BREAD MAKING TRADITION

Yesterday was the 3rd and last day of our bread journey, we made Whole-Wheat & Pepita Bread ie the one with tasty toasted seeds (carraway, coriander, sunflower, pumpkin) in them. Rather than making loafs & rolls I was lazy, the 2 loafs shown are in fact huge. Chef Keith gave us an excellent lecture on the Traditional Baking System, step by step with application details. He is the walking encyclopedia on all things Patisserie, the counter part of Chef Steve in Cuisine. Knitting his immense knowledge with industry experience has made him the awesome lecturer he is. Central to his presentation on baking bread is : the tradition has not changed that much over time in terms of how we scale, mix, ferment, mould, prove & bake. 'I have kept up with my reading on the subject matter over the years, I can assure you the traditional way works'. Talking about life long learning, there you have it. He showed us a wooden tool, like a small paddle - the one chefs use to present beer & food at Inagawa, the robbata-yaki restaurant in Rippongi -which bakers use to reach the inner parts of brick ovens in the old days It is a 'peel' .... as in citrus peel. One never stops learning here. While we wait for the dough to 'prove' ie expand to double their size he showed us his work on a laptop. Incredible is a mild word!

Chef Michael, who ran our kitchen session was in a good mood yerterday, it was his 11th wedding anniversary. I congratulated him and told him he is a newlywed compared to our almost 30 years together. I accidentally revealed my age, which shocked him. He thought I am 50, what can I say? Must be that daily dose of Aussie blue sky & sun on my face .... thank you Chef!