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The Food Issue
2017
Grains
West
10
BY KARIN OLAFSON
Photo: JasonDziver
TABLE
TALK
ONTHERISE
MAKINGYOUROWNBREAD IS EASIER THANYOUTHINK
BAKING BREAD AT HOME CAN BE
daunting for those who have never used
live cultures before. But despite that—and
the complex science of bread baking—the
slow-food movement and the quality of
bread made at artisan bakeries is inspiring
more and more people to give it a try.
Aviv Fried, the owner of Calgary’s
Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, understands the
appeal of learning to bake bread at home.
He even turned down a job as a financial
analyst to join the simpler world of bread
baking—a world in which he had zero
experience. After months of travelling,
working in bakeries and learning the
craft, he had an excellent grasp of the
process and was ready to strike out on
his own. He started Sidewalk Citizen in
2008, and today his company is arguably
one of the most recognized local bakeries
in Calgary. There are now two Sidewalk
Citizen locations, and Fried’s products are
also sold at various markets, restaurants
and cafes throughout the city.
Fried has led bread-baking classes for
the last three years and has found that
there’s been steady demand for the once-
a-month classes ever since they launched.
Fried said he believes the reason for this
is similar to the reason he got started in
the first place: more people want to eat
healthy bread that tastes good.
“I think more people want to make
sure that the food they’re eating is good
for them,” said Fried. “And a good way
to know what’s in your food is to make it
yourself.”
In his classes, Fried gives students a
step-by-step lesson that teaches them how
to mix and knead dough, while also delv-
ing into the science of bread making.
For many, understanding the science can
make baking bread at home a less intimi-
dating experience. Nancy Ames, a cereal
scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada, explained that wheat contains
two unique proteins: gliadin and glutenin.
“When wheat flour is mixed with water,
they form an elastic complex known as
gluten,” she said. “This gluten complex is
the basis of the volume, texture and appear-
ance of bread and other baked products.”
Ames added that when yeast is added to
the water-and-flour mixture, fermentation
occurs. The carbohydrates are broken
down, and carbon dioxide gas forms and is
trapped by the gluten matrix—that’s what
makes your dough rise. Fermentation
happens for the same reason when breads
are made with a sourdough starter, which
contains wild bacteria and yeasts from
their environment.
It’s not just wheat that’s used to make
bread. “Other cereal grains like oats, bar-
ley and rye are commonly used for baked
products,” said Ames. “While rye grain
flour does contain some gluten, breads
made from rye flour are denser, with low-
er loaf volumes and firm crumb structure.
The advantage to adding high-fibre cereal
grains like oats, barley and rye to wheat
bread is to improve its nutritional bene-
fits.” Ames said that oat and barley flour
can be used as fibre-enriching agents to
improve bread’s soluble fibre content and
even to reduce cholesterol.
If you’re looking to start making your
own bread at home, you only need a few
things to get started: the flour of your
choice, warm water, salt and an active
culture. After the ingredients are mixed
together to form dough, fermentation and
rising occurs. Once the dough rises, punch
it down then pop it in the oven for fresh,
wholesome bread at home.
Aviv Fried leads monthly bread-baking classes at Sidewalk Citizen Bakery in Calgary.