I feel conflicted about this piece. On the one hand I'm excited to see someone do an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of engineer-types gravitating toward sourdough baking (which is something I've been noticing for a few years now since I myself picked it up).
On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary negativity and shaming going on here toward the male engineer-types (the author uses the term "tech bro" at least a dozen times -- really?) who are getting into sourdough, implying that we are somehow ruining a pure and ancient craft for the sake of fashion and "disruption".
I get it to some extent. The pseudo-celebrity status of Chad Robertson of Tartine, the ubiquity of Instagram shots that emphasize only the visual aesthetic of breads, etc... those things definitely do tend to convey shallowness and egotism.
I just don't think we should be stereotyping and shaming people for picking up a hobby that brings them joy and yields direct benefits to others with little-to-no downsides. Anything that helps techies (or anyone really) un-plug and reconnect with their physical environment is a huge net-positive for society IMO. Plus, when people you know make good bread, you get to eat good bread. It's a win-win people!
I also don't think it's fair to scoff at the recent trend in the scientific approach to bread as a futile endeavor:
> Bread has been around for 6,000 years and the process of making bread has fundamentally not changed ... I think it’s funny that people would think they’d disrupt something that has this 6,000-year history to it. It’s not that easy to step into the river and change its course
The fact of the matter though is that some of these folks are actually making significant innovations in bread-making. The bread that results from these new methods is really, really, really good in ways that their predecessors simply were not. Just because something has been around for that long doesn't mean there aren't many new discoveries to be had. Hell, it wasn't until a couple decades ago that people picked up on the fact that you don't have to knead the dough to make great bread. Sometimes little things like this go undiscovered because no one bothered to look.
My final critique is that I think the author is blowing this a bit out of proportion. There is definitely a growing interest in sourdough from many types of people all over the world. Yes, an unusual proportion of them seem to be men working in tech. But this is not some panic-inducing mass-epidemic of "tech-bros" suddenly swarming every supermarket by the thousands for artisan flour and baking tools. Three years in, I'm still the only person I know who makes bread on a regular basis. People are getting more interested and trying it out, but it's still pretty rare for someone to commit to it at the same level as myself or the author's partner.
These days it's fashionable to blame "tech bros" for a wide variety of societal issues, sometimes justifiably so, but I think going after them for thinking bread is cool is a hell of a stretch.
Kneading Trough - A WOODEN trough or TUB in which to knead dough in order to make BREAD. Common before 1660, they become rather less common thereafter, possibly indicating a gradual abandonment of home baking.
1660, just a few decades.
Besides kneading (which wasnt one), can you name some other "significant innovations in bread-making" that are being made?
You clearly misread what I wrote. I was referring to the “no-knead” method which was popularized starting in the late 90s to mid-00s, and built upon by Robertson. No one is claiming kneading is new; it’s ancient.
We can debate over what constitutes “significant” innovation. I’m not saying anyone is going to come out and be like “hey turns out you don’t need flour OR water either!”. Clearly the foundation of bread is super simple and those basic principles are still unchanged. But I don’t agree with the author’s implication that it’s total hubris to be attempting to innovate and move the art forward.
Only very recently in history have we had certain technology available to us that has allowed people to exert super precise control over the baking environment (ambient temperatures, steam, etc.) and ingredients (flour blends, grinds, breeds of grain, strains of yeast). Bakers have and continue to tinker endlessly with these variables and the result is that the bread keeps getting better. Sure, not everyone cares about these things. For most people bread is bread. But it’s pretty cool (as a bread nerd anyway) to see someone like Chad Robertson put in many years of tinkering and experimentation and come up with a unique recipe that really influenced a whole new generation of bakers. Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new or original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a way that was new and exciting.
>> the result is that the bread keeps getting better.
I think its because of generalized answers like this that the author is thinking its hubris. Perhaps they need to do a blind test and see if they can notice, but I dont think the author is wrong to think that some of these "innovations" are just hype or an old style re-packaged and marketed.
>> Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new or original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a way that was new and exciting.
What is new and exciting about it? Ive had tartine, years ago, and last month, ive baked my entire life, nothing about it was mindblowing. I hope you can change my mind
>>>>What is new and exciting about it? Ive had tartine, years ago, and last month, ive baked my entire life, nothing about it was mindblowing. I hope you can change my mind
So, you've been baking your entire life and there's no seeking for improvement, nothing new and exciting? And you feel that your bread is perfect already?
Isn't it quite sad? Where's the heart and intend when you're making bread? Where's the passion? Where's the innovation. And 6000 years is just nonsensensical. Might as well say that bread was there before any human existed.
