Bryan Ford - New World Sourdough

New World

Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads

WITH RECIPES FOR BIROTE, BAGELS, PAN DE COCO, BEIGNETS, AND MORE

Bryan Ford

Founder of ArtisanBryan.com

Baking bread. Those two words, together, take me to a different world. A world of creativity. A world of passion. But, if you have ever read my blog, youll know that the most important world those words bring me to is the world my parents are from. My roots. My parents were born and raised in Honduras. My father is an Afro-Honduran from La Ceiba, where African slaves were brought to work on banana plantations, among other forms of labor. My mother is from San Pedro Sula, where the indigenous Mayan people were conquered by the Spanish, who were completing their final voyage to the New World.

Although my parents initially imigrated to New York City in the 1980s and I was born in the Bronx, we promptly relocated to New Orleans. My parents saw opportunity there due to its existing Honduran population. In the early 1900s the banana trade took many Hondurans to New Orleans and created the largest population of Hondurans in the United States (though my birthplace, the Bronx, may have something to say about that). New Orleans became my home and I grew up eating the best of both worlds.

At home, Honduran cuisine was the norm. I watched my mother knead tortilla masa, or dough, time and again. I could tell that the process of making tortillas was a methodical and meditative one. Not too much flour, she would tell me, as the dough would be too dry. The key to a good tortilla hondurena is coconut milk, she would say. You need to find the right balance between the amounts of coconut milk, water, and oil. I listened and watchedwaiting for my chance to, one day, take part in this tradition. To make baleadas, the tortillas are filled with creamy red beans, crema (cream), and queso fresco hondureno (fresh Honduran cheese). In New Orleans, this cheese is, thankfully, readily available. For dessert she would always treat the family to pastelitos de pia. These pineapple jamfilled hand pies were always gone before they had a chance to cool. If it wasnt that for dessert, my dad would come home with a fresh bag of semitas or pan de coco, which would be perfect for afternoon coffee on the porch and for the wirros (Honduran slang for kids) to have with milk. I always knew Honduran bread was special and delicious and I am so happy that I not only make it regularly, but can also share parts of it with you.

Combined with these traditions is my experience as a line cook in New Orleans. When added together you get Artisan Bryan. I bake becauselike New Orleansits fun and shouldnt be taken too seriously. Your environment dictates the bread you can createand Im not talking about climate and temperature. Im talking about how you feel and the emotional connection you have to your roots, upbringing, and city. It is said that when you bake bread, your emotions show in the dough and the final bread. Ive always found this to be truebut its time to take that a step further. I find that when you allow yourself to be free of judgment and expectation, you will find a greater appreciation and satisfaction in the bread you make with your own two hands.

Take a moment to remember that to achieve certain characteristics in bread you must start from scratch. That means you must accept that it will take some time to cultivate your craft and acquire knowledge. Make sure you balance your expectation for perfection with an appreciation of the processes, showing satisfaction with yourself and your bread every step of the way. Here are two philosophies I carry with me as I have progressed from home baker to head baker and bakery consultant.

Be Understanding.

Understand that there really are no rules or boundaries in baking. Learn to embrace your instincts, emotions, and passion. Most importantly, understand that it takes a lot of time and practice to achieve certain aesthetic traits in your bread.

Take Your Time.

Consistency and perfection are not bad goals to have! But they take timeand you should take every second of it. Cherish the moments of struggle and experimentation as you watch them turn into predictable and reliable forms of baking bread. Trust me, even the most seasoned bakers deal with the fluctuation of many variables every day. What does this mean? That you will always need to have patience to achieve your bread goals. If you stick with the process and use your passion to cultivate your craft, you will get the results you seek.

What Is New World Sourdough?

Whether you are a home baker or a professional, this is a great time to be a new world sourdough bread baker. The internet and social media, like in most industries, has made detailed information about the craft readily available. But, how much is too much? Should a brand-new baker be worried about hydration levels and crumb structures? I learned how to bake long before I had an Instagram or Facebook account and it was out of curiosity, pleasure, and necessity. My dad really liked cinnamon-raisin bagels from the store, so, when I was a wirro, I learned to make a cinnamon-raisin bread for him. It was pure imagination, not with the goal to make a bread with a certain type of crumb structure, but to make something to please and nourish my loved ones. He even liked it when I didnt grease the loaf tin and burned the loaves to a crisp. And although my mothers tortillas had the perfect flavor and shape every time, she never used a recipe. They werent perfect because she, initially, sought to make perfect tortillas. Her mastery of the craft came simply through repetition and using her instincts as her guide. Her tips and tricks to kneading the perfect masa are hilariously unorthodox, such as oiling a cutting board and putting it diagonally in the sink to get the right angle to amasar, or knead. Although I wont get into the whole history of bread, I cant imagine that, for the thousands of years in which bread has been baked, the end goal of a perfect crumb structure and aesthetics dominated the conversations between the village miller and baker.

Speaking of aesthetics, what is it that makes a sourdough bread distinctly a sourdough bread? At grocery stores I always find it interesting to see packaged loaves labeled San Francisco sourdough. Most people equate the word sourdough with a certain flavor profile and appearance. Although I do enjoy a nice, crusty loaf of sour bread, I perceive sourdough as simply a means to make different kinds of bread rise in a healthier and more natural way. In Honduras, a traditional pan de coco was not even leavened. As the coasts were abundant with coconuts, the meat and water from the coconut were mixed with flour and water and baked in stone ovens. Before the introduction of commercial yeast, one can imagine that the beginning of wild yeast and natural leavening occurred unintentionally and instinctually in the baking process. If you let a flour and water mixture sit long enough, it will fermentespecially in a tropical climate. A dense loaf of pan de coco is no less sourdough than a crunchy batard with an open, light crumb.