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Candied Ginger

I was astonished by the cost difference in straight ginger root and crystallized ginger. Appalled, even. So when I needed some for a recipe (see Peach Pie), I took out the pound or so of fresh ginger root and decided to make some candied ginger myself.
It ended up being a super sensuous experience. I never knew how aromatic and lovely boiling ginger could be. It is was beyond easy too. So now I don't have to justify that overpriced stuff at the store. I can just make it at home in about 30 min.
To make crystallized ginger:
Slice thin strips of ginger (I cut against the grain). Cut 1 pound at minimum.
Put in a heavy pot and cover with water. Set to boil and then turn heat to medium boil once it starts to roll.
After 30 minutes, the ginger should become clear and at this point drain the excess water. Add an equivalent amount of sugar to ginger (I added 1.5 cups). Add about 3 tbsp of water for each 2 cups of ginger. Put back on the heat and simmer at a medium to medium low heat.



Stir constantly as the sugar forms a paste on the ginger. Once the sugar paste is nearly dry on the ginger (no water unsolidified), spread out onto a wax paper to dry.


At this point, I had a rock sugar coating on my ginger. This was perfect for me. Eating the warm sugary ginger slices was like eating a piece of pure nectar. I had to stop myself when I started noticing my belly felt like it was full of fire!
I am not sure if there is a better way to not have the rock sugar effect. Perhaps use less sugar? Or cook for less time? Either way, I was happy with the result and so is my pie.

The Peach {Birthday} Pie

What a beautiful time of year here in Toronto. The sun is shining and warm, but the breeze is lovely and cool. And every produce stand is deluged with corn, bees, and PEACHES!

(the culprit...)

How could I resist? A very dear friend's birthday is Monday, so what a great excuse for peach pie!
I have never made peach pie, so after a bit of research and perusing various recipe suggestions (peach bourbon, peach caramel, peach galette, peach crumble), I decided on a very basic peach pie.
The first step is to peel the peaches. A great way to turn a potentially messy situation into a manageable task, is to start by blanching the peaches.
First, score the bottom of each peach.



Then submerge in boiling water for about 40 seconds.



Remove from water and place hot peaches in an ice-water bath. This will loosen the skin so that they are super easy to remove.

(these are the naked peaches, with a tactile feeling that elicits many analogies...)

I sliced the peaches - about 5 - 6 cups total.

(still life with kettle and peaches)

Added 1/4c flour, 3/4c sugar (half white, half brown), 3 tbsp chopped crystallized ginger, juice from 1/2 lemon.

Then I strained the mixture. My peaches were awfully ripe, and because I was about to become the biggest cheat in baking history (I am using ... pause .... a packaged pie shell *gasp*), I was afraid that the entire mixture wouldn't fit into my pie dish. So all the lovely juices and sugar ended up in a bowl. It was well over 1 cup of liquid that my pie couldn't afford to keep.

After pouring the peaches into the pastry dish, I dotted with butter.


And covered with the second pie shell.

Baked for 15 min at 425 F on the bottom rung. Then turned the oven down to 325 F for the next 30 min. It was gorgeous. But I had to resist temptation and let it sit until the following day for the actual birthday celebration.


Success! Honestly, this is one of the best fruit pies I have ever had. Just the freshest, most delicious fruit without any overbearing sugary sweetness. The pastry perfectly balanced out the softness of the peaches. And the ginger? A perfect twist that surprises. And my friend was so delighted with his peach birthday pie that we ate nearly half the pie in one sitting.

Mural of Meals, part 3 "Faster Food"

Sometimes we don't have time for "Slow" Food, but who says we have to plunk the take-out onto the table and dig in? Couldn't we just as well make it a bit pretty and then savour it while listening to our loved ones communicate their feelings? Oh ideals - how luxurious!
Here are some meals that were prepared with some take out and some love.

These are brussel sprouts from Whole Foods deli:

Although I am not a huge meat eater, we do occasionally go to our corner "Churrasqueira" and bring home some bbq. We like to dress it up with homemade sides:



We had a lot of fun with frise lettuce, dressed with lemon and our favorite chaat masala:


Here, I made a tofu fried rice from leftovers and added the churra bbq for the meat eaters:



In this case, we made the curry entree and got the samosas and chapattis from a Indian grocer:



This is kinda hard to see, but is one our favorite "junk food dressed up" (Mr. Noodle, with vibe; an oxymoron, no?):



And this is a spread of plain ol' deli meats, with fresh veggies:



(This just happened to be during Great Lent, so for dinner I was doing beautiful salads dressed with Braggs and lemon)


Next post: Sandwiches! (another "faster" food)

Mural of Meals, part 2 "Indian sides"

In keeping with my promise to start writing again without intimidating myself, here is my 50-words-or-less post.

Indian food is a perfect "slow food" meal. There is nothing like adding the requisite spices together, chopping countless onions and garlic, and creating the beautiful and palate-pleasing side salads.
Typically, with a spicy curry, we will arrange some fresh raw vegetables on the side to nibble on in between hot mouthfuls of curry.
The basics are sliced tomato, white onion, cilantro and lime or lemon. If you can find Chaat Masala in a local Indian grocery, that is simply divine atop sour plain yogurt.

Below is a picture with the entree. In this case, steamed rice and a curry.



This is the chicken curry with potatoes:



Another variation is to use cherry tomatoes, sliced white onion, yogurt and pile high with pickled green chilis:



Basmati rice is critical as a base for curry (although in a pinch, one can get away with lavash or naan instead). Here we have used our (not-so-slow) rice cooker and added just a hint of saffron threads and green peas:



Another absolutely beautiful array of fresh veggies. Tomatoes, white onion, radish, cilantro, green chilis, and sprinkled with lime and chaat masala:



Finally, the most delightful side is always the yogurt. Be sure to choose a plain, whole fat yogurt. If you can select a balkan or greek style, they are thicker and suited for this type of food. Throw some chopped cilantro and a heap of chaat masala on top and you have the perfect cooling dish to pair with tear-jerking curry.

Mural of Meals

So here's the most commonly said thing in blog-dom: I'm sorry; I've been too busy to write.
Ok, there. I joined the bandwagon. But to make up for it, I am posting a lovely photo mural of meals that have taken place over the last few weeks. These were all taken with the iPhone, and I think came out really nicely. Enjoy!

Omelet and Blueberry breakfast







First Kee Mao experiment (Thai "drunken noodle")








More to follow!

Finally settling in!

I apologize for the late notice, but I am just wrapping up the first week in my new place and things have been completely hectic, as I am sure you all understand. Someone once said the most stressful things in life are marriage (yes!), divorce (definitely!), and moving (indubitably!!). We managed to do the entire move in 1 weekend - packing and all. This week, we didn't even take a day off of work. So now we are realizing that all the pots and pans are still in boxes and we have exhausted nearly all the pizza places in town (scant pickings, by the way). So last night we mustered up the strength to get groceries and made a really fantastic salad.



Spinach Berry Fun Salad
(almost all organic ingredients)
Baby spinach
Red onion, sliced
Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
Red Pear, diced
Blueberries
Walnuts, Pecans, Cashew mix
Goat Cheese (for the non-vegan)

I try at all cost to avoid store bought salad dressing for many reasons. The main reason being that I love making my own salad dressing inventions and the second reason that they almost always have some weird poly/trans fats. But again, since all of our kitchen equipment is inaccessible for the time, I gave in to a bottle of dressing. Wow! I was really surprised. It was actually tasty and not full of crap ingredients. Nice.
I don't want to propagate the brand, because I am actually a bit ashamed that it was so good.



In the end, it was such a hit! And thank goodness too, because that's what we're having again tonight :)

Sunday Smoothie Recipe

Welcome to Sunday in June.
Gloriously overcast, slight chill in the air. But this is Toronto, so at least there's not 5 feet of snow. Today is a good smoothie day for me, so I thought I'd share the ingredients for what I just whipped up. I had 3 peaches and a young coconut as the base. I threw in a banana to thicken it up, and accidentally poured about 3 tbsp of raw cacao in (ooops!). Next time I may omit the cacao.



Peach Coconut Blast
3 ripe peaches
Juice from 1 young coconut plus a few scoops of the coco meat
small handful of goji berries
1 small banana
1 tsp raw agave nectar
4 dates (i soaked these in hot water to make softer for blending)
handful of raw cashews
optional: raw cacao powder

All together in a blender - pulse and blend on high until nice and smooth. Enjoy with a spoon!




What are your favorite smoothie recipes? I am interested in trying some different combos next time. Maybe trying some totally different ingredients as well such as avocado, lemon, and papaya.

Adventures in Meals pt. 1

The weekend. What could be a more perfect phenomenon? We spend all week building up to it, and then, if the Fates be with us, are able to undo our ribbons and completely unwind.
But this doesn't always happen does it?
There are dates and meetings to keep; chores to do; catching up on sleep (if lucky); keeping up with hobbies. Understandably, this scenario lends itself to grab-and-go meals and eating quickly while on the run.

In my house, we generally assume Friday night to be the "eat out" dinner of the week. It's just too much to do grocery shopping and plan a meal sometimes. Yesterday was no exception. But, instead of eating dinner out we started out the day by going for coffee at a cafe, followed by lunch at a French bistro, and returning home well after 9p for a "make what's in the fridge" dinner. Normally, I would eat raw during the day, but when work demands that I have breakfast and lunch meetings, I tend to be more lenient.

I thought I'd include some neat pictures we took of our adventures yesterday. First, we went to Dark Horse (Spadina & Queen location). This is my new favorite place in general, and I was thrilled when they opened up a second location right across from my office building. They only take cash for now, and have been packed the last 3 times I have visited. I like seeing a thriving coffee shop, it tells me that Dark Horse is able to do something right, and people are recognizing that.

