From arriving to the welcoming smells of fresh coffee and a pile of beautiful patisserie, to departing with a bag full of freshly baked loaves, everything about the Wild-Yeast Baking course at the School of Artisan Food was a hit with me.
I wasn’t even supposed to be on it – Phil was. But I’d been mooching about, slightly green with envy at his impending attendance on the one-day course at the school. Phil is the lead on our cakes and pastries, I do the bread, and I was so keen to spend a day with Emmanuel delving into his expertise with wild yeasts. So, with days to go, Phil granted me the day as a lovely surprise.
Fourteen of us gathered in the welcoming canteen, bright and early, swapping tales of our current forays into the mysterious world of wild yeasts. It wasn’t long before we were discussing the different styles of working dough, all keen to compare notes and pick up new tips. Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, the school’s specialist artisan baker, appeared and a hush descended on the room. It had to – Emmanuel had lost his voice! Two of the attendees were with him on a course the previous day, and convinced us that this wasn’t caused by his shouting at them, so we relaxed, donned our aprons, and moved into the training kitchen.
Wild yeast baking takes much longer for loaves to be made than with fresh yeast. That’s the point of it, a chance for flavours to develop, glutens to be slowly stretched, and textures to be gently created. I had indeed wondered how we were going to make loaves to take home, all in the space of one day, as I had always left my sourdough loaves for a minimum of eight hours to prove, but more usually overnight. Emmanuel fielded a few questions but hurried us through to starting two doughs, promising there would be plenty of time for questions later. We measured out the ingredients for a Levain de Campagne (a sourdough – levain – with a combination of white, wholemeal and rye flours), and for a white sourdough, mixing the ingredients for both doughs with a white sourdough starter. His method of working the dough is to combine the ingredients then leave it for 10 minutes, work it again for 10-15 seconds then leave for a further 10 minutes, repeating this process four times before leaving the dough to rest.
This method will be familiar to anyone who has read Dan Lepard’s book The Handmade Loaf, and is a style more usual in mainland Europe. Indeed, we use this technique for many of our loaves here at BrødOvn. But to some on the course, this was a real eye-opener. There were lots of comments on years wasted pounding and stretching dough in the old-fashioned English style taught to most of us down the generations, when infact this hands-off approach leads to a beautifully soft dough with no sweat needed… the dough didn’t even leave the bowl!
Two loaves done and resting, we began on a third – a 100% dark rye sourdough. This requires a pre-ferment which Emmanuel had prepared for each of us the previous evening. Having combined the ingredients, this was poured into a small loaf tin and left to prove. We then moved on to shape our Levain de Campagne into a basket and our white sourdough into two baguettes and set these to prove. The two secrets to completing these loaves within the course of the day became clear: a lively active starter, and a proving cabinet. (Note to self: a proving cabinet is a must in the new bakery).
With all the loaves proving, we finally had time for the sea of questions that we had all been storing up before heading off for lunch. This was a gorgeous affair, all cooked on-site with a fabulous array of breads and cheeses for desert. Back into the training room for a good discussion on starters, pre-ferments, flours, and general questions on all things bread. Emmanuel is a marvellous teacher, and was so patient. We all felt for him as he croaked his replies, with us all totally silent so as not to miss the whispered words.
At last, all the dough was proved and so began the task of getting all of our loaves through the ovens. The rye loaves were put in the domestic ovens and the three-level deck oven was quickly filled with our round loaves turned out of the wicker baskets, and the white baguettes, one slashed into an epi.
A fabulous day. Emmanuel is very inspiring, and I for one have taken some very useful lessons away from his teaching. I am now making some of our sourdough loaves within a day. At home, the timing of loaves has to fit around the family, and I have more time in the morning, so this means we are now enjoying more bread at home made with a starter, and less with fresh yeast.
The whole day was a pleasure. All the staff, the facilities, the general ambience of the centre just inspires one to dream to go away and create more. Thank you, once again, to Emmanuel and all the team at the School of Artisan Food.
