FW: Article about bread from last Sunday's NYT

[Guest guest]

FYI: This is a very interesting article about wheat that even the

wheat-sensitive seem able to eat, and why.

Good food for thought--

--lp

There are two make-or-break factors that Jeff Ford can’t control as a vendor at

the farmers’ market in Madison, Wis.: the weather and roller-coaster diet

trends. His 12-year-old bakery, Cress Spring, survived Atkins, then experienced

a sustained bump when

Oprah<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/oprah_winfrey\

/index.html?inline=nyt-per> urged a switch to whole grains. These days, Ford

said with a shake of his ponytail, everyone thinks he’s allergic to wheat.

Skip to next

paragraph<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t.html?_r=1 & ref=maga\

zine#secondParagraph#secondParagraph>

Related

Recipes: Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat

Bread)<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t-001.html?ref=magazine\

> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Pain au

Levain<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe1.html?ref=magazi\

ne> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Mother Starter for Bread

Dough<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe3.html?ref=magazin\

e> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Raisin Rye

Bread<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe2.html?ref=magazin\

e> (October 11, 2009)

The Moment: Weighing In | The Baker's

Dilemma<http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/weighing-in-the-bakers-dil\

emma/index.html?ref=magazine>

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yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')>

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Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Still, by noon every Saturday, he’s sold out of the 400 loaves he loaded into

his muddy pickup in rural Blue Mounds. That’s because Ford’s bread is different.

His tangy, crusty loaves, baked in a wood-burning oven built by the legendary

mason Alan , are made using obscure organic grains that he sources locally

and grinds himself, and leavened using natural fermentation rather than

industrial yeast.

Ford’s customers, some with medically diagnosed wheat allergies, have found that

they have no problem digesting Cress Spring’s Kamut, spelt and all-rye breads,

even the French white loaf, which — Ford is aware of the paradox — is one of his

best sellers. (He sneaks up to 35 percent whole-wheat and rye flours into it,

explaining: “White bread is just a mystery to me. Everything tastes better with

rye.”) Even a Manhattan nutritionist could probably polish off a Cress Spring

loaf without bloating.

According to the baker, Americans’ wheat issues start on the farm. “The

varieties of wheat grown in this country for industrial production are down to

about five, so it’s all monoculture, chemicalized, no nutritional value,” said

Ford, a serene, 43-year-old metalhead turned Deadhead who got his start as an

accountant in a worker-owned Madison bakery. “The breeds are bred to stand up to

abuse from the machines. We feed people this stuff that their bodies are not

designed or adapted to eat. Of course they’re sensitive to it, and it’s not good

for them and causes problems. And then we apply those standards to this?” he

asked, gesturing to the tubs of dough around him, slowly rising to the beats of

Black Star.

Cress Spring’s natural fermentation method is part of what makes its 13 bread

varieties easier to eat. Instead of using instant yeast, which basically

produces gas to rapidly inflate the dough without imparting flavor, Ford

cultivates his own. Using precise measurements calculated on a spreadsheet (once

a math geek . . .), he buries a ball of flour and water in a bag of flour for

four or five days to create the foundation of his sourdough starters, which are

then fed more flour and water days before they are formed into dough in a tall

old mixer that has a picture of Bob

Dylan<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/bob_dylan/ind\

ex.html?inline=nyt-per> taped to it. “It’s called sourdough because you build up

high acidity, and the yeasts have developed the ability to tolerate them,” Ford

explained.

While yeasted breads can go from mixer to oven in a few hours, Ford’s

orchestrated slow-rise method requires almost 24. The process changes the nature

of the grain, breaking down its natural defenses and thereby making its

nutrients more accessible to the body. (“Grains don’t want to be eaten,” he

pointed out with a wry laugh. “They want to grow.”) It also changes the flavor

of the bread, imparting a sweet sourness and complexity. Since the only

ingredients are grains, water and Celtic salt, the loaves have more longevity,

too: Ford sliced me a piece of week-old Swiss rye that was still moist. Toasted

for a few seconds at the lip of the 600-degree oven, it made an ideal

accompaniment to a dinner of hearth-seared buffalo hanger steak.

