Day 27 out of 40

My mom’s notebooks read “add flour to the right consistency” and I have shied away from that way of baking for decades. How would I know how much flour? Not until I mess up a few times and figure out what the flour needs.

Baking with intuition is bringing ourselves, ingredients, skills, ideas and time together to make bread that is a snapshot of life. It is also a process of opening us up as we open ourselves up to the outcome of what bread is and can be. 

Many people seem to be trying to make their best breads, and I find myself trying to figure out how to “mess up” and still get bread that reflects my life. I started working on this idea of #rethinkingperfect when I traveled to Pantanal in Brazil and took only my sourdough starter with me. I got to make bread at our friend’s guest house with the cook that worked there. As I was baking, I realized I had everything I needed to make bread, a simpler way, for many the only way they have ever known — we have flour, we add water, we make some bread. As I was telling our friend Vicente and he started singing the song Meio De Campo by Gilberto Gil:

 “Dear friend Afonsinho 

I’m still here improving the imperfect

Giving time, finding a way, brushing aside perfection …

Without fear of “the perfect” …  

We become open to all the opportunities bread allows us to see.

Intuitive Sourdough Bread without a recipe

If you would like to make an #storycookingfreestyle bread or #intuitiveloaf with me, here my steps:

Add a thin layer of leaven (fed starter) to cover the bottom of your bowl. If you don’t have sourdough starter, add a few pinches of commercial yeast.

Add about an inch of liquid to the bowl with the leaven (include vegetable purees here is using)

Add 4-5 grabs of salt to taste (like the ocean)

Add flour (porridge, seeds, nuts, etc) until you are able to form a ball.

Keep mixing until the dough “cleans” or releases itself from the bowl.

After mixing, develop the dough however you like: fold, slap, claw or give it time – the dough will still rise

Shape sourdough. Place in a bowl or loaf and let it rise again. On the counter (faster) or in the fridge (slower).

 Bake.