01 Jul 2007, ST
Engineer Thomas Heng loves the smell and taste of fresh bread so much that he spends at least 18 hours fermenting his dough
By Huang Lijie
BREAD fanatic Thomas Heng started a blog over a year ago to chronicle his weekly bread-making attempts.
And no, he's not embarrassed about posting pictures of those that turn out all wrong on his blog at www.angelfire.com/planet/tomsbread/index.htm.
'As a completely self-taught baker, the failed attempts were my only teachers,' says the senior principal failure analysis engineer.
'Despite having endured many bread-making failures, I'm never frustrated. When the loaves turn out bad, at least the birds in the backyard have something to eat.'
The mild-mannered Mr Heng, 42, however, is no ordinary bread-maker. He bakes artisanal bread, that is, bread that undergoes a long, slow process of fermentation of at least 18 hours to evoke the flavour of raw flour.
It is this love for the 'raw flavour of flour' that led him into bread-making two years ago.
He bakes four large loaves of varying flavours every weekend, both for practice and for his family. While his wife and 13-year-old son enjoy his bread, his 10-year-old daughter requires a little more coaxing.
'She finds the bread crust too hard and actually prefers bread from the supermarket,' he says.
Well, she's missing out on a good thing because when he offers you a slice of his sourdough and malt powder bread, it has an airy bite and leaves a subtle yogurt-like sourness at the back of mouth. Nice.
It's clear from the Internet that there are loads of bread fanatics all over the world like you. How well do you know them?
Yes, there is a big community of bread fanatics out there, mainly in the United States, Britain and Australia. Members of the Google group rec.food.sourdough are gurus in sourdough bread-making.
Charles Perry, a retired American baker with his own bakery, is a contributor whose advice is greatly valued. We corresponded a bit and I picked up a lot of pointers from him. I also post on the online forum called The Fresh Loaf, which features free lessons on artisan bread baking.
I hear you received a starter culture - a non-commercial yeast mixture - from a member of the online committee in a secretive, 'pass-it-on' kind of way. How cool is that?
There was an American guy named Carl Griffiths who had a family heirloom starter culture dating back to 1847. It was called the Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. Carl was very generous with the starter and gave it to anyone who asked for it.
When he died a couple of years ago, a group of people in rec.food.sourdough set up Carl's Friends and continued to give away this culture to anyone who requested for it.
Using his recipe, the typically wet culture, which may be grown from soaking unmilled wheatberry in water, is allowed to dehydrate. The residual powder is then sent via mail to people who request it.
I got a sample by enclosing US$1 in a self-addressed envelope. The mailing address is available on the website http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends.
I try to emulate this spirit of generosity among the artisan bread-making community by giving the culture to anyone who wants it and to anyone who wants to learn sourdough baking.
Would you go on the Atkin's diet if you had to lose weight?
I love my bread and I don't usually eat much meat. So there's no way I'd go on the Atkin's diet.
You have created some really innovative bread flavours like laksa and roasted garlic/pesto; multi-grain wolfberry and fig; Vietnamese coriander and jackfruit. How were you inspired?
I can't say that I am doing anything new. Herb breads are common although bakers in Europe and the US would probably use rosemary or dill. Since we are located in the tropics, it does not make sense to use herbs that are not common here.
Do you bake anything else besides artisan bread?
I am crazy about pineapple tarts and fruit tarts. I bake these occasionally. I also love making kaya and jams to go with my breads. I can't say that I am good at these confectionaries but home-made foodstuff using top quality ingredients has that fresh, clean quality about it. I can only say that I am more practised when it comes to bread.
Do you ever suffer from bread-making withdrawal symptoms?
Not yet, since my oven has not failed on me yet.
What is the best companion to a nice slice of bread?
For me, the answer is obvious. A cup of coffee, freshly ground and brewed from quality beans.
Describe the best bread you've ever had.
It was a simple baguette I made myself. When it came out of the oven, it triggered my memory of a particular smell of freshly baked bread which I remember smelling as a child. Unfortunately, I have not been able to replicate that experience again.
---------------------------------
WHAT WOULD YOUR LAST MEAL BE?
My mum's chicken curry, which she learnt from my Peranakan grandmother, paired with some freshly baked Baguette au Levain, a sourdough baguette, made using the recipe of Dan Lepard, reputedly Britain?s best artisan baker.'