The grains are an important part of Ford’s craft, as well as of his Wendell

Berry-fed philosophy. He buys his rye, spelt and soft wheat as locally as

possible — a nearby farmer used to sell him rye harvested by oxen — and gets his

hard wheat from Minnesota and his Kamut from North Dakota or Montana. He grinds

them on mixing day to maximize their nutrition.

His longstanding dedication to local grains (he briefly tried growing his own

wheat) and same-day milling was ahead of the recent renaissance of bakers who

are fulfilling the snowballing desire for local foods in a harder-to-fill part

of the table: the breadbasket. In Skowhegan, Me., for example, organizers of the

Kneading Conference for wood-fired-oven baking and local grain cultivation are

transforming an 1860s jailhouse into a grist mill and bakery, where they will

grind Maine wheat for their loaves.

Ford said that he was hoping to get through our interview without using the word

“sustainable.” But, he said with a sigh, “here we are.” When he built the bakery

on communal farmland, literally constructing his house around the massive oven,

it was with the idea of creating a business that could withstand environmental

and economic collapses. Alan came to help build Ford’s 4-by-6-foot hearth

as part of a paying community workshop. (In the baking world, having , who

died in January, build your oven is like having Steve

Jobs<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/steven_p_jobs/\

index.html?inline=nyt-per> set up your laptop. Ford’s baking partner, a

29-year-old woman who goes by the name of Biggie Lemke, dropped her Manhattan

cooking career to apprentice at Cress Spring when told her about the oven

he had built in Wisconsin.) Ford chops his own wood and gets scraps from a

Madison mill, buys all the ingredients for his pastries and granola from his

neighbors and fellow market vendors and, if need be, he can try growing his own

wheat again.

Over the years, he has shrunk his business to a more comfortable scale,

virtually ending wholesale in favor of a manageable, and profitable,

home-delivery service. (He limits the route so as not to cut into his

Friday-night basketball game.) Come Saturday, “People hand me money all day and

tell me they love what we do,” he said, tucking a shaped ball of dough into a

linen-lined basket. “At that point it’s not work; it’s my social life.”

Ford’s locavoraciousness has resulted in a rich community and satisfying, dare

he say sustainable, life. Any visiting urban food snob who sees the sunflower

seeds on the Sunny Spelt loaf and skips the Cress Spring booth, not

understanding that hippies are an integral gourmet subset, will miss out on

bread with a coppery-gold crust, slightly burned edges and a vibrant crumb that

would impress any baker at Poilâne in Paris, Balthazar in Manhattan or Acme

Bread Company in Berkeley. The fact that it is suddenly desirable because it is

whole-grain, organic, locally sourced and tolerated by the wheat-sensitive is

something Ford could never have envisioned. Perhaps because it has been his

vision all along.

________________________________

From: emailthis@... [mailto:emailthis@...] On

Behalf Of Schroeder, Margaret

Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:16 AM

Schroeder, Margaret

Subject: NYTimes.com: Grain Elevator

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MAGAZINE | October 11, 2009

Field Report: Grain Elevator

<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t.html?emc=eta1>

By CHRISTINE MUHLKE

Once seen as a barefoot hippie baker, Jeff Ford of Cress Spring Bakery is now a

locavore hero.

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[Guest guest]

I think this article is about marketing plain and simple. Its main concern is convincing people who are "sensitive" to wheat or have put themselves on a gf diet because they think it's a good way to lose or control their weight that this bread is somehow different. The grains are exactly the same as grains found in all other kinds of bread - he criticizes the limited types of grain available but he's not growing his own. He's only using a different yeast fermentation process, which may or may not make a difference to anything, including whether it is easier to digest or not. You'll note there's no science behind it, just what I would call the baker's wishful thinking. There aren't even any interviews with customers to add a little anecdotal evidence to his thesis.

