I made bread with my nan and my daughter yesterday. It was fun, and important for me to do. My nan is 98. She does it the old way. Some very particular ways of doing things and then just some decent manual work. In her words she 'pummels' the bread. She has very strong hands for a 98 year old.
The trays and bowl all needed to be kept in the airing cupboard to be warm. A particular brand of flour is used and has been for a long time. Two teaspoons of yeast (which must be placed in the middle of the flour), some salt (which must be placed around the edge of the bowl). Some sugar. Then the kneading or 'pummeling'. First in the bowl, then on a clean counter sprinkled with flour. Not as hard as I thought it would be.
My nan knows exactly what goes into the bread (and all the cakes and meals she makes) and in particular has never eaten shop bought bread or cakes. We are so lucky that she is living self sufficiently right next door to my parents. I think a large part of this is that she never stops moving, making, nurturing, and has a very good idea of what is in her food.
The process is rewarding, healthy, satisfying. But is it simple? Probably for her as she does not eat a huge amount, but for the four of us with my son probably eating a half loaf all by himself maybe not unless we made twice as much. How much energy does it consume to cook versus the efficiency of cooking in batches for the supermarkets? Could we cook it while cooking the main meal for the day getting better use out of the oven? Does the energy use of cooking the food at home less efficiently matter when compared to the alternative of eating crappy food from the shops that makes us sick and sucks energy out of the power grid as we are treated in hospitals? Should we cook bread in more of a community driven way, taking control over when, how and with which ingredients?
