Pain Epi

[james]

Jim,

I thought you would like this. I'm going to try to make it. I know there is a recipe in The Bread Bakers Apprentice, but I think it's basically a bauguette with scissor cuts. It separates nicely and looks great. Might be a good seller.

James

[CanuckJim]

James,

Thanks for the tip and the pic. I've never made a pain epi, though I've used the cut technique many times on Ancienne baguette, mainly because the dough is so wet that blade docking just doesn't work. This weekend I held the first Mary G's two-day bread workshop of the season with four particiapants, two of whom are new members on this forum. It was a long and intense two days: day one theory and prep for two-day breads; day two for firing and one-day breads. We made six very different styles of bread to cover many different forumulas and forming techniques. It was a lot of fun, and the participants all said they learned a lot, even the experienced bread bakers.

One of the breads was a typical Parisian baguette. For demonstration purposes, three were slashed in the traditional way, and three were cut with kitchen shears at a shallow angle, much like the epi.

I'll post some pics and a short description once I have the photos cropped and sized.

Jim

[james]

Jim,
Here's an idea. We should get you out to California to teach some classes that FB can host and I can take. I really need to take some serious bread classes, and there must be a number of west coast folks who would enjoy wood-fired bread lessons. Let's talk about that.
James

[CanuckJim]

James,

That sounds like a lot of fun. Let's do it. I'm a bit unsure what airport security would say to baggage full of bread blades and wild yeast starter, but maybe we'll find out. Just be ready for bail.

I'm very fond of California and have spent a lot of time there over the years, but mainly Santa Barbara, San Marino, the coast south to San Diego, and, my all time favorite, the desert around Indio. I haven't been to points north in CA for a very long time. There, Monterey tops the list.

Here's what we made over the weekend:

Boule au Levain
Wild Yeast Seed Bread
Ciabatta
Potato, Cheddar and