Elisabeth is the pastry chef of the pair. The pastry shelves in front of the bakery are refreshed throughout the day with amazing, if pricey, treats.
Pastry is something that, although it impresses me, is something that I simply have no interest in being proficient at. Perhaps it requires a degree of artistry that I just don't possess. Whatever the reason, I leave pastry to others with more of a passion for sweets.
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| Yes, that is a $66 Lemon Meringue! |
This is a bakery that is so well known that it does not even have a sign on the outside of the building, and anytime that the bakery is open there is a line out the door and around the corner. When I arrived at 11:30, there was a line of perhaps 50 people in front of me. And during the hour that I was there for lunch, the line never grew any shorter.
But before you start to wonder what a discussion of the top bakery in America has to do with a sourdough baking blog, let me explain. In culinary terms "pastry" does not just mean "sweets and desserts". While Elisabeth Prueitt is the master behind the amazing treats pictured above, Chad Robertson is regarded by most as the modern day master of naturally leavened (aka "wild yeast", aka "sourdough") artisan bread. Prior to opening Tartine in 2002, Robertson spent over a decade doing apprentice work for some of the most highly regarded bread bakers in the U.S. and Europe, and founded and ran two very successful bakeries in northern California. This man knows his bread, and people come from far and wide to purchase it. That line of 50 people that I encountered when I arrived at 11:30 last Sunday morning? If I'd been there just a bit later in the day, it would have been far larger. Tartine's bread comes out of the ovens at 4:30 every afternoon. In just over an hour the day's bake (a couple thousand loaves) is sold out. You can't simply get in line to buy Tartine bread. You must call in advance to reserve a loaf (or a half loaf).
A few years ago Chad took on an apprentice by the name of Eric Wolfinger, who also happened to be a first rate photographer. Together they set out to build a modern day bible of artisan bread baking. The result is "Tartine Bread", of which (following my visit to Tartine Bakery!) I am now a proud owner.
"Tartine Bread" documents what has come to be known as "the Tartine Method" of making bread. The Tartine Method uses solely natural yeast, high hydration doughs, minimal mechanical mixing, small amounts of mature starter, young leaven, very high heat, and high degrees of steam during baking to produce a very mild sourdough with a spongy open crumb and a very crisp blistered glistening outer crust (see the picture above). In recent years this style of bread has come to define the holy grail of artisan bread baking.
Over the course of the past two years I've learned to make what is, in my judgement, some very good bread. We no longer buy store bought bread here at home. Each week I bake fresh bread that turns into sandwiches for the following week. Special events, social gatherings, even some charity events, all rate fresh baked bread. But while I've learned to make very good bread, it's still relatively basic.
Anyone who has ever attended culinary school will tell stories of the first several weeks of school, in which they learned to cook eggs 30 different ways. The theory being that properly cooking an egg requires mastery of a range of basic techniques, a mastery of the use of heat, and a mastery of certain food related chemistry.
Bread is much the same. If you want to learn to make great bread, you must first master the basics. This is especially true of sourdough, and other yeast leavened breads. Time, temperature, dough hydration, dough shaping, gluten formation, pH, and physical techniques such as loaf forming, slashing technique, and steaming all play into successful bread. It's impossible to master these variables unless you make the same bread time after time after time, and learn from the successes and failures each time. With practice, and careful observation, it's possible to use the very same recipe and yet vary the density of the crumb, the color, crispness and depth of the crust, the degree of sourness, and the texture. After baking the same bread for close to two years, I've started to gain some minimal proficiency. So now it is time for the next challenge.
In "Tartine Bread", Chad Robertson begins with the techniques necessary to create what he terms the "Tartine Country Loaf". Throughout the remainder of the book he explains how to vary the basic country loaf to create more exotic and advanced breads, as well as how to create a wide variety of dishes that use bread as an ingredient.
So, my new quest: To bake my way through "Tartine Bread". This will take a while. It's not a matter of creating one recipe a week. First, I need to go back to the beginning and apply what I've learned, up to this point, to master the Tartine Country Loaf.
Today I began. The first step on the journey is a new sourdough starter. My old starter is not going anywhere. I'll simply have two starters that are used for different styles of bread.
While my older starter has unbleached all purpose flour and rye as its basis, the new starter is built on unbleached bread flour and whole wheat flour. The bread flour contributes more protein than all purpose flour (APF), which in turn results in greater gluten formation during the bread making process. Gluten is the basis of the "hole" structure in bread (technically known as "crumb"), so greater gluten formation results in more trapped gas during fermentation and dough rising, and thus larger holes. Whole wheat flour, in addition to contributing a different flavor than rye, also contributes protein (and thus gluten). Rye contains little protein, and thus contributes primarily flavor.
This will be interesting! The quest to bake my way through Tartine Bread will occupy many blog posts. Let the baking begin!
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