There are some differences to the East end location: for one, the West DH has a second level that is mostly 2-3 chairs around little coffee tables, ideal if you are there to read or meet someone. The West DH also has 2 (!) communal tables and well high ceilings to give a very industrial-meets-french villa feel. I love the big, wooden community tables more than anything. Even if I am there alone, I know I can chat someone up and feel like perhaps Toronto doesn't exclusively embody stand-offish behaviour.

If you are going to Dark Horse for the first time, I highly recommend you get a latte. They really know how to create a perfect microfoam and pull a smooth espresso. Not to mention that every latte is topped by art - a technique of pouring the foam into the espresso such that it creates a pattern, sometimes a leaf or a heart.
They don't brew drip coffee, so if you want a "regular" cup of coffee, it's going to be an Americano (espresso diluted with hot water), which I would put to you is the best "regular" cup of coffee you will ever have.



We also brought a cappucino back for a co-worker (who is a Lettieri/Starbux exclusive) and he said it was the best capp he'd ever had. "It tastes somehow earthier." I don't know if he was being facetious based on the eco-cup (compostable, bio-degradable), or the fact that it is Fair Trade coffee beans. Either way, I have converted most of my co-workers to DH fans.

Another nice thing to try, especially if you're going to sit for awhile, is the French Press. It's a personal Bodum that produces about 2 cups of coffee. They also offer tea presses, which look really lovely.
As far as snacks go, Dark Horse offers homemade granola and sheep's milk yogurt. They also get treats from "Industrial Muffin." I recommend the carrot or the zucchini - fresh, just the right sweetness, but with plenty of texture like a muffin should have (muffins should not have the texture of cake).
We tried a Raspberry-Coconut Oat bar that was dense and not too sweet, but had a kind of flapjack texture. Actually, if I were in England, I think that's exactly what this would be.



Let me know what your thoughts are; in other reviews, I know people have expressed dislike for the communal table-vibe, the highest ratio of Macbooks to people, the price. But I can say that I am happy to pay more for a smiling barista; a open, social environment; and a really good espresso.


(More to follow ... lunch at a French Bistro!)

Experiments in Whole-Grains

Recently I've been trying to switch to primarily whole-grains in my breads.

Here is a 75% whole-grain wheat and 25% rye vegan marinara pizza I made:

I also recently checked out Peter Reinhart's excellent book "Whole Grain Breads" from the library. Using his recipes I made these whole-grain wheat bagels:

They were amazing. I think I'm going to have to buy the book.

Welcome to Spring, aka. Smoothie Season

Hello! It's officially spring here in Toronto: the sun is shining, everyone seems to be walking or biking, spending time in the garden and on decks. So in honor of the warmer weather, I am bringing smoothies back into my diet. I steered clear for the winter months because of the cold, and opted for more warming foods. My days are usually quite busy, so I tend to eat some fruit or trail mix (see Superfood article below), and then take time out with friends to prepare and share the evening meal together. Now, especially with get-up-and-go mornings, I am desiring something quick and easy to bring with me to work in the morning, but also nutritionally viable and exciting. Here's the first installment of Daily Smoothie Recipe:

Chocolate Pear Banana Blitz
(all organic ingredients, if possible)
1 banana
1 sliced pear
handful of raw cashews
4 dates (pitted)
2 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/2 c. Vitacoco
1/4 c. water, as needed

Blend together until smooth and enjoy with a spoon - yum!

I am going in to the office, so I thought I should probably bring something just in case I need a snack to tide me over til dinner. So, I quickly put together a few things we had in the fridge for an easy salad. It's surprisingly delicious, although really simple. Usually I do not use oil or vinegar, but would use lemon/lime and maybe Braggs or Nama Shoyu, but I am using what we already had in the cabinets and not being too picky.

Tomato Cucumber Salad
7 cherry tomatoes, quartered
4 in. of English cucumber, halved and sliced
sliced white onion, to taste
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
few dashes of toasted sesame oil
dash balsamic vinegar
Sea salt & pepper
(experiment with other spices as well: fresh mint, dill, or cilantro add nice zest)
Put all into container with lid and shake. Voila! Easy, transportable lunch or snack.

What are your favorite smoothie or salad recipes for rushed days?

Living to Eat, Eating to Live

"SOCRATES: Do you think that when people do something, they want the thing they're doing at the time, or the thing for the sake of which they do what they're doing? Do you think that people who take medicines prescribed by their doctors, for instance, want what they're doing, the act of taking the medicine, with all its discomfort, or do they want to be healthy, the thing for the sake of which they're taking it?" (Plato, Gorgias, 467c)

I'd like to take this post to talk about some of my own ideas about slow-food and the fast-life.

