When you think of bread or when you buy a loaf of bread, what comes to mind first? Is it the smell, the sight or the moment of tasting its taste? Do you think about the baker who made it? Are you interested in the history of bread and how long it took to make bread? Wondering where your baker got his flour from? Or where did the grain grow? Is it local or imported from the rest of the world? How did the farmer treat the crop during growth? Did he use pesticides? Where were the grains stored after harvest?
I try to think of bread as a journey. There is a story. It starts and ends somewhere. The final destination is important (it's us who eat it), but it's the actions and decisions along the way that make the goal—well, even better.
It is the choice of seeds, the way of cultivation of grains, the sense and awareness of the environment, the understanding of the behavior of plants, the choice of cleaning and storage of grain grains, the process of milling and the process of making bread. It's about making things clear.
“And it's also about the chain from farmer to miller to baker. However, not as a one-way street, but as a crossroads of knowledge and experience exchange, all of them to understand each other's needs and expand each other's horizons. “
Nicolas Supiot, French, is all in one. He is a farmer, grows heirloom varieties of wheat, mills his own flour, makes and bakes traditional sourdough bread. He is the village baker.
He also prepares seminars to share his knowledge in front of all people interested in this way of farming and baking. I visited his workshop From Seed to Peasant Oven in June and below I present the (first!) video of our 5-day experience. I hope you enjoy the video and feel the good energy present in the workshop as much as we do.
I distinctly remember reading about Nicholas's bread baking three years ago. His way of handling the dough was somehow magical and that feeling stayed with me all these years, until finally this year all the planets aligned and took me and my friend Alessandro from pure Sicily to France. The 5-day workshop was held at Nicolas' beautiful old farm in Brittany, north-west France, near Rennes, at Ecosite Les Jardins de Siloe.
The purpose of the workshop was to guide us through the journey of bread and to understand the decisions, consequences and results on the ground, inside the mill and the bakery.
The workshop was more than a technical way of imparting knowledge. It was about metaphors of our lives on many levels. What kept coming up throughout the week and through the words and sharing of experiences was the idea of reflection or mirroring. Everything you see, experience, and feel is in some way a reflection of your being, your actions, and your state, and you cannot separate yourself from that reality. Let's think about that for a second. In bread terms, this sounds like Nicolas would point out:
“You are the bread you make. “
I will write more about the journey of bread, plain flour AND pure bread in the upcoming posts and months, so stay tuned.
If you have any questions about the workshop, leave a comment below or send me an e-mail (email protected).
And below are some photo impressions.
Field of mixed planting of heritage wheat and beans.
Happy me.
Talk to you soon!
SAVEUR BLOG AWARDS
PS: Remember last year's surprise when the blog My Daily Sourdough Bread was nominated as a finalist in the Annual Blog Saveur Awards? This year, the prizes are back! The past year has been an interesting journey meeting new inspiring people in New York and elsewhere and discovering the beauty of baking around the world. Thank you for your support.
I would be grateful to the moon and back if you could take a second to nominate my blog for the Best Food Obsessive Award or the Best Photography (or any other) category – Click here.
