114 GOURMET TRAVELLER
W
hy write a book about bread and butter?
What makes such a humble pairing, and
ostensibly a minor event of the day, become
a match worthy of such deep exploration?
For starters there are few pairings eaten
so frequently, and even fewer so entrenched in such a variety of
global cultures. Other pairings may complement each other
perfectly – think pea and mint, beef and horseradish, tomato
and basil, ham and mustard – but none of them create quite the
same “ah-ha” moment as bread and butter.
Bread and butter has existed for such a long time, and
they’re truly global products. There’s the Polish celebration of
nowe latko, where bread figurines of a man with a bobble cap
surrounded by eight geese are made to encourage abundance in
the fields in the coming year. In Amarante in Portugal, intricately
iced phallic-shaped bolos de São Gonçalo (Saint Gonçalo cakes)
are given to single women as lucky love charms. We’ve seen
a Tibetan cream separator that looks more like an intricate
jewellery box, its mahogany lacquer and polished brass dials
emanating pride and expertise. All these and more rely on
these two simple things.
As for the three of us, Richard founded The Snapery Bakery
and supplies some of the best restaurants in London with
sourdough bread and buns. And Grant founded Ampersand
Bulture Culture, and makes cultured butter among other
dairy-related products, which are also served in Michelin-starred
restaurants across the UK. Their philosophies are similar – both
have a focus on slow, fermented products, which are delicious
alone and even better together.They met selling their wares on Druid Street Market in South
London. Their stalls were put next to each other, Richard selling
his bread and Grant selling his butter. Before long they bonded
over the tables and joined forces, selling their products together,
tag-teaming between running the stall and picking up beers from
nearby brewers. I joined in when I had spare time, learning a lot
and eating a lot in the process.
These days the stall is at the equally brilliant Maltby Street
Market, but we all still enjoy that gentle hum of weekend market
life, talking to other traders and nibbling on buttery morsels
meant for market-goers. All the early mornings, late nights,
tears, sweat and Birkenstocks are somehow worth it.
To do bread and butter justice, we wanted to look beyond
cookbooks, and beyond the Western European traditions
familiar to the three of us – so the culture section romps through
the many wonderful and delicious breads and butters enjoyed
around the world.
The recipes in this book, meanwhile, cover four areas: bread,
butter, bread and butter, and leftovers. We have deliberately
included recipes for making bread and butter from scratch, as
well as recipes that use bread and butter as ingredients, in order
to suit the keen, the time-poor and every cook in between.
We are so excited to share this book with you, and grateful
to have been given such free rein to explore two foods we’re sure
many take for granted, and to re-examine them not just through
recipes, but through their history and culture. We hope you
enjoy our findings as much as we have enjoyed the discoveries.Day 1 In a jar, mix 100ml warm
water with 50gm bread flour and
50gm wholemeal flour. Cover
with a wet tea towel and leave
in a warm place for 48 hours.
Day 2After 48 hours, look for
signs of fermentation. There
should be a few bubbles on the
surface. It might not have any
smell at this point, but if it smells
vaguely alcoholic then you’reSourdough starter
The most important thing to remember when maintaining a starter is routine and temperature. This
is a living thing, and like all living things it needs to be treated as such. It needs regular feeding to
survive, it needs warmth when required, and if it’s feeling lazy, it needs encouragement. Ideally,
you feed your starter every day, but every starter has a slightly different routine and you’ll get to
know what suits yours over time. To feed the starter measure out 1 tablespoon of your sourdough
starter and discard the rest. Then add equal parts water and flour to the tablespoon of starter; use
40ml water, 20gm bread flour and 20gm wholemeal flour.on to a winner. It will probably
look quite grey, but will be
fresh underneath. If there is no
signof any activation, do not
worry, just put the jar in a slightly
warmer place and leave for
a further 24 hours and then
continue from Day 3.
Day 3 If you have the beginning
of fermentation, great news!
You’re only a few days awayfrom some exceptional bread.
Discard half the starter and
add another 100ml warm water
with 50gm bread flour and
50gm wholemeal flour. Cover,
and leave in a warm place
for another 24 hours.
Day 4Repeat the process
in Day 3. At this point, there
should be more obvious signs
of fermentation: small bubbles,clear growth in size and a slight
tang on the nose.
Day 5 Repeat the discarding
and replenishing as in Day 3.
Day 6 You should now have
something that’s almost ready to
use in a bread recipe. The colour
should be similar to the colour
it was when you mixed it. There
should be a lot of bubbles, quite
an alcoholic smell and it should
have grown to almost twice the
size. Repeat the discarding and
feeding in Day 3 one more time.
After this, it should be ready
to use in your bread recipe.