Page 40 - WCM Summer 2022

Permaculture Bread on the Rise
Decoding an Animal’s Winter Journey By Emily MacCabe Artful Tradition, Modern Creativity by Johanna Sorrell
The beautiful anatomy of a “Langtown” Sourdough loaf.
“There is not a thing that is more
positive than bread.”
~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’m lucky to live with a dedicated home baker. Every few days the exquisite smell of warm, fresh bread permeates my home as a beautiful sourdough boule arrives on the cutting board, just out of the oven, crackling gently. As it cools and the crust settles into its crispy crunch, we stand impatiently with butter at the ready. Gathered around the cutting board, immediately devouring half the loaf, I’m hard-pressed to think of a more delightful, delicious, simple pleasure.
Consisting only of flour, water, yeast, and maybe a pinch salt, bread is the essence of simplicity. But here’s the thing: Bread isn’t simple. It’s anything but, in fact. The creation and evolution of bread making is a process that’s been around for thousands of years, and yet it’s still evolving. As Michael Pollen writes in his book Cooked, “Few things are as ordinary as a loaf of bread, yet the process by which it is made is extraordinary – and still something of a mystery even to those who study it or practice it every day.”
Although derived from simple ingredients, baking bread is a complex mixture of history, art and science, the combination of which can produce some delectable results. Here in Western Maine, we’re lucky to have an array of bread makers that begin in a place of tradition and history, but incorporate new and creative ideas, flavors, and techniques.
Bigelow Fields Bison Ranch + Bread House, Eustis
For the Bread House at Bigelow Fields Bison Ranch, it all started with a starter.
“I had a friend back in D.C. who used to make incredible sourdough breads,” describes Nichole Weaver, co-owner of Bigelow Fields Bison Ranch + Bread House. “They used their own starter - one that they’d been carrying around
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www.westcoastmaine.com
Johanna Sorrell