Manna From Devon Does Sourdough September
[This is one in a series of blog posts written by Charlotte the Intern. Tune in daily to find out about what she’s been up to, what she has been learning about, and all of the crazy things she does as part of the Manna from Devon team.]
I have a confession to make, a dirty little secret. It’s shameful, but it’s time for me to be out in the open about it. Here it is (deep inhale): I’ve never made bread.
Not sufficiently horrified? OK, fair enough. Here’s the worst bit: I once worked as a professional baker. Yes, exactly (long exhale). Now you understand my embarrassment.
I’m Charlotte, Holly and David’s new intern, and I’ll be living here in Kingswear for the next two months, blogging daily about all the different goings-on here at Manna From Devon. As you may have been able to tell already from my strange spellings and grammatical idiosyncrasies, I’m American, and like most Americans of my generation, I grew up with a misguided fear of making yeasted products and a strongly held belief that the only place to buy bread was the supermarket. As I became old enough to realize that I had the choice of where I could buy my food, and what I could make for myself, I started to fall in love with baking sweets and confections. But bread always eluded me. It just seemed like something I couldn’t teach myself.
Loaves of Pan di Campania and Rye Sourdough, fresh out of the oven.
This is one of the many reasons I’m so happy to be here at Manna From Devon this fall. I arrived on Wednesday, and within two days I had had my first bread lesson from David, when he and I (well, mostly David, with me stepping in to mess things up every now and again) made the loaves we would later sell at Brixham’s Fishstock on Saturday. During this time, I learned that David’s knowledge of all things bread-related is vast, and that he is generous with that knowledge, explaining each step in a clear, simple way, with explanations that are simultaneously scientific but not too science-y, if that makes sense to anyone else but me.
Luckily for all of you, David will be imparting his bread wisdom free of charge at the end of this month, in honor of the Real Bread Campaign’s Sourdough September. Manna From Devon will be offering a free “Sourdough Surgery” workshop, during which David will field questions from home bakers of any experience level. Bring your starters, your bread, your questions, and your love of baking, and he’ll get you sorted out and on the right path to making the perfect sourdough, whether you’ve ever tried it before or not. He’s even sending each guest away with a portion of his own 8-year-old sourdough starter!
Sourdough Surgery will be held in two sessions on Tuesday, September 24th, with ten spots available in each. Each session will include bread tastings, a brief lesson and chat about sourdough, and lots of other lovely snacks provided by Manna From Devon. So come by, and discover what I did merely two days ago: that baking bread need not be intimidating when you’ve got someone like David to learn from, and that good homemade bread is perfectly attainable!
Sessions will be held from 3:30-5:30, and from 6:30-8:30 on September 24th, and are already filling up! To book, please call or email us at:
t: 01803 752943
e: info@mannafromdevon.com
For more information about the Real Bread Campaign or Sourdough September, visit http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/ or http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/sourdough_september/
I hope to see many of you here at Manna From Devon on the 24th! If not, I hope to meet you around in the next couple of months. I’ll be the tall girl with the funny accent.