baked the bread, but I had to lower the temperature from the recommended 250ºC to about 175ºC because the crust was getting burnt. After baking, I had a delicious sourdough bread for a few days.

For those who are interested in knowing more Martin’s breads, he has made a book on the breads with a couple of friends. It can be found in Norwegian here and in English here. He arranges courses occasionally and they can be found at his web page.

Making a sourdough bread or any other bakery product from sourdough entails using the same procedure for baking as was done from the dawn of civilisation to about 1900 when baker’s yeast started replacing sourdough.

As a follow-up, The Ultimate Guide to Sourdough Bread might come in handy.

21/05/2017
Bizkarra bakery and confectionery

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Having entered the Bizkarra bakery, which is housed in a nondescript brick building, I first thought I had arrived at a factory and that we had come to the wrong place. Instead, my first impression was, if not wrong, very far from the truth. This bakery was founded in 1957 by Esteban Bizkarra and we were shown around the bakery by Eduardo Bizkarra, one of his grandsons. At first sight, it seemed like the workers were just operating machines, but after some time, which lasted up to 4(!) hours, I could see first-hand that the machines did all the heavy and repetitive work, while the workers, who were trained bakers, were doing manual work occasionally, like shaping each bread manually by deft hands. Since demand for breads from this bakery is very high, the breads have to be made fast.

The breads made at this bakery are either sourdough breads, where a starter is used to start fermentation or yeast, which is expected to ferment for 16 hours, is used. The philosophy of this company is to not rush thing and let nature take its time. This has the added advantage that the workers can prepare dough in the afternoon and let it ferment overnight.

Parts of the flour, which is used at this company, has been certified and the cereals have been grown in Álava, located in the south of the Basque Country, where they have been turned into flour.

Sourdough starters contain yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. While the yeasts expand bread by leaving air pockets after baking, the lactic acid bacteria improve taste, sight, smell and touch of bread as well as their shelf life, nutritional value and wholesomeness. A sourdough starter contains thousands of different microorganisms, which will leaven bread slowly.

The sourdough starter has to be renewed regularly and each time it is used for making bread, a part of it is kept for the next bread-making. The microorganisms in the sourdough starter are kept alive by giving them nutrients like flour for food and water for drinking. It is also necessary to stir it such that the microorganisms can breathe.

Actually, the Bizkarra company consists of both a bakery and a confectionery and Eduardo willingly showed us both, sometimes showing us some type of cake being made in the confectionery before going back to the bakery where we could, e.g. watch freshly shaped pieces of dough enter an oven by means of a machine or using the same machine to take them out again, creating a pleasant fragrance. He also picked small pieces of freshly made dough and pulled it almost apart, showing us some of its characteristics. Likewise, he described the characteristics of a freshly made bread on which the bakers had made a pattern in the dough before baking by means of a knife. Being an expert, he could perceive imperfections, which would have been more or less invisible to anyone else.

Eduardo likes to research old recipes as well as bakery history and ancient cereals always looking for new ways to improve his company.

In the confectionery, lots of different types of sweets were being made. We were shown sweets typical of the province of Bizkaia, like «pastel de Arroz» , «bollo de mantequilla» «carolina» and «pastel vasco» were made manually, but as usual, with the help of machines. A machine, which seems to be ubiquitous in confectioneries are rollers, which flatten the dough. First, the confectioner makes the dough relatively flat by means of a rolling pin, then the dough is put in the roller where it is compressed several times until it is as thin as required.

One of the cakes called «pastel vasco», meaning Basque cake, was made by pressing a stencil on the flat dough, making lots of equal pieces. Then, each piece was covered by filling by means of a pastry bag, then another piece of dough was put on top. Finally, an elaborate pattern called «Lauburu» was drawn on top of each piece before baking them. Later, fragrant and pleasant-looking cakes were taken out of the oven. The «lauburu» is an old symbol of the Basque Country and the unity of the Basque people.

We could also watch various other types of sweets being made where ingredients like flour, sugar, butter, milk and eggs were mixed together and turned into delicious miracles. For instance, one of the confectioners, having made a filling, applied it to small containers of pastry dough casing, looking like a filled pie. After having leavened and baked them, they were left for cooling, then a confectioner would apply another type of filling on top of the filled pie, forming a sort of spiral on top of it. Finally, it was dipped in chocolate liquor.

Lots of other delicious and fragrant sweets were made, almost drowning our senses in good feelings.

