Well... to be honest, all I did was dip my hands in cold water, then into a large bowl of dough, grab some of it and knead it a bit into shape. Everything else - from the dough-making to the actual baking - was done for me by professionals.
But let me begin at the beginning.
Two weeks ago, I organized a guided tour behind the scenes at my hometown's most traditional bakery. This bakery has been in the same family for over 100 years, and they have been in Ludwigsburg just as long. From humble beginnings in just one house in the town centre, they now have 9 branches dotted all across the various town quarters plus the place where all the dough-making and baking is done. This is where we had our tour, with a hands-on part.
The owner's son and one of the 10 full-time bakers they employ greeted us with glasses of champagne for everyone:
We were shown the entire process from getting the right flour to the finished product. In the above picture we were shown the computerized scales for some of the recipes. For many of the doughs, we were told, the ingredients are mixed without the help of such detailed scales; the dough master (yes, that is a job description!) "feels" it when the mix is right.
We also made Brezeln and Seelen ("souls"): bigger than a roll, smaller than a loaf of bread. You can see me and my Mum there in the back.
Our "master pieces" were put into the huge oven:
And after a set time, out came our bread and the other things we had made:
This truly was one of the most interesting and delightful outings I've had last month. It lasted the entire evening - much longer than expected - and we all had fun and learned a lot.
The building alone was well worth seeing: Originally built in the 1960s for a bank, many of the original features have been kept. There are stylish "golden" columns in what used to be the bank's foyer and is now the largest of the many production rooms; the old treasury doors (I have never seen such hugely massive doors before!) are still there (formerly to protect the money and other valuables in the bank, now the entry to the cooling house), and because it was built during the Cold War, there is even an atomic bunker underneath - nowadays holding the flour store.
The owner's son (he has won several prizes as "Best Young Baker" etc.) and his colleague were both so full of enthusiasm for their work and explained everything so well, we were all full of admiration for them.
Next time I am tempted to buy bread at the supermarket for convenience's sake, I won't give in!
Oh that looks so much fun! Wonder if they do it here. Can smell the bread from here!
ReplyDeleteOver here, many companies are happy to receive groups of visitors for such behind-the-scenes tours. For them, it is promotion AND they get a little bit of money for it (we paid 15 Euro each for the entire evening, including the champagne and taking home our finished products).
DeleteOne just needs to ask :-)
I am so impressed!! When the children were small we went to my brother's farm to see the wheat harvested, then the mill to see it made into flour, took flour home to make bread ... it was so hard you could have built a house with it!!
ReplyDeleteThat must have been very impressive for your children (and the grown-ups, too, I imagine) to follow the whole process of bread-making. And I am sure you've found out how to make less brick-like bread since that time :-)
DeleteWhat an interesting visit. Thanks for taking us along. I think I can almost smell it :-)
ReplyDeleteIt was fascinating, Monica. And the smell really was as good as you imagine!
DeleteI still don't understand who made your dough and I still don't understand why you were wearing a nurse's outfit in the bakery. Only qualified nurses - like my wife - are entitled to wear a nurse's outfit.
ReplyDeleteRead carefully, YP: "...was done for me by professionals."
DeleteIn Germany, all bakers dress like nurses, and all nurses wear bakers' outfits. It's one of the little known facts about Germany and something EU regulations have not yet been able to stop.
So you have professional dough shops in Germany? Amazing!
DeleteIf I ever visit Germany again I shall pop into a hospital to order a pumpernickel loaf and at the bakery I will ask them to have a look at my tonsils.
You do that, and I'm sure your visit to Germany will become unforgettable :-D
DeleteWhat a fascinating exchange! Unforgettable it would certainly be!
DeleteIt's very satisfying, isn't it. For years, I made my own bread, but now we eat so little it isnt' really worth it any more. What did yours taste like?
ReplyDeleteHopefully like bread!
DeleteAs a single household, I don't need more than a few slices of bread every week, and even less on weekends when RJ is there because then we cook proper meals. But I love bread (especially iwth butter and cheese on it) and am grateful for most bakeries offering small loaves, not just big ones.
DeleteThis one tasted nice! The flour was a rye mixture.
I love the products of German bakeries! And my sil Ingmar (from Munich) often bakes special things for the family. I'm sure you had a delightful evening - I know I would have....How smart to organize it.
ReplyDeleteIt was delightful indeed, Kristi! Isn't it lovely to have good bakers in the family? I am already looking forward to the Christmas cookies I'll soon be getting, made by a close family friend who learned the trade of baker when he was young.
DeleteTheir bread must be better than what's prepacked in grocery stores. It looks like such a good tour to take!
ReplyDeleteIt surely is better. They explained to us what they do with the dough, and why, and what's the difference between what they do and what industrial bakeries do, and how it affects the final product. Very interesting!
DeleteNope, that is not something I believe. You will buy decent bread from a bakery instead. German bread is wonderful, I wish I still had all those lovely loaves available. Never heard of Seelen though.
ReplyDeleteWe went to a Lidl shop today, 25 miles away, just for Christmas stuff. It’s a much nicer shop than the Aldi in the next town 30 minutes drive away. They had a selection of breads I could not resist. even Broetchen!
Seelen are a typical Swabian thing; they even have their own wikipedia entry:
Deletehttp://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seele_%28Geb%C3%A4ck%29
If I were to live in England, I think I'd miss our breads, Brötchen (Weckle where I come from) and Brezeln, too.
In Hungary the Broetchen are called zsemle and during two of our sabbatical years we lived right next to little bakeries where we got them fresh every morning. In Austria for six weeks we were able to Semmeln delivered to our door every morning......Nothing remotely so good exists here, alas........
ReplyDeleteYes, in Austria and Bavaria, Brötchen are called Semmeln. I didn't know that it is nearly the same word in Hungarian!
DeleteSO much bread tradition across the world. And all of them making something edible (mostly) from ground up wheat and other grains. I confess, that dark stuff I sometimes have in Germany at breakfast time is not really to my liking, but the little rolls with pumpkin seeds are just heavenly. Don;t get me started on the horrors of the Chorley-Wood process though: From flour to loaf in as little as 23 minutes. No rising and baked in steam ovens. Ghastly and to be avoided. But this kind of bakery, oh yes! We like those! And there seems to be a resurgence world-wide in "proper" bread, for which I think those of us discerning enough should be grateful. Yes, I make all of my own bread (and will often eat a 900g loaf a day on my own, because I am a hungry-guts). And beer. And quite a lot of wine. The proper use of grains and yeasts is an art form which is being explored as never before. I am all for it. I see you had you baking-boots on, btw. Nice touch. Did you get to keep the hat? I do hope so.
ReplyDeleteActually, you were one of the people I had in mind when I wrote this, knowing that you make all your own bread, beer and wine (hence the first line of this post). Not all of the hundreds of different kinds of German bread are to my liking (such as the dark stuff you mention), but it's the choice I like.
DeleteDuring our visit there, we were told how long some of the dough takes from the first mixing to the baking. 23 minutes definitely is NOT enough to make good bread!
I was coming straight from the office, hence the blue dress, and the boots are of course a necessity this time of the year. No, I did not keep the hat. I like hats on other people, but not on myself. The shape of my face is made ridiculously long and horse-like by anything I put on my head.
It's a long time since I made all my bread from scratch (I tend to use pre-mixed ingredients now) but there is nothing like 'proper' bread and, fortunately, I don't have to feed a large family who devour bread by the loaves each day.
ReplyDeleteNeither do I, Graham, which is why I always look for small loaves. It would be such a shame to have to throw half of it away because I am not there to eat, and I hate wasting food.
Delete