Michael Storey putting the chefs of a resort hotel through the basics of sourdough bread.
The Gift of Bread HQ in Martock, Somerset, UK
Bread in the past was referred to as the staff life.
You could live – and thrive – on bread alone. From a biblical perspective Christ said the only other thing besides bread as a physical food that was needed was a bit of spiritual content in our lives.
There are many sayings such as ‘the bread winner’ showing the importance of bread in the past. Obviously that has all changed. The bread that is served up to us in the supermarket is not able to sustain a mouse. Many laboratory experiments show there is not enough food value in modern bread to sustain wildlife. We are requested every winter not to feed the ducks and swans bread, as they will die of malnutrition.
Over the last one hundred and fifty years, food production has changed dramatically. Bread now falls under the banner of “ultra processed food”. Flour and yeast are the two culprits. Modern white flour, only invented in the 1870’s, stripped every bit of nutrition out of the grain. Modern baking yeast, invented in the 1870’s bypassed the traditional ‘sourdough culture’ that had been used for thousands of years. Without the fermentation provided by the microbiota, we cannot access the abundance of goodies that are inherent in whole wheat grain.
This why we are here. We go back in time to when bread was real food and it was a simple process to make it. Everyone did it all the time. They had to, they lived on it.
We teach people how to make real sourdough bread for themselves.
This kind of bread is almost impossible to buy.
• Providing a bread that everyone can eat.
• Bread that is a real food.
• Bread that ‘anyone can make’.
• Bread with very real health benefits.
We want everyone to understand the difference between modern ultra-processed 'bread' and its real traditional (historic) counterpart. In a very quick and efficient way, you can make bread that is a real food with powerful health benefits.
Te difference between ‘real bread’ and modern ‘fake bread’ is profound. Hundreds of people have come through our classes. All of them state that they have really benefitted from eating it. People with health issues and those on special diets that often completely ban them from eating bread, all thrive on this bread.
We have had senior doctors, Heads of biology departments, all sorts of people with a deep interest in the problems associated with modern bread. They all turn to this bread with great enthusiasm.
Have we done anything special?
No, just gone back to bread as it was meant to be.
thegiftofbread@gmail.com 01935 823117
