Basic bread is nothing more than flour, yeast, salt, and water. Yet these four simple ingredients produce immense variety in breads, and the pleasure we derive from them. A fitting metaphor is a string quartet: It has only four instruments, but by varying the tempo, volume, and tones, a violin, viola, cello, and bass can produce an almost infinite number of musical pieces. And although Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart each worked with the same instruments and the same notes, each piece they wrote was different, offering new and surprising pleasures every time. Bread is a melody written with a few simple ingredients, yet by varying how it is fermented, how the dough is developed and handled, and how loaves are shaped and, ultimately, baked, we can create a world of variety in breads.
If there is magic in bread—and I believe there is—you will first encounter it when yeast, flour, and water meet. The interaction of yeast with grains creates heavenly and complex flavors. When yeast works its sorcery, it consumes flour and creates the gases that makes bread rise, producing hundreds of subtle and exquisite flavors in the process. And every variety of grain produces its own signature flavors thanks to this transformation. My goal, always, is to maximize those flavors and lock them up inside the crackling crust of a loaf.
Since the time I realized that fermentation was the key to creating flavor, I’ve never stopped trying to coax the maximum amount out of ingredients as they ferment. Like every bread baker, I ferment wheat flour, and I also use rye, barley, corn, and oats, and each brings a different array of flavors to a bread. But I haven’t stopped there. I’ve fermented almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Buckwheat, apricots, cherries, fresh corn, too. Each ingredient is different, with a unique way of fermenting and creating flavor, and each offers its own special gifts.
“IF THERE IS MAGIC IN BREAD . . . YOU WILL FIRST ENCOUNTER IT WHEN YEAST, FLOUR, AND WATER MEET.”
Yeast occurs naturally on all fruits, vegetables, and grains. Bakers often add extra yeast (the “instant yeast” sold in packets) in order to develop dough in a desired way. However, if you simply combine flour and water and leave the mixture for a few days, the bubbling creation that results is due to the action of wild yeast. This is undoubtedly how the original baker created her first dough.
When yeast grows at cold temperature, it will slow down and develop over a long period of time, producing a bounty of the by-products that make for flavor. The longer the yeast can work, the greater the quantity and variety of flavorful compounds it will contribute to a fully baked loaf. So much of what I do is based on this principle. Creaminess, nuttiness, a hint of pear or butter, or any of the hundreds of other flavors and aromas that are the hallmarks of great bread—all take time. Vintage wine and pungent cheese require time as well; there’s no way around it. Time is the artful baker’s best friend.