Engineer Thomas Heng loves the smell and taste of fresh bread so much that he spends at least 18 hours fermenting his dough
By Huang Lijie
BREAD fanatic Thomas Heng started a blog over a year ago to chronicle his weekly bread-making attempts.
And no, he's not embarrassed about posting pictures of those that turn out all wrong on his blog at www.angelfire.com/planet/tomsbread/index.htm.
'As a completely self-taught baker, the failed attempts were my only teachers,' says the senior principal failure analysis engineer.
'Despite having endured many bread-making failures, I'm never frustrated. When the loaves turn out bad, at least the birds in the backyard have something to eat.'
The mild-mannered Mr Heng, 42, however, is no ordinary bread-maker. He bakes artisanal bread, that is, bread that undergoes a long, slow process of fermentation of at least 18 hours to evoke the flavour of raw flour.
It is this love for the 'raw flavour of flour' that led him into bread-making two years ago.
He bakes four large loaves of varying flavours every weekend, both for practice and for his family. While his wife and 13-year-old son enjoy his bread, his 10-year-old daughter requires a little more coaxing.
'She finds the bread crust too hard and actually prefers bread from the supermarket,' he says.
Well, she's missing out on a good thing because when he offers you a slice of his sourdough and malt powder bread, it has an airy bite and leaves a subtle yogurt-like sourness at the back of mouth. Nice.
It's clear from the Internet that there are loads of bread fanatics all over the world like you. How well do you know them?
Yes, there is a big community of bread fanatics out there, mainly in the United States, Britain and Australia. Members of the Google group rec.food.sourdough are gurus in sourdough bread-making.
Charles Perry, a retired American baker with his own bakery, is a contributor whose advice is greatly valued. We corresponded a bit and I picked up a lot of pointers from him. I also post on the online forum called The Fresh Loaf, which features free lessons on artisan bread baking.
I hear you received a starter culture - a non-commercial yeast mixture - from a member of the online committee in a secretive, 'pass-it-on' kind of way. How cool is that?
There was an American guy named Carl Griffiths who had a family heirloom starter culture dating back to 1847. It was called the Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter. Carl was very generous with the starter and gave it to anyone who asked for it.
When he died a couple of years ago, a group of people in rec.food.sourdough set up Carl's Friends and continued to give away this culture to anyone who requested for it.
Using his recipe, the typically wet culture, which may be grown from soaking unmilled wheatberry in water, is allowed to dehydrate. The residual powder is then sent via mail to people who request it.
I got a sample by enclosing US$1 in a self-addressed envelope. The mailing address is available on the website http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends.
I try to emulate this spirit of generosity among the artisan bread-making community by giving the culture to anyone who wants it and to anyone who wants to learn sourdough baking.
Would you go on the Atkin's diet if you had to lose weight?
I love my bread and I don't usually eat much meat. So there's no way I'd go on the Atkin's diet.
You have created some really innovative bread flavours like laksa and roasted garlic/pesto; multi-grain wolfberry and fig; Vietnamese coriander and jackfruit. How were you inspired?
I can't say that I am doing anything new. Herb breads are common although bakers in Europe and the US would probably use rosemary or dill. Since we are located in the tropics, it does not make sense to use herbs that are not common here.
Do you bake anything else besides artisan bread?
I am crazy about pineapple tarts and fruit tarts. I bake these occasionally. I also love making kaya and jams to go with my breads. I can't say that I am good at these confectionaries but home-made foodstuff using top quality ingredients has that fresh, clean quality about it. I can only say that I am more practised when it comes to bread.
Do you ever suffer from bread-making withdrawal symptoms?
Not yet, since my oven has not failed on me yet.
What is the best companion to a nice slice of bread?
For me, the answer is obvious. A cup of coffee, freshly ground and brewed from quality beans.
Describe the best bread you've ever had.
It was a simple baguette I made myself. When it came out of the oven, it triggered my memory of a particular smell of freshly baked bread which I remember smelling as a child. Unfortunately, I have not been able to replicate that experience again.
---------------------------------
WHAT WOULD YOUR LAST MEAL BE?
My mum's chicken curry, which she learnt from my Peranakan grandmother, paired with some freshly baked Baguette au Levain, a sourdough baguette, made using the recipe of Dan Lepard, reputedly Britain?s best artisan baker.'
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