To finish, Eduardo has also teamed up with a cattle farmer, Sandra Lejarza, who sells high quality veal burgers, in order to create a combined product, consisting of four hamburgers with meat from her own cattle and four sourdough breads slowly fermented and not fully baked. In fact, the bread should be baked just before it is eaten.

Later, the same day, we would go to visit Sandra Lejarza who would cook a meal for us and Eduardo would bring some of his delicious breads and cakes.

07/06/2016
Porta confectionery and bakery

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After having arrived in Gonnosfanadiga, a so-called town of bread, where bread turns out to be one of the leading products of this village in Medio Campidano, we went to one of the best bakeries in this region, the Porta bakery in order to get to know some of the history of bread connected with the most ancient traditions of the Sardinian culture. The Porta bakery was established in 1918 when Grandma Chiara was always preparing bread for her family and their neighbours. A lot has happened since, but due to lots of work, sacrifice and passion, the Porta confectionery and bakery has become a point of reference in Sardinia for appreciation of the art of bread-making. In 2007, this firm started an educational workshop on bread, giving children, but also adults, the possibility to get to know how to make bread and, at the same time, hold in high regard such a genuine product.

The objective with the educational workshop is to engage all participants in every phase of the preparation of bread: milling Cappelli wheat, sifting, making dough with a sourdough starter and baking.

We were also invited into the workshop of this firm where a wonderful gathering of traditional types of bread in Sardinia like moddizzosu, coccoi and civraxiu together with a small stone mill besides ingredients for making bread like white flour, semolina, Cappelli wheat and a sourdough starter were exhibited on a large table.

Sourdough starters contain yeasts and lactic acid bacteria. While the yeasts expand bread by leaving air pockets after baking, the lactic acid bacteria improve taste, sight, smell and touch of bread as well as their shelf life, nutritional value and wholesomeness. A sourdough starter contains thousands of different microorganisms, which will leaven the bread much slower than when using baker’s yeast.

The sourdough starter has to be renewed regularly and each time it is used for making bread, a part of it is kept for the next bread-making. The microorganisms in the sourdough starter are kept alive by giving them nutrients like semolina for food and water for drinking. It is also necessary to stir it such that the microorganisms can breathe. In fact, the sourdough starter used at Porta dates back at least 70 years, being refreshed from generation to generation.

At the Porta workshop, the students are taught to use all five senses in order to help them recognise a well-made sourdough bread. For instance, it’s possible to recognise a sourdough bread from the sound which arises when it is hit by one’s hand, and the bakers at Porta call it “hear the quality of the bread” because the leavening leaves air pockets inside the bread. A freshly baked bread called moddizosu will emit a sound like a drum when it’s hit by a hand. Looking inside the bread, it can be seen that it is yellowish due to the semolina, a uniform density of holes and a humid, but not pasty texture and a slightly sour aroma. Thus, having “graduated” from the Porta workshop, bakers of all ages can find out if a sourdough bread is made well and in accordance with Sardinian traditions.

This precious food encloses in a certain sense the history of Sardinia.

Riccardo, a master baker at Porta told us: “Each bread in Sardinia was made in accordance with requirements to consumption. For instance, the soft bread which was made in lower Campidano was a bread for peasants because they required a bread which would last a couple of days. Instead, carasau is typical for the region of Nuoro because most of the men were shepherds working outside for long periods, requiring a bread which could last a month or even more. Then, there is the region of Ogliastra where breads were made with potatoes because farmers were cultivating them. There was also the bread of Carloforte, which are really crackers, and called the seaman’s bread because it was used by seamen during long voyages. The crackers were were dipped into water and flavoured with vegetable oil, vinegar, tomatoes and salted tuna. Moreover, there is a bread called spianatina, which is typical for the region of Ozieri”.

This means that every region of Sardinia has its own type of bread connected with the traditions of every place.

It was very interesting for use to rediscover, together with Riccardo, not just the secrets of bread-making, but in particular the symbolism of this food, a food which has become so important for Sardinian culture and traditions, being used in various religious ceremonies, like marriages, baptisms and communions, as a sign of good wishes.

We got to know the history of a bakery, or more correctly, the history of the Porta family through the experience of their ancestors and capabilities obtained over time, commit themselves and getting better and, at the same time, maintaining ancient traditions.

We thank the Porta family for having taught us to appreciate even more the deep roots of a wholesome and genuine food like the Sardinian bread.

16/10/2013