This kind of wishful thinking may work for those people who have put themselves on gf diets for undiagnosed problems they think they might have - they may accept that this bread is "different" and find that they miraculously don't have problems with it. But for anyone with celiac, I strongly believe these breads would still be on the "do not eat" list.

Tristan

-----Original Message-----

From: Palmer, <palmer@...>

bayareaceliacrock <bayareaceliacrock >; < >; northbayceliacs <northbayceliacs >

Sent: Fri, Oct 16, 2009 10:32 am

Subject: [ ] FW: Article about bread from last Sunday's NYT

FYI: This is a very interesting article about wheat that even the wheat-sensitive seem able to eat, and why.

Good food for thought--

--lp

There are two make-or-break factors that Jeff Ford can’t control as a vendor at the farmers’ market in Madison, Wis.: the weather and roller-coaster diet trends. His 12-year-old bakery, Cress Spring, survived Atkins, then experienced a sustained bump when Oprah<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/oprah_winfrey/index.html?inline=nyt-per> urged a switch to whole grains. These days, Ford said with a shake of his ponytail, everyone thinks he’s allergic to wheat.

Skip to next paragraph<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t.html?_r=1 & ref=magazine#secondParagraph#secondParagraph>

Related

Recipes: Pane Integrale (Whole-Wheat Bread)<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t-001.html?ref=magazine> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Pain au Levain<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe1.html?ref=magazine> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Mother Starter for Bread Dough<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe3.html?ref=magazine> (October 11, 2009)

Recipe: Raisin Rye Bread<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-recipe2.html?ref=magazine> (October 11, 2009)

The Moment: Weighing In | The Baker's Dilemma<http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/weighing-in-the-bakers-dilemma/index.html?ref=magazine>

Enlarge This Image<javascript:pop_me_up2('http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/10/07/magazine/11food.1.ready.html',%20'11food_1_ready',%20'width=720,height=560,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes')>

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Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Still, by noon every Saturday, he’s sold out of the 400 loaves he loaded into his muddy pickup in rural Blue Mounds. That’s because Ford’s bread is different. His tangy, crusty loaves, baked in a wood-burning oven built by the legendary mason Alan , are made using obscure organic grains that he sources locally and grinds himself, and leavened using natural fermentation rather than industrial yeast.

Ford’s customers, some with medically diagnosed wheat allergies, have found that they have no problem digesting Cress Spring’s Kamut, spelt and all-rye breads, even the French white loaf, which — Ford is aware of the paradox — is one of his best sellers. (He sneaks up to 35 percent whole-wheat and rye flours into it, explaining: “White bread is just a mystery to me. Everything tastes better with rye.â€) Even a Manhattan nutritionist could probably polish off a Cress Spring loaf without bloating.

According to the baker, Americans’ wheat issues start on the farm. “The varieties of wheat grown in this country for industrial production are down to about five, so it’s all monoculture, chemicalized, no nutritional value,†said Ford, a serene, 43-year-old metalhead turned Deadhead who got his start as an accountant in a worker-owned Madison bakery. “The breeds are bred to stand up to abuse from the machines. We feed people this stuff that their bodies are not designed or adapted to eat. Of course they’re sensitive to it, and it’s not good for them and causes problems. And then we apply those standards to this?†he asked, gesturing to the tubs of dough around him, slowly rising to the beats of Black Star.

Cress Spring’s natural fermentation method is part of what makes its 13 bread varieties easier to eat. Instead of using instant yeast, which basically produces gas to rapidly inflate the dough without imparting flavor, Ford cultivates his own. Using precise measurements calculated on a spreadsheet (once a math geek . . .), he buries a ball of flour and water in a bag of flour for four or five days to create the foundation of his sourdough starters, which are then fed more flour and water days before they are formed into dough in a tall old mixer that has a picture of Bob Dylan<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/bob_dylan/index.html?inline=nyt-per> taped to it. “It’s called sourdough because you build up high acidity, and the yeasts have developed the ability to tolerate them,†Ford explained.

