So, as I've mentioned, I'm taking tentative steps into the world of baking. And I have some thoughts about baking as a craft, from the standpoint of a nearly-total beginner.
It's often said that people are either cooks or bakers. I don't know how close that really is to true, but I do find that there are some things about baking the run a bit counter to my personality.
Baking is exacting, and I'm a bit slapdash. Baking calls for attention to detail, which leaves me a bit impatient. And, in baking, a recipe can fail for any of a forest or reasons, leaving an infant such as myself scratching my head in puzzlement. Teaching myself to cook is hard enough -- I really suspect that baking is best learned in apprenticeship.
Of course, there is tremendous creativity in baking. But, I fear that until such time as I master many more of the skills, my creativity will be pretty much confined to recipe selection. Baking is like the Elizabethan sonnet: part of the beauty comes from the rigid structure. In baking, the structure is not from rhyming schemes and meters but from chemistry and physics, and if the structure is not adhered to the recipe will fail. Most of the things I cook allow me to improvise is I go along, but in baking success can only come from slavish devotion to the recipe.
From my tiny chair here in baking kindergarten, it seems like there are hundreds of little techniques that will have to be somehow learned if I'm going to do much baking. Maybe I'd feel the same about cooking if I was in cooking kindergarten (instead of my lofty advancement to to the third grade). But, it seems more than a little intimidating.
Still, it's also fun. I've made some tasty things, and I look forward to learning some of the lore. My core goals are pretty limited - I want a few different breads in my repertoire, and I'd like to find a dessert or two that I can really have confidence in.
This weekend, I want to make bagels!
You're so right about baking! I find it can be intimidating as well but then I tend to limit myself to things I already know how to do. I used to bake bread all the time and am anxious to get back to doing that again. My daughter is a baker by profession but is completely self-taught (do you know how much culinary school costs????). She amazes me with her talent; she's a natural. It is possible to teach yourself but it may mean some disasters along the way. Keep at it! Your angel food cake looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI am more baker than cook, myself, but that doesn't mean I don't try to throw together a stir fry without a plan now and then.
ReplyDeleteYou might check out Alton Brown's book on baking "I'm just here for more food" is the title, I think. He explains the physics and chemistry, if you enjoy that sort of thing and approaches baking techniques in a way that might set you up well for the creativity you crave.
You are doing great!! And bagels might just be what makes me turn up on your doorstep. I LOVE me a good bagel with cream cheese. :D
ReplyDeleteBecause of the exacting chemistry of baking, I usually us a mix. I'm lazy ;) Keep up the good work. Enjoy reading about your cooking/baking adventures.
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