I noticed Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall had a programme on bread, so I thought I'd watch it. I don't actually own a telly and rarely watch anything, but I'm prepared to make an exception now and then. 
Anyway, I missed the first 20 minutes but saw the rest and thought it good viewing.
H. F-W is definitely too heavy on the carbohydrates which is, despite some fashionable superstition, an unhealthy thing—certainly if these are refined carbohydrates. But I wouldn't go as far as Atkins or the "Paleo Diet" people and cut this stuff out entirely—except maybe for short-term weight-loss purposes (or for particular conditions). So I think a programme on traditional bread-making techniques is no bad thing.
Hugh did show to build a version of a clay oven and also how to make sourdough bread, so this was a bit more than the average cookery programme. He doesn't under-rate the viewers, and expects that his audience might be prepared to take the time and trouble that good food preparation takes, if they're only shown how. I think that's very refreshing.
I think he forgot to say that the water used for sourdough cultures should be filtered water; otherwise, you risk killing the culture with the excess chlorine that can be in tap water. He also said that sourdough bread was about raising dough with wild yeasts, and that is only partially correct. Most of the fermentation is a lactic ferment (as with sauerkraut, yoghurt, and similar foodstuffs) rather than alcoholic ferment (i.e., by yeast). This is quite important, because it's that very long lactic-ferment that makes bread more digestible. This is because cereal grains, such as wheat, contain "antinutrients" that serve the biological role of protecting the seeds (which is what the grains are) and the lactic ferment neutralizes those:
http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/digestive-disorders/621-against-the-grain
There seems no doubt that sourdough bread is the most digestible and nutritious bread, long-fermented bread (as with craft-made breads from traditional bakers in places like France) is next best. Worst of all is the factory bread made by the "push it in shove it out fast, count the money and don't worry about the health of the buyer" Chorleywood process by which the modern tasteless toxic pap you get in the supermarket is made.
Anyway, if anyone wants to get hold of an existing sourdough culture, I did find a place online awhile back, although I haven't tried their cultures myself yet:
http://www.wildyeastbakery.co.uk/07-cultures.htm
Anyway, I missed the first 20 minutes but saw the rest and thought it good viewing.
H. F-W is definitely too heavy on the carbohydrates which is, despite some fashionable superstition, an unhealthy thing—certainly if these are refined carbohydrates. But I wouldn't go as far as Atkins or the "Paleo Diet" people and cut this stuff out entirely—except maybe for short-term weight-loss purposes (or for particular conditions). So I think a programme on traditional bread-making techniques is no bad thing.
Hugh did show to build a version of a clay oven and also how to make sourdough bread, so this was a bit more than the average cookery programme. He doesn't under-rate the viewers, and expects that his audience might be prepared to take the time and trouble that good food preparation takes, if they're only shown how. I think that's very refreshing.
I think he forgot to say that the water used for sourdough cultures should be filtered water; otherwise, you risk killing the culture with the excess chlorine that can be in tap water. He also said that sourdough bread was about raising dough with wild yeasts, and that is only partially correct. Most of the fermentation is a lactic ferment (as with sauerkraut, yoghurt, and similar foodstuffs) rather than alcoholic ferment (i.e., by yeast). This is quite important, because it's that very long lactic-ferment that makes bread more digestible. This is because cereal grains, such as wheat, contain "antinutrients" that serve the biological role of protecting the seeds (which is what the grains are) and the lactic ferment neutralizes those:
http://www.westonaprice.org/modern-diseases/digestive-disorders/621-against-the-grain
There seems no doubt that sourdough bread is the most digestible and nutritious bread, long-fermented bread (as with craft-made breads from traditional bakers in places like France) is next best. Worst of all is the factory bread made by the "push it in shove it out fast, count the money and don't worry about the health of the buyer" Chorleywood process by which the modern tasteless toxic pap you get in the supermarket is made.
Anyway, if anyone wants to get hold of an existing sourdough culture, I did find a place online awhile back, although I haven't tried their cultures myself yet:
http://www.wildyeastbakery.co.uk/07-cultures.htm
Last edited:
