Unlike most, who bought Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread book as a last-minute Christmas gift for a “foodie” friend who probably hasn’t opened it since, Mr. Eric Sir actually tried baking the country sourdough recipe in his undoubtably tiny Mission kitchen, with some degree of success.
Here’s a snip:
For those not in the know, Tartine’s bread recipe is old-fashioned naturally leavened bread. That means you basically put some flour and water out on the shelf and let it go “bad,” and that’s your yeast. That’s right, no little packet of yeast; it just comes magically from the air. (Cool, huh?) So the only ingredients you need to buy are flour, water, and salt.
Flour, water, and salt? Sounds easy! Not so much. Apparently it takes an all day to do the prep and baking work, which is only slightly faster than actually waiting in line for the real thing. He’s on his 3rd try and still working it out.
Read on and follow his progress over at Mr. Eric Sir.
Heh heh… welcome to my world… I’ve used the same bench knife (it really helps if you have a bench, too — that’s a maple-topped table) since 1994; it has my true name carved in the handle.
Oh, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!
By the way, Eric, your bread actually looks reasonably good — especially for only the third try. Bread making without yeast is NOT for the faint-hearted!
No, it’s not! But I’ve become fixated on getting this right.
Not bad at all. Now just keep that starter fed.
I’ve heard that the Tartine bread won’t rise if any employee smiles that day….
I try not to smile while I’m doing the Devil’s work.