Friday Bread Basket 6/11/21
The momo edition
Before I dive into this weeks basket of bready links, I just wanted to quickly remind you about my upcoming Friday Night Pizza Party: Bar Pizza workshop, which is in two weeks (6/25 at 6:00pm EST). Because there will be some down time during the class, we’ll also be making a quick and delicious Lemon-Anchovy Endive and Arugula Salad (that will include a fish-free option for the anchovy averse). It’s a salad I make all the time, with endive subbing for my favorite but impossible-to-come-by Italian bitter green, puntarelle.
The recipes and handout are close to finished, and the class is starting to fill up, so if you were thinking about joining us, you should probably sign up soon. (As always, classes are 25% off for Wordloaf subscribers, just remember use the code I sent out last week.)
-> Friday Night Pizza Party: Bar Pizza
Shaping ASMR
I love this video from Amanda Abou-Eid, co-owner of Proof Bakery in Mesa, AZ. I love all of the videos they share, but this one is especially satisfying, as she just casually walks us through the shaping process of a bench full of simple white sourdough loaves. What’s especially great is how she demonstrates how working with bread is a living, dynamic process, one that requires you to pay attention to what the dough needs at any given moment. Watching this video is the next best thing to working in a bakery and actually getting to do this sort of work day-in, day-out.
-> Artisan Sourdough Shaping Technique | Proof Bread
Tingmomo
Eater just published a recipe for tingmomo, these beautiful whorled steamed buns, from Tibetan recipe developer Kyikyi. I’m a huge fan of momo, the folded, non-yeasted stuffed dumplings, but this bun was news to me, and I can’t wait to make some.
As Kyikyi mentions, this fanciful, bi-colored technique is a modern variation, something created in the wake of exile:
So, while you can enjoytingmo made the traditional way with just flour and yeast, it is increasingly common to see Tibetans of my generation, who grew up outside Tibet, making our tingmo using ga-se (turmeric) and/or sonam penzom(cilantro). If you happen to see white tingmo at a Tibetan restaurant, it’s being served the traditional way. If it has a yellow hue or is flecked with green, you’re being served the more contemporary version.
Neither is any less authentic — the iterations of our food are reflections of our journey as Tibetans. We are trying to preserve roots that have been forcefully uprooted, all while trying to fit into and survive as exiles in our host countries, which, for many Tibetans like me, are the only homes we’ve known.
-> Tingmomo Is a Tibetan Treat You Should Know. Here’s How to Make It.
A Call to Action for Regional Grains
Nan Kohler, of the great Pasadena miller Grist and Toll, is appealing to anyone who cares about fostering a regional grain economy (that should be all of us!), to submit a letter or at least add a comment on her letter during the USDA’s open comment period regarding food supply chains and food security concerns, which ends on 6/21:
To anyone involved in regional grain efforts from farmer to eater, please read:
President Biden issued an Executive Order on examining our food supply chains and food security concerns. Public Comments on this topic are open until June 21.
I have submitted a letter and would like to encourage each of us to either do the same or post a public comment in support of my letter. There is power in numbers. Wouldn’t it be great if we overwhelmed the USDA on behalf of regional grain?!
Link in bio 👆🏻that takes you to the blog page where you can read my entire letter and find direct links to post your own comments. So far there are fewer than 200 comments. Regional farms, mills and bakers have thousands of supporters. We could really make some noise if we joined together and made our needs and efforts known. Please join me!
-> Grist and Toll - USDA Public Comments: America’s Supply Chains
Advice for the Loaflorn
That’s it for this week’s bread basket. I hope you all have a peaceful weekend, see you next week.
—Andrew
Enjoyed that Proof Bakery video, I've been wanting to switch to oval/long shape from round so it was helpful.
Thanks for the link to Proof Bakery. I enjoyed watching the shaping and her commentary. I then came across that bakery’s video on gochujang-roasted garlic-scallions sourdough. Made me wonder if you’d do a class on inclusions. Or at least write about it. Though I’d prefer a class, all things equal. Thanks, Andrew!