Jordan Bourke - Healthy Baking: Nourishing Breads, Wholesome Cakes, Ancient Grains and Bubbling Ferments

a healthy approach

I was nervous about using the word healthy in the title for this book, as there has been somewhat of a backlash against the clean eating movement of late. In the end, I decided to keep it in, as I believe food is there to be celebrated, not feared. I want to reclaim the word for what I believe it really means a healthy approach to food, cooking from scratch, and a return to forgotten skills like bread making and fermentation.

The recipes in this book contain plenty of fats in things like avocados, chorizo, and olive and coconut oils. Sugars are there too, whether maple syrup, honey or coconut palm sugar. The book is also full of dishes made with complex carbohydrates from the various grains I use rye, spelt, quinoa, brown rice, lentils and so on most of which are also a good source of protein. Vitamins and minerals are also abundant in the great variety of fruits and vegetables I cook with, not to mention the ferments, which contain a thousand times more lactobacillus, the healthy gut bacteria, than natural yoghurt. The point is, when our grandparents harped on about everything in moderation they had it absolutely right. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and water are the six essential nutrients needed for our bodies to survive. We need to stop victimising ingredients and find a healthy balance.

Anchoring the recipes in this book is the use of natural and whole ingredients by which I mean they have come from the land, sea or animal with as little interference as possible, with no additives, flavourings or preservatives. Thats not to say Im obsessive though I dont mill my own flour or boil down the sap of a coconut blossom to make my own coconut palm sugar! Im quite happy using some ingredients that have gone through minimal processing to make them fit for purpose in a home kitchen but I know where to draw the line. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself whether you could, with the right equipment, make this ingredient at home if you had the time, knowledge and inclination. If the answer is yes, you should be good to go.

Of course everyone responds to ingredients in different ways, so feel free to make these recipes your own. Personally I avoid using white cane sugar, opting for coconut palm sugar instead, as I prefer its flavour. And while I enjoy some cheese now and then, I dont feel fantastic when I eat a lot of milk or cream, so I use rice, almond or coconut milk instead but by all means use the regular version if you feel good eating it. Simply use the alternative in the recipe in the same quantities.

bread and sourdough

My love of bread, in particular the satisfying acidity of sourdough, was to a great extent born of my passion for kimchi the ubiquitous Korean fermented vegetable dish. When I started exploring fermentation in greater detail years ago, I read more and more about its use in other kinds of ingredients, and sourdough bread was one of them. I began experimenting and was immediately hooked. The tactile pleasure of making the bread, together with how much better I feel eating it and the knowledge of the simple goodness that goes into it is immeasurably satisfying. Here I have included not just sourdough recipes, but also yeasted loaves, flatbreads and wraps, for the days when you dont have the time to make a sourdough from scratch. There is also a chapter full of recipes for using up any leftover bread, like the kimchi, egg, avocado and feta on sourdough, . While Im passionate about sourdough and making real bread, I am by no means a master baker, and the chapter in this book is only the tip of the sourdough iceberg. For further reading and in-depth knowledge of the intricacies and science behind bread making, check out books like Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson.

fermentation and preservation

Without doubt, one of my most fulfilling and useful kitchen pursuits is fermentation and preservation. These beautiful and healthy jars of fermented, pickled and stewed fruit and vegetables fill my fridge and counter-top and have the ability to transform dishes at the last moment, with deep and exciting flavours and textures. Ferments are one of my favourite ingredients to pair with sourdough bread (a ferment in its own right), savoury bakes and grain salads, so I have included them in this book to encourage you to make them yourself at home. My wife Jina was fortunate enough to grow up in South Korea, where this kind of kitchen pastime is second nature, and that is really how it should be. In our book Our Korean Kitchen we covered most of the classic ferments of the country, but here I wanted to open up fermentation and pickling to a more Western audience, as it is still an area that is approached with caution by most people. In fact, it is a straightforward process and the hands-on time required is minimal, but their effect is great and they last for months.