New World Sourdough by Bryan Ford
Editor Keith Kendrick finally joins the sourdough craze – but with a di erence
Inever got into the sourdough craze. That is partly because our own sourdough guru, Barney Desmazery, used to bring me his freshly baked loaves into the o ce (before lockdown, obvs) and I thought: ‘What’s the point in trying to compete with that? My e orts will never be as good.’ And so I watched from the sidelines as Barney coached the Good Food team, and others on Learning with Experts and our online sourdough Masterclass, in the art of turning three ingredients – flour, water and salt – into insanely tasty loaves, which they proudly posted on Instagram.
But then I was alerted to Bryan Ford, a bread-maker from New Orleans known for experimenting with baking techniques while infusing his passion and Latin American culture into his recipes on his popular blog artisanbryan.com and Instagram @artisanbryan. He’s especially well known for his sourdough pan de coco recipe, inspired by a traditional Honduran bread – an example of ‘new world sourdough’.
And so I thought: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. And risk humiliation. Bryan’s book isn’t for anyone lacking in concentration, time or motivation. It is detailed: more like an academic work than anything a magazine like Good Food would have the space to deliver. And so, lacking in the necessary focus, I skipped the 20-plus pages about making a starter (mixing flour and water together for days until it becomes ‘live’) and turning it into a levain (the starter mixed with more flour), and used Barney’s method instead (find it on bbcgoodfood.com). But once I had my basics sorted, I went straight to the recipes section of Bryan’s book – which is fantastic. And – importantly – easy. He tackles rustic bread and enriched bread, and breaks the recipes down into sections: tools, ingredients and techniques.
One of the most enticing is a marriage of the aforementioned Honduran pan de coco with the classic Danish rye loaf, rugbrod. It’s made with coconut milk, four types of flour, quinoa and sunflower seeds. It’s on my list to make, along with a bewildering number of delicious-sounding creations: pan rustic (country bread), pan integral (wholemeal bread), ciabatta, focaccia, pretzels, pizza, tortillas, pitta, cinny raisin bagels, pecan praline monkey bread, Cuban mu ns, Jamaican hard dough. The list goes on.
For now, I’ll focus on getting the basics right. But if you’re a sourdough convert, get Bryan’s book. Your sourdough journey has only just begun!
Ford is known for experimenting with baking, infusing his passion and Latin American culture into his recipes