Sourdough Baking with Whole Grains and Alternative Grains

This class is an in-depth journey into the world of whole grain and alternative grains and their bread tradtions from around the world.
Learn how to work with much underapprciated grains and taste breads and pastries that surprisingly versatile and delicous.

We will take a closer look at whole grain breads and those with so-called "alternative" flours (pseudo-grains or grains without gluten) and talk about the challenges of working with a natural sourdough culture when making them.

While we learn about special practices for whole grains and gluten-free breads we also talk about their historical significance, and what we can learn from cultures around the world who have been working with those grains for millenia.

We also take a close look at sourdough alchemy and general practices on how to incorporate starter cultures into your recipes.

The class will end with a sensory tasting of some of the things we talked about and made in class, accompanied by local foods and condiments to create optimal food pairings.

Topics of this class include:

* Starting, maintaining, refreshing and looking after a sourdough starter with alternative grains (rice, sorghum, buckwheat etc)

*Principles of baking using natural leavening, yeast or no leavening

*Variables affecting mixing, fermenting and baking

*Flour primer: Understanding ingredients selection

*Getting best results when baking at home

*Food pairing and Sensory Tasting session

*Recipes, hand-out and Q&A at the end of the class

Join us on this journey into the world of sourdough - it will surely enhance your baking skills and open your taste buds!

This class is perfect for beginning sourdough bakers, general baking experience is helpful to get the most out of the class!

Note: While we will work with gluten-free grains, this class is not suitable for those with a gluten-sensitivity or celiac disease due to cross contamination in the class space.

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