Even though I love making bread. Im primarily a coffee guy. If we are not using technology and innovation with better equipments to brew, roast, harvest, plant, cultivate. I wouldn't be in this industry no more. you might want to put down your pride and rethink your take on baking and do some researching and discovering for new techniques and skills. You know, ever heard there's always room for improvement? And maybe, just maybe, you could find some excitement, or get mind-blowned, and find a little joy, and impart that joy and passion through your baking.. come on. Every person that eats your bakes deserve that. (;
The title immediately evokes a feeling of disgust in me, for someone to take the tone that people in and around San Francisco making sourdough is a surprising or novel phenomenon that needs to be picked apart - because gasp they work in technology.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 26.8 ms ] threadOn the other hand, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary negativity and shaming going on here toward the male engineer-types (the author uses the term "tech bro" at least a dozen times -- really?) who are getting into sourdough, implying that we are somehow ruining a pure and ancient craft for the sake of fashion and "disruption".
I get it to some extent. The pseudo-celebrity status of Chad Robertson of Tartine, the ubiquity of Instagram shots that emphasize only the visual aesthetic of breads, etc... those things definitely do tend to convey shallowness and egotism.
I just don't think we should be stereotyping and shaming people for picking up a hobby that brings them joy and yields direct benefits to others with little-to-no downsides. Anything that helps techies (or anyone really) un-plug and reconnect with their physical environment is a huge net-positive for society IMO. Plus, when people you know make good bread, you get to eat good bread. It's a win-win people!
I also don't think it's fair to scoff at the recent trend in the scientific approach to bread as a futile endeavor:
> Bread has been around for 6,000 years and the process of making bread has fundamentally not changed ... I think it’s funny that people would think they’d disrupt something that has this 6,000-year history to it. It’s not that easy to step into the river and change its course
The fact of the matter though is that some of these folks are actually making significant innovations in bread-making. The bread that results from these new methods is really, really, really good in ways that their predecessors simply were not. Just because something has been around for that long doesn't mean there aren't many new discoveries to be had. Hell, it wasn't until a couple decades ago that people picked up on the fact that you don't have to knead the dough to make great bread. Sometimes little things like this go undiscovered because no one bothered to look.
My final critique is that I think the author is blowing this a bit out of proportion. There is definitely a growing interest in sourdough from many types of people all over the world. Yes, an unusual proportion of them seem to be men working in tech. But this is not some panic-inducing mass-epidemic of "tech-bros" suddenly swarming every supermarket by the thousands for artisan flour and baking tools. Three years in, I'm still the only person I know who makes bread on a regular basis. People are getting more interested and trying it out, but it's still pretty rare for someone to commit to it at the same level as myself or the author's partner.
These days it's fashionable to blame "tech bros" for a wide variety of societal issues, sometimes justifiably so, but I think going after them for thinking bread is cool is a hell of a stretch.
Kneading Trough - A WOODEN trough or TUB in which to knead dough in order to make BREAD. Common before 1660, they become rather less common thereafter, possibly indicating a gradual abandonment of home baking.
1660, just a few decades.
Besides kneading (which wasnt one), can you name some other "significant innovations in bread-making" that are being made?
We can debate over what constitutes “significant” innovation. I’m not saying anyone is going to come out and be like “hey turns out you don’t need flour OR water either!”. Clearly the foundation of bread is super simple and those basic principles are still unchanged. But I don’t agree with the author’s implication that it’s total hubris to be attempting to innovate and move the art forward.
Only very recently in history have we had certain technology available to us that has allowed people to exert super precise control over the baking environment (ambient temperatures, steam, etc.) and ingredients (flour blends, grinds, breeds of grain, strains of yeast). Bakers have and continue to tinker endlessly with these variables and the result is that the bread keeps getting better. Sure, not everyone cares about these things. For most people bread is bread. But it’s pretty cool (as a bread nerd anyway) to see someone like Chad Robertson put in many years of tinkering and experimentation and come up with a unique recipe that really influenced a whole new generation of bakers. Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new or original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a way that was new and exciting.
>> the result is that the bread keeps getting better.
I think its because of generalized answers like this that the author is thinking its hubris. Perhaps they need to do a blind test and see if they can notice, but I dont think the author is wrong to think that some of these "innovations" are just hype or an old style re-packaged and marketed.
>> Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new or original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a way that was new and exciting.
What is new and exciting about it? Ive had tartine, years ago, and last month, ive baked my entire life, nothing about it was mindblowing. I hope you can change my mind
So, you've been baking your entire life and there's no seeking for improvement, nothing new and exciting? And you feel that your bread is perfect already?
Isn't it quite sad? Where's the heart and intend when you're making bread? Where's the passion? Where's the innovation. And 6000 years is just nonsensensical. Might as well say that bread was there before any human existed.
Even though I love making bread. Im primarily a coffee guy. If we are not using technology and innovation with better equipments to brew, roast, harvest, plant, cultivate. I wouldn't be in this industry no more. you might want to put down your pride and rethink your take on baking and do some researching and discovering for new techniques and skills. You know, ever heard there's always room for improvement? And maybe, just maybe, you could find some excitement, or get mind-blowned, and find a little joy, and impart that joy and passion through your baking.. come on. Every person that eats your bakes deserve that. (;
Something about the Jewish Writers Association.