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Note: Meetings are usually held on the second Sunday of each month, September through May, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Currently we are meeting via Zoom, but in-person meetings are held at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, Maryland, and occasionally at other venues. The meetings are open to anyone. However, certain meetings may require a fee.
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Yeast-free Breads Rising Around the World
December 11, 2022 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
TALK DESCRIPTION
What is bread? Is it cereal or pulse-based? Is it fermented? What microbes raise the dough? These are basic questions that support an in-depth understanding of this culinary invention. My focus is to examine the bread fermentation methods developed around the world that capture microbes other than yeast. Yeast-free risen breads have a long history, going back thousands of years. Such breads occurred in ancient urban centers of Constantinople in Byzantium Turkey, in Aleppo, Syria, on the Greek island of Crete, and on Cyprus. Other locations of yeast-free breads are from obscure, isolated areas, such as the Appalachian region in the early United States, Sudan, and South Africa. This list is not comprehensive as yeast-free bread traditions are continually revealed from other locales. The risen breads in this talk are fermented by bacteria. The indigenous plant sources, the climate, and the unique culture from each region have shaped the design of the methodology and the finished product. Descriptive traditional variations will be shared with recipes included. It is my goal to document these bread traditions before they disappear.
SPEAKER BIO
Genevieve (Jenny) Bardwell lives in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, an Appalachian community where salt-rising bread has been a part of life for over 200 years. In her quest to understand this beloved heritage bread, she has spent decades extensively researching its history, lore, and science. This quest has taken her to bread museums, bakeries, and science laboratories across the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, as well as into the kitchens of many elderly salt-rising bread bakers. She started Rising Creek Bakery in 2010 in Mt. Morris where it continues to specialize in salt-rising bread, shipping hundreds of loaves weekly throughout the U.S. and Canada. She co-authored the only book on this bread with her colleague, Susan Ray Brown (Salt Rising Bread: Recipes and Heartfelt Stories of a Nearly Lost Appalachian Tradition. 2016. St. Lynn’s Press, Pittsburgh). Genevieve graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and earned a Master’s in Plant Pathology. She continues to conduct research on wild fermented breads and teach classes about salt-rising bread.
Website: wildfermentedbreads.com
Video on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fVfhsOL1Zo&t=233s