Socrates famously said that he did not live to eat, but ate to live, and it's worth thinking about what he meant. The ancient philosopher divided the world into two main categories of entities with a wide continuum between: things that are means (becoming), and things that are ends (being). In some sense this is also a discussion about necessities and luxuries. Necessities are things we do because we have to, luxuries are things we do because we want to. Ideally, of course, we would always live in luxury; practically speaking, this just isn't possible.

"...A man who lives like that won't be able to escape the fate he deserves; and the fate of an idle fattened beast that takes life easy is usually to be torn to pieces by some other animal--one of the skinny kind, who've been emaciated by a life of daring and endurance... So we must insist that there is something left to do in a life of leisure, and it's only fair that the task imposed, far from being a light or trivial one, should be the most demanding of all." (Plato, Laws 7.807a+)

How does this all relate to "slow food?" Well, according to Socrates, and I would agree, food is not an end in-itself but merely a means to happiness. Food does provide its own pleasure, but if we only eat it for the immediate satisfaction it provides, we're really missing the point of what the slow-food lifestyle (and perhaps life in general) is all about. Eating the best tasting foods is one of the reasons people in the West are in such bad health, and there are more important things in life that we can get from food than just a happy belly.

So are we wasting our energy spending so much time creating well-loved meals? Hardly! I think this is exactly what Socrates would want us to do, to transform eating from an excuse for simple pleasure into an activity that gives meaning and purpose to the rest of our lives. The food itself is not the goal, but is a way to bring family and friends closer together, a way to appreciate life in general.

The fast life is a necessity, it is the condition of our existence and not something that we desire for itself. It's something that we do because of what it brings us, but where we get the real meaning in our lives is through the interactions with those around us. We struggle through the day so that we can come home and relax, so that we can stop working for a little while and just enjoy our lives. Unfortunately the realities of everyday life, the fact that we must live in an imperfect world, will always force us back into the fray, into the fast-life. And while we're there we must commit ourselves to it and treat it with our full attention, because that is the nature of responsibility. But we can't lose sight of what it's all really for: a quality life with friends and family, going slowly to enjoy every moment.

If we transform eating from just a necessary experience, the simple shoving of calories down our throats, into a worthwhile kind of lifestyle, then I think we can satisfy both Socrates and the gourmand in all of us. Cooking and food preparation becomes not about the food, but about family, friends and meaningful relationships. Slow food is a kind of purgative for the fast life; a cure that helps to remind us of what's really important. We work quickly because we must, but we prepare food slowly because we can.

Superfoods, Super Expensive … or are they?

I have a confession to make: I am a closet superfood-ophile. In fact, I would go as far to say that I am a bit of an addict. I mean, I am not “harming” myself for these little treats, but I do go out of my way for them, and in fact, have had to make other sacrifices to get my fix.

A bit of background . . .

What the heck are these so-called “superfoods”? From the Wikipedia entry on superfood: “Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high phytonutrient content that some may believe confers health benefits as a result.” There is a comprehensive list of superfoods in that article that is pretty neat and I just updated to include a couple of my own favs: Physalis peruviana (aka Golden berry, aka Inca berry, aka delicious and amazing!) and Goji berry (aka Wolf berry).

My first encounter with superfoods (outside of the familiar blueberry, spinach, and the like) was when a new friend gave me a gift of dried golden berries. I was hesitant at first since they’re not very attractive dried, but he had spoken so highly, almost amorously of them, that I went ahead and popped a few in my mouth. Not knowing what to expect is an understatement; I was completely taken by surprise by their taste. Tart, with a hint of sweetness, and just a touch of something completely new (savoury almost). All in all - amazing!

Besides being a really unique berry taste experience, I looked over the touted health properties on the package: “These golden berries are rich in protein and fiber. This is an ideal source of B1, B6, B12 and phosphorus. Not only that, the Incan Golden Berries are a good source of vitamin A and C. It is a little known secret that the Incan Golden Berries contain vitamin P or bioflavonoid that has amazing antiviral properties. Moreover these are natural source of antioxidants that are natural slimming agents. It also helps in treating cardiovascular ailments. It is advisable to take these berries instead of popping multivitamin tablets.”

Oooh – Vitamin P?! I hadn’t even heard of Vitamin P before, let alone that I should be eating foods that contain it. I have always believed that whole food sources of nutrients and vitamins are better than taking supplements such as a multivitamin. Plus antiviral? Awesome. At the time, we were just coming up on another Toronto winter, which goes hand in hand with flu season. So this became my new “staple” and I made sure every week to stop by Kensington Market health food stores to grab a bag.

I started making a daily trail mix around that time to munch on throughout the day.

Ingredients:

A handful of each; all organic:

Golden berries (dried)

Goji berries (dried)

Cashews (raw – or at least as “raw” as I can get them)

Walnuts (raw)

Pecans (raw)

Cranberries or raisins or cherries or blueberries (dried)

Raw cacao nibs

This little mix has become my main sustenance; eating bit by bit all day until dinner time when I sit down for a real meal with friends or family. Almost religiously I go to the store when my supplies get low. Then I realized something – these superfoods are freakin' expensive!

Here’s a price breakdown of the above ingredients (in Canadian dollars and all organic) for about a week supply:

Golden berries – 16 oz - $25

Goji berries – 8 oz - $9

Cashews – approx. 16 oz - $10

Walnuts – 16 oz - $12

Pecans – 16 oz - $16

Dried blueberries – 8 oz - $10

Raw cacao nibs – 16 oz - $16

Total per week - $98

Holy cow! As you can see, this is one pricey food expense. That’s nearly $400 each month. Now before you go jumping to conclusions like, "Damn – give it up girl! Get yourself some counseling and get off the superfood crack before it leaves you penniless and high on cacao nibs."

Ahh, but just wait. I need to put those figures into perspective. Let’s say that instead of my superfood trail mix for lunch I eat deli meats. You know, the kind loaded with nitrates, cheese, beef and chicken - typical “lunch fare” for the average North American. Two important things to consider in this hypothesis:

1. The effect on the digestion and overall functioning of the human body (essentially feeling like crap)

2. The financial impact of dealing with health problems

(See The China Study for more info on the effects of a “high” quality protein diet)

Since we can’t understand in a scientific manner what negative health issues may arise (based on genetic considerations, lifestyle factors, etc) by someone eating a nitrate-filled, meaty lunch versus high antioxidant, superfood lunch, we have to exclude that from our analysis, but I think it should still weigh in, at least philosophically.

Here’s a price breakdown for a week’s supply of the above mentioned typical North American lunch fare:

Hotdogs + buns - $6

Cheese (sliced, deli) - $8

Ham (deli) - $8

Beef (ground) - $6

Spagetti + sauce (who eats plain ground beef??) - $6

Chicken (breasts) - $9

Bread for sandwiches (the fancy bakery kind) - $7

Fixins (tomato, lettuce. Who eats a dry sandwich??) - $10

Total per week - $54

Um, okay. So it’s about $40/week less than my superfood craze. But, besides the sandwich fixins, where’s the fibre? Where’s the fruit or vegetables? And look at my hips! That diet would have me whalin’ around after 3 weeks tops. So maybe saving $120 per month seems like a good idea, but consider the cost of health care, gym membership, and lost productivity. We could even consider the “carbon footprint” effect of eating a mostly meat lunch, although I don’t care to do so here. And don’t forget to take into account your overall energy level, mental acuity, and physical stamina. I mean when was the last time you ate a nice big bowl of spaghetti with meat sauce for lunch and then felt totally invigorated for the afternoon? Ha! After spaghetti, I am done for – good night, nurse! Following a couple handfuls of superfood trail mix, though, I feel alive and ready to focus on my work. I have even noticed less of a desire for the afternoon caffeine fix that I had come to expect after years of working in front of a computer.

For me, the choice is clear. Superfoods for lunch all the way. I’ll just have to take on a night job to support my habit ;)

What do you think? Is it compelling enough to give superfoods a shot; to take a chance on a possibly life changing (and pocketbook draining) new food?

Fast Life

We've explored the very initial threads of understanding Slow Food, but we should take a minute to consider the subordinate clause "Fast Life." As much as I would like to say that I have continued to live a life in the treehouses in Georgia, there came a time for me to be a bit more functional in society. Sure that begs the question: Was I not functioning and part of society before? Regardless of the implications of that statement, I decided I needed to start a career, maybe live in the city (*gasp*), and even care about earning money (*shock!*). For years, my ideals and naivete led me to the belief that hiding in a treehouse in the woods was the best I could contribute to the human race, and perhaps deep down I still adhere to some of those tenets, but for now I am pursuing a life of full engagement: living the city life, working the 9-5 beat, and stressing out over things like bills and internet connections.

Recently though, I came to realize that maybe it is not an "either/or" equation; maybe I can still maintain some of the previous joys of serenity and communion that I had discovered during the travels of my youth. So, 10 years later, I am embarking on a journey to revive those first loves: joining hands with fellow sweet beings; taking time to make a creative and nutritious meal; relaxing and breaking bread together. These little moments are a refuge from the daily grind of a fast paced and ever more quickly passing life.
Working hard at whatever project is on my plate takes my full attention and dedication - and perhaps I am a bit Randian in that view. I believe that we must create and delve deep into our work (handiwork by Husserl's usage); we must apply ourselves fully to this as it is our duty to our fellow sentient beings. Yet, through it all, not losing sight of the importance in taking time to pause and reflect and enjoy. One way that I do this is through Slow Food.


(Frise lettuce with chaat masala; parsley with sea salt and lemon; white beans; zucchini)

Slow Bread Basics: Part 1

Slow Bread Basics:
Part 1 - Ingredients

Bread is a perfect slow food. A quality loaf of bread can easily take days to properly prepare, and it takes literally weeks for a wild cultivated sourdough starter to reach its full flavor. Bread is also an excellent example of slow food because there are so many elements involved in its preparation and so many different techniques to master. From the selection of ingredients, to the methods of mixing, to the differences in heating, bread is a subject that has volumes written about it. Bread-making is an ancient art that humans have practiced for millennia with nearly endless variations, and all modern breads are based on thousands of years of experimenting and observation. Bread baking is thus a true human tradition, a ritual passed down through the generations and a way to connect with our ancestors and past as well as with those around us in the present. With a bit of practice anyone can make a great bread to be enjoyed by friends and family.

In a series of posts, I'm going to discuss the main elements involved in making a slow food bread. In the first part I'll give a rundown of the basic ingredients involved in the bread making process. I'm going to focus on the essentials since they're the ones you'll be using the most and the ones that will have the greatest effect on the bread. As we talk about bread, I'll show how all of these techniques can be put together to make a delicious slow food bread, in this case a New York style pizza dough.

One of the ways we come to learn about the world is by taking things apart and looking at their pieces. Every element in the bread making process is a complex structure that deserves its own in depth analysis. But the true magic of bread is not simply in any one of the ingredients, but rather in the special relationship among them. It is by mixing things together that we can bring out their hidden properties and to this end I'll be discussing the ingredients of bread with an eye for how they'll be interacting with each other. But even with the same exact set of ingredients, every baker will produce a different bread. This is because the most important "ingredient" in the process is the baker themselves. Knowing what is happening as you make bread gives you a kind of connection with the dough itself, you will learn to listen to the dough and respond to what it tells you. Important factors such as humidity and temperature vary from day to day, and so the ultimate criteria for a dough are never simply in the recipe, but must be created ever anew by the baker who works with the living dough. The bread becomes an extension of the body of the baker, the way it is shaped reflects the rhythm, strength and disposition of its creator. The bread becomes, to paraphrase famous American pizzaiolo Chris Bianco, a metaphor for the baker's soul.

The basic ingredients of leavened bread are: flour, water, yeast and salt, and that's it. With just those simple ingredients you can make a wonderful tasting bread. Olive oil and sugar (or honey) are useful, but they're not necessities (though olive oil almost deserves to be called a necessity). Yet, within this short list there is still a great deal of complexity.

(The Basics)

Flour is the body of our bread, it's what gives the bread its characteristic level of toughness and taste. Flour comes it many different varieties, each appropriate to a different kind of bread, but there are two main kinds of flour for basic bread making. Lighter AP flours make gentle breads such as baguettes and croissants, while heartier flours such as bread-flour are used to make tougher breads such as pizza and sandwich breads. Bread flour contains large amounts of protein which in turn produce gluten, and gluten gives bread "extensibility" as the bakers say, which is a fancy way of saying you can stretch it ("extensible" = "able to extend"). It also makes bread elastic, meaning that it will snap back to its original shape once you let it go. Gluten is pretty amazing actually, and understanding it is important to making good bread, overwork a light bread and you'll end up with heavy brick rather than a tender and springy croissant. Unfortunately, I've learned this the hard way.

After you've decided what kind of flour you need, there's still a great deal to consider, as not all flours are created equal. If you can, get unbleached flour, it just tastes better. Some pizza recipes recommend using special Caputo 00 flour, a product of Italy which is an especially fine grain but also full of gluten producing protein. Since it's hard to find flours like Caputo in some parts of the world, a lot of bakers like to make their own version by blending AP and bread flour in an attempt to mimic its properties, or simply to create new textures and tastes for their culinary experience. Once you've gotten comfortable with a bread recipe you can easily adjust the proportions of the flour to get just the right crust and crumb (another bread maker's expression referring to hardness and texture of the outside and inside of the bread). If you're making something like a sourdough starter, you may even need to get rye or organic flour for the naturally occurring bacteria they contain. Different flours from different areas will have their own unique properties, and this facilitates a true slow food experience. Bread making can be as time consuming a process as the baker will allow it to be, and one can spend days alone considering different kinds of flour. I've only just begun to experiment with locally grown organic flours but as with most slow food considerations the extra time pays off if not in taste then psychologically for the bond it gives you to your society and environment.

If flour is the body of the bread, then water is the blood. While this is perhaps not the most appetizing analogy, it's apt all the same. Transubstantiations aside, food expert Alton Brown suggests using charcoal filtered water for your bread. That or mineral water, though not distilled water, because that's had all of its impurities taken out through a steam boiling process, and some of those very impurities will contribute to our bread's flavor. If your tap water tastes good then it's probably adequate, but water is an important ingredient like any other and shouldn't be overlooked. Typically the only other thing you'll have to think about with your water is the temperature, primarily because of how it effects the development of our next ingredient: yeast.

For me, yeast, and the process of leavening and fermentation are probably the most amazing parts of the bread making process. The tiny, seemingly inert, dry grains of yeast we add to our dough are actual living beings which come to life in the substrate of the dough, awoken from a kind of hibernation. The yeast springs to life and begins to consume sugars in the dough and produce carbon dioxide (air bubbles) and ethanol (alcohol which is baked off later, but leaves a tasty flavor). By adding yeast to flour and water, we are almost literally breathing life into our bread. If flour is the body, and water is the blood, then yeast is the breath; yeast is the soul of our bread.

Once these pieces are in place, the dough will come to life. It will rise up before you, it will bubble, change it's texture and appearance. Like any living organism, yeast is effected by it's environment, by the humidity and temperature, so all of these things must be taken into consideration for it's storage and use. There are 3 main kinds of yeast: active, instant and cake. For most breads, instant dry yeast (IDY) will work quite well. Why "instant" yeast in a "slow" food discussion? A few reasons really, first and foremost, it works very well. Anecdotally, I've found IDY to be more reliable than active dry yeast (ADY), occasionally when I was using ADY my dough wouldn't rise as much as I wanted, and I had occasionally ran into some issues while proofing the yeast. Proofing, or soaking yeast in water before using it, is something you only need to do with ADY, though I often do it with IDY as well, and you can always do it with no harm. When you proof yeast you've got to make sure you get the water hot enough to wake it up, but not too hot so that you kill it. With IDY the yeast is so active you can give it cool water and it's still going to react plenty for whatever your doing, especially once the dough has warmed a bit through the friction and heat transfer of mixing and kneading. As for the last kind of yeast, "cake yeast," I've never had the pleasure of using it myself, but I would like to try it just for the experience (some bakers swear by it). Unfortunately it doesn't keep as well as the other yeasts and so it's not as easy to store. In other words you might end up buying more yeast than you can use before it goes bad. There seems to be some debate as to the exact difference between "instant dry yeast" and "rapid-rise yeast" with some people saying the two are the same and others saying they are quite different. I get the feeling there are some differences, though the yeast companies don't seem to help with clarifying the matter much. If you can, get IDY, not rapid-rise.

For most slow fermenting breads you won't use a lot of yeast, and that's the case with the pizza dough I'll discuss later. We'll also be slowing our yeast's reaction quite a bit by putting it in the fridge and I think this combination of fast yeast and a slow environment produces a good, flavorful dough.

One point I want to make before we leave our discussion of those wonderful little yeasts behind, relates to "starters". I have mentioned starters a couple of times and a few more words should be said on this point because it is yet another aspect of bread-making with tremendous depth. A "starter" or "pre-ferment" is a mixture of flour, water and yeast (it's basically more dough) that is prepared before the actual bread dough and developed for flavor. While starters can simply be made with store bought yeast, they also offer the opportunity for the collection of wild regional yeasts and bacteria which can be sustained and used in bread making either in place of or in addition to commercial yeasts. This is what we call sourdough. Clearly this is a topic that deserves it's own treatment, but suffice it to say that anyone interested in a true "slow food" approach to bread making will see the value and allure of cultivating your own bacteria and yeasts.

Only one other main ingredient remains before the dough is finished, and that is salt, the "secret" ingredient to all good cooking. I generally use sea salt and find it works well, but I'm also still experimenting to find the right flavor and texture for different dishes. Many baking recipes recommend kosher salt because it's a quality salt without any additives. As with every other ingredient all the variations lead to important differences, not the least of which has to do with the coarseness of the grain which can effect the taste of the food, and also effects the weight of the salt relative to its volume. Always remember, coarse grained salt will weigh less for the same volume, but that's something we'll talk about more when we get to our equipment. Salt serves a special function in the dough, slowing down the reaction of the yeast, and this is exactly what we want in a slow-fermenting bread. The slower development cycle will enhance the overall bread flavor and still produce an airy, leavened dough (if that's what we're looking for). While I haven't got a fancy metaphor for salt (I ran out of all the good ones), it's that little something extra that helps bread achieve excellence. Salt is a metaphor for salt.


Aside from these necessary elements, there are a few other ingredients to consider and have handy, first and foremost olive oil. Olive oil is a great addition to bread, and provides a perfect complement of tastes. But mixing olive oil into dough weakens its gluten strands, softening it and changing it's structure. Since we often worked so hard to create gluten we can see how adding olive oil might be going at cross purposes. Using just a little bit of olive oil, however, can add a delicious taste as well as an aesthetically pleasing golden sheen to your breads. A good balance of gluten and oil can be achieved by coating your dough ball with a small amount of oil right before it begins to ferment in the fridge. To do this, put the otherwise finished (though not yet fermented) dough in a bowl with a little bit of olive oil and roll it around coating it pretty much completely. This will keep the dough hydrated and also help keep it from sticking to the sides of the bowl. But keep it light and remember that it effects the physical composition of the dough.

