Modernist BreadCrumbs

Episode 16: Still Life with Bread

In this episode, we’re exploring the intersection of bread and art, and the idea of bread as art. From Renaissance paintings of The Last Supper (complete with pretzels) and still lifes from the Dutch Golden Age to scoring videos on Instagram—the aesthetics of bread, and all that it symbolizes, have long been on display. We'll look for bread in art history with Maite Gomez-Rejon (founder of Art Bites [http://artbites.net/]), consider the influence of art on baking with an interview from HRN Happy Hour [https://heritageradionetwork.org/podcast/life-imitates-art-imitates-food/] featuring head chef of Modernist Cuisine Francisco Migoya and author Daniel Isengart [http://www.isengart.com/], talk about craft with baker (and former ceramic artist) Sarah Owens [http://www.bk17bakery.com/the-baker/], weigh bread's artistic value with Guy Frenkel of Ceor Bread [https://www.instagram.com/ceorbread/], and find out how co-authors Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, tackled bread's beige aesthetics when writing Modernist Bread. Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold/ The Cooking Lab, LLC. Theme Music: Thomas Hughes & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings [http://www.instagram.com/carolclevelandsings]) Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast [http://www.simplecast.com].

Episode 15: Deck the Challahs

It’s a season of celebration, and no matter what you’re celebrating, that usually means baking. Sweet or savory, traditional or cutting-edge, more people fire up their ovens during the holiday season than any other time of the year. In this episode, we're exploring holiday breads and the traditions that bring us back to them, year after year. We'll talk Stollen with Brian Hart Hoffman of Bake From Scratch [https://www.bakefromscratch.com/], Challah with Mike Zaro of Zaro's Bakery [https://www.zaro.com/], and Pandoro vs Panettone with Italian baker Luigi Biasetto [http://pasticceriabiasetto.it/luigi-biasetto/]. Co-authors of Modernist Bread, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, help us figure out what the holiday hoopla is all about—is it just nostalgia, or something deeper? Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC. Theme Music: Thomas Hughes & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings [http://www.instagram.com/carolclevelandsings]) Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast [http://www.simplecast.com].

Episode 14: Emboiled in Lyes

We're going down the rabbit hole of breads with holes! From the New York vs Montreal bagel debate—and the power of water and lye—to the twists and turns of pretzel history, focusing on the presence of negative space is a positive thing. We'll explore the power of lye with Harold McGee [https://www.curiouscook.com/], check out NYC bagel culture with Dianna Daoheung of Black Seed Bagels [https://www.blackseedbagels.com/], learn about the Simit with Zoe Kanan [https://www.studiofreehand.nyc/team-member/zoe-kanan/], and head to Pennsylvania's classic Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery [https://juliussturgis.com/]. Along the way, Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya, co-authors of Modernist Bread, will address "the water myth," and their findings may surprise NYC bagel purists. Photo credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC. Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings [http://www.instagram.com/carolclevelandsings]). Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast [http://simplecast.com].

Episode 13: Breads Across America

We're hopping in our Winne-bread-go and hitting the road—to explore the state of regional breads in America! We'll travel to New Orleans for a Po'boy, New England for Anadama, and to Appalachia for Salt Rising Bread, all in search of an answer to the question, "Is there a regional bread culture in the United States?" Featured in this episode are Sandy Whann of Leidenheimer Baking Company [http://leidenheimer.com], Alison Pray of Standard Baking Company [http://standardbakingco.com], chef Travis Milton [https://cheftravismilton.com], author Ronni Lundy [http://ronnilundy.com/], and, of course, co-authors of Modernist Bread, Francisco Migoya & Nathan Myhrvold. Here's the link to Rising Creek Bakery [https://risingcreekbakery.com/], as mentioned in the episode. Photo Credit: The Cooking Lab, LLC. Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings [http://www.instagram.com/carolclevelandsings]). Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast [http://simplecast.com].

Episode 12: Flatter, Better, Faster, Stronger

Flatbreads and quick breads may seem like strange oven-fellows, but hear us out. In the Venn Diagram of bread baking, they both fall in the overlap of “speed” and “differently leavened.” So we're firing up the tonir, the tandoor, the griddle, the bastible, the wok, and even a rock, to travel around the world through bread. We'll chat flatbreads with chef Mike Solomonov of Zahav [http://www.zahavrestaurant.com/], head baker Peiwen Lee of Hot Bread Kitchen [http://hotbreadkitchen.org/], and author Kate Leahy of the forthcoming Lavash [https://www.lavashthebook.com/about/]. Then, producer-at-large Conor O'Donovan will dive deep into Irish Soda Bread with Darina Allen of The Ballymaloe Cookery School [http://www.cookingisfun.ie/] and cookbook historian Dorothy Cashman. And, as always, we'll hear insights from co-authors of Modernist Bread Nathan Myhrvold and Francisco Migoya. Photo Credit: Nathan Myhrvold / The Cooking Lab, LLC. Theme Music: Thomas Huges & Gretchen Lohse (@carolclevelandsings [http://www.instagram.com/carolclevelandsings]). Modernist BreadCrumbs is powered by Simplecast [http://simplecast.com].