Man Cannot Live By Bread Alone...
I was at a friend's house-warming at the weekend, and as we are in the Middle East and the weather is a few notches warmer than the UK it was a BBQ. When going to a do like this I like to take food items which are easy to make in bulk, so usually hummus, marinaded meats, a fish or two from a spearfishing session, a salad or, as in this case, bread.
To me, making bread like this is fairly straight forward (bread is, once you get the hang of it), but what struck me was that people at the party, including those who had made and brought some pretty amazing food stuffs, were commenting on the things! Now, the bread in the Middle East, unless of the Arabic or Turkish kind, tends to be either naff (too sweet/ full of rubbish) or expensive, which is half the reason I make my own. This said, it still surprises me how many people have not had the experience of bread making. This then got me thinking about education, and why we should all be teaching students how to make bread...
This might sound like an odd idea, but hear me out: In the tradition of The Great British Bake Off, you could design an entire whole school 'Bread Week' of cross curricular activities, and it would touch on many of the ideas that we try and teach day in day out. Also, as a food stuff which is pretty much in every persons diet in some shape or form, should we not be showing students what goes into the food they are eating?
To get the obvious out of the way, Mathematics could be looking at the weights and measures/ percentages of ingredients etc, Sciences the biological and chemical properties of yeast and why we need the gluten of strong flour to make a better loaf. English could look at why bread is used in literature and sayings while History and Geography could easily spend a day looking at how breads are different around the world (and why - yeasted breads/ soda breads/ flat breads etc), and the social and cultural aspects of bread (in many cultures it was the preserve of the women folk, the importance of the baker in society etc.) And all this before we even get messy making baps/ buns or loaves!
Why you may ask is a Music Teacher so concerned with getting bread making on the menu in schools? Apart from I like the idea of students getting to understand this food staple first, as a bread like item is used in pretty much every single culture, it is a great way to celebrate our similarities and differences. I also believe that it could be a great way into different cultures, their beliefs and societies, and through that, their cultural identity, including the arts; a way of saying, this might be different to what you are used to, but it still shares similarities with your background. Maybe I should start my next project on African Music with songs sung by women pounding the grain into flour....
If you would like a go, a basic recipe goes a little like this:
500g Strong Bread Flour
7-10g fast action dry yeast
7-10g salt
350ml lukewarm water
a little sugar (if you wish)
Once you have the hang of it experiment - yoghurt gives a silky texture, beer and cider work well, change out 50ml of the water for 50ml of olive oil for a more Italian taste (even more oil if you want), butter can be added, cooked meats/ cheese/ herbs and spices are all good.
Paul Hollywood is a great chef to take inspiration from.
Enjoy...
To me, making bread like this is fairly straight forward (bread is, once you get the hang of it), but what struck me was that people at the party, including those who had made and brought some pretty amazing food stuffs, were commenting on the things! Now, the bread in the Middle East, unless of the Arabic or Turkish kind, tends to be either naff (too sweet/ full of rubbish) or expensive, which is half the reason I make my own. This said, it still surprises me how many people have not had the experience of bread making. This then got me thinking about education, and why we should all be teaching students how to make bread...
This might sound like an odd idea, but hear me out: In the tradition of The Great British Bake Off, you could design an entire whole school 'Bread Week' of cross curricular activities, and it would touch on many of the ideas that we try and teach day in day out. Also, as a food stuff which is pretty much in every persons diet in some shape or form, should we not be showing students what goes into the food they are eating?
To get the obvious out of the way, Mathematics could be looking at the weights and measures/ percentages of ingredients etc, Sciences the biological and chemical properties of yeast and why we need the gluten of strong flour to make a better loaf. English could look at why bread is used in literature and sayings while History and Geography could easily spend a day looking at how breads are different around the world (and why - yeasted breads/ soda breads/ flat breads etc), and the social and cultural aspects of bread (in many cultures it was the preserve of the women folk, the importance of the baker in society etc.) And all this before we even get messy making baps/ buns or loaves!
Why you may ask is a Music Teacher so concerned with getting bread making on the menu in schools? Apart from I like the idea of students getting to understand this food staple first, as a bread like item is used in pretty much every single culture, it is a great way to celebrate our similarities and differences. I also believe that it could be a great way into different cultures, their beliefs and societies, and through that, their cultural identity, including the arts; a way of saying, this might be different to what you are used to, but it still shares similarities with your background. Maybe I should start my next project on African Music with songs sung by women pounding the grain into flour....
If you would like a go, a basic recipe goes a little like this:
500g Strong Bread Flour
7-10g fast action dry yeast
7-10g salt
350ml lukewarm water
a little sugar (if you wish)
- Shift the flour and salt together
- Add the yeast and sugar to the water and leave until it starts to fizz.
- Mix together and then knead the dough for 5-10 minutes (basically until it goes from a squidy messy to a nice little ball).
- Cover and leave to prove until double in size (usually just over the hour)
- Knock back - knock all the air out of the dough and then shape into either rolls or a loaf shape
- Leave for another 30 minutes to rise again.
- Cook in a hot oven (200-220C). 15-20 minutes for rolls, 30-40 for a loaf.
- When cooked the bread will sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Leave to cool (usually 30" in my house)
Once you have the hang of it experiment - yoghurt gives a silky texture, beer and cider work well, change out 50ml of the water for 50ml of olive oil for a more Italian taste (even more oil if you want), butter can be added, cooked meats/ cheese/ herbs and spices are all good.
Paul Hollywood is a great chef to take inspiration from.
Enjoy...
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