Sugar is our other ingredient and it's not uncommon to find it in bread recipes (or it's cousin, honey). But sugar isn't absolutely necessary because flour already contains all the necessary sugars for our yeast to react and grow. So, we won't be using sugar in our pizza recipe since it would simply increase the rate of the yeast's reaction, sort of the opposite to what the salt's doing. As should be expected, here, slower is better.

So that's it, the basic elements of bread have been assembled. We can see that bread is a kind of paradox, both simple and complex, easy to make and impossible to master. It is a food of no consequence at times, simply a tasteless, processed white-bread plate acting as delivery mechanism for some other food, barely considered by the hungry mouth. Yet at other times it is the very epitome of delicacy, the height of subtlety and nuance, savored for it's structural complexity.

One of my favorite things about the slow-food movement is the care and time that is put into every aspect of the food making process and the connection it gives you to your food. Once you've learned about the differences in flour grains, and how the level of gluten effects bread texture you will have that much more of a connection to your food. And connecting with the world around us, the natural world and the world of human traditions, I think that's really what slow food is about.

Next time, I will continue by looking at the equipment necessary for making bread, as well as some of the basic methods for mixing dough. We will also start our pizza dough and begin the wondrous alchemical transformations of fermentation.

An East End Sorpreso: coffee the way baristas drink it

“if it weren’t for hidden treasures like Dark Horse, basically, at its core, Toronto sucks when it comes to drinkable coffee. It’s unfortunate in a multicultural city - 'the Centre of Canada' - that its more distinguished palates are tortured by the automatron of Starbucks not to mention the metal-in-your mouth of Timmy’s”-Resentful Barista

Under this chandelier i could envision a million different scenarios for what these two men are plotting over lattes in goblets. The one in the ski cap is the dreamer (i bet a full head of hair hides under there); the one in the peacoat (slightly balding) has eyes of a cynical hue, left-brained questioning. Whatever this business plan they are scheming - importing authentic italian cannolis, investing in the newest save-a-bank venture, puerto rican real estate - one never knows the plot of the italian men across the wooden CHAUCER-ESQUE TABLE IN THE DARK HORSE ESPRESSO BAR.

So i call the bartender - “barista” in Italian - I call him Ferland, besides the fact that he is wearing a "Ferland" jersey, he looks like a Ferland and it suits his personality with his quirky description of industrial muffin ingredients versus the banana muffin. He makes it sound like a dialogue from a Stella McCartney film:
Customer: What kind is that one?
Ferland: That’s the Industrial Muffin - no sugar, no butter, egg-free , with coconut and raspberries - really tasty...
Customer: And which is that one?
Ferland: That’s a banana nut muffin (dryly, as though the ordinariness of it offends his sensibility). This one is “healthy”, and this one “not” so healthy.

The Dark Horse baristas are approachable.

WAIT a sec! Did you hear me correctly - a barista and approachable in the same sentence??
Yes, that's right: no snobbery here (at least as far as my experience has shown me), no "your coffee order is a supreme burden for me" attitude. It's like what you would expect from your local bar: a bartender/therapist. And it's what we all need sometimes, an open ear and a smile.

"When we open the Queen and Spadina location, YOU’ll hand ME the coffee.” Ferland quips to another customer, Burrito man. Ha ha ha, the laughter.

Interestingly, in a city where the hospitality and social graces mirror a native New Yorker, Dark Horse somehow facilitates a generosity of spirit - a bit rebellious in the face of a soft city trying to prove, like an impudent 13 year old, "we mean business" to the world.

Now there is a networking with the burrito man and a little lady.

Aside: Apparently the barista used to work for Burrito man and had it out in an alley in the back with a co-worker. “Just so you know” he reenacts his departure and mock-seethes, “I am leaving because of you. Because you are a BAD person.”

But as the burrito place has shut down, little lady inquires, “So what do you do now?” Ahh - networking at its best: organic and over espresso.

Apparently, i overhear, Ferland is closing Thursday and Friday. Now I know how i’ll be spending my after-work time. It’s so shitty to go home straight from work. I have realized this from the displaced feeling that i have rushing home straight after the ol' dodo tail is pulled. Sitting at my stupid looking kitchen table pouring over notes and pages to find some semblance of creative thinking in prose form; something to make me feel like I am still a creative person and that my job has not sucked away all my spirit. But at least my homemade coffee is good - that makes it worth the dark, dank decorum and harassment by various animal noses. Now - a new refuge!

My resolve? Go to Dark Horse. Drink espresso. Work on manipulating my thoughts until they can be transferred from my mind into my Mac and perhaps, one day, be processed by another human mind. And maybe meet a couple new faces along the way. ("What's that you've been working on so intently?" asks another latte drinker. Yes, this is definitely a different kind of place.)

Thank the beans for caffes and wifi.

(Editor’s note: Dark Horse provides free wifi to accompany it's killer small-batch roasted coffee, and expertly handled latte art)
- Cafe Review from March 2009