While yeasted breads can go from mixer to oven in a few hours, Ford’s orchestrated slow-rise method requires almost 24. The process changes the nature of the grain, breaking down its natural defenses and thereby making its nutrients more accessible to the body. (“Grains don’t want to be eaten,†he pointed out with a wry laugh. “They want to grow.â€) It also changes the flavor of the bread, imparting a sweet sourness and complexity. Since the only ingredients are grains, water and Celtic salt, the loaves have more longevity, too: Ford sliced me a piece of week-old Swiss rye that was still moist. Toasted for a few seconds at the lip of the 600-degree oven, it made an ideal accompaniment to a dinner of hearth-seared buffalo hanger steak.

The grains are an important part of Ford’s craft, as well as of his Wendell Berry-fed philosophy. He buys his rye, spelt and soft wheat as locally as possible — a nearby farmer used to sell him rye harvested by oxen — and gets his hard wheat from Minnesota and his Kamut from North Dakota or Montana. He grinds them on mixing day to maximize their nutrition.

His longstanding dedication to local grains (he briefly tried growing his own wheat) and same-day milling was ahead of the recent renaissance of bakers who are fulfilling the snowballing desire for local foods in a harder-to-fill part of the table: the breadbasket. In Skowhegan, Me., for example, organizers of the Kneading Conference for wood-fired-oven baking and local grain cultivation are transforming an 1860s jailhouse into a grist mill and bakery, where they will grind Maine wheat for their loaves.

Ford said that he was hoping to get through our interview without using the word “sustainable.†But, he said with a sigh, “here we are.†When he built the bakery on communal farmland, literally constructing his house around the massive oven, it was with the idea of creating a business that could withstand environmental and economic collapses. Alan came to help build Ford’s 4-by-6-foot hearth as part of a paying community workshop. (In the baking world, having , who died in January, build your oven is like having Steve Jobs<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/steven_p_jobs/index.html?inline=nyt-per> set up your laptop. Ford’s baking partner, a 29-year-old woman who goes by the name of Biggie Lemke, dropped her Manhattan cooking career to apprentice at Cress Spring when told her about the oven he had built in Wisconsin.) Ford chops his own wood and gets scraps from a Madison mill, buys all the ingredients for his pastries and granola from his neighbors and fellow market vendors and, if need be, he can try growing his own wheat again.

Over the years, he has shrunk his business to a more comfortable scale, virtually ending wholesale in favor of a manageable, and profitable, home-delivery service. (He limits the route so as not to cut into his Friday-night basketball game.) Come Saturday, “People hand me money all day and tell me they love what we do,†he said, tucking a shaped ball of dough into a linen-lined basket. “At that point it’s not work; it’s my social life.â€

Ford’s locavoraciousness has resulted in a rich community and satisfying, dare he say sustainable, life. Any visiting urban food snob who sees the sunflower seeds on the Sunny Spelt loaf and skips the Cress Spring booth, not understanding that hippies are an integral gourmet subset, will miss out on bread with a coppery-gold crust, slightly burned edges and a vibrant crumb that would impress any baker at Poilâne in Paris, Balthazar in Manhattan or Acme Bread Company in Berkeley. The fact that it is suddenly desirable because it is whole-grain, organic, locally sourced and tolerated by the wheat-sensitive is something Ford could never have envisioned. Perhaps because it has been his vision all along.

________________________________

From: emailthisms3 (DOT) lga2.nytimes.com [mailto:emailthisms3 (DOT) lga2.nytimes.com] On Behalf Of Schroeder, Margaret

Sent: Friday, October 16, 2009 10:16 AM

Schroeder, Margaret

Subject: NYTimes.com: Grain Elevator

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MAGAZINE | October 11, 2009

Field Report: Grain Elevator <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t.html?emc=eta1>

By CHRISTINE MUHLKE

Once seen as a barefoot hippie baker, Jeff Ford of Cress Spring Bakery is now a locavore hero.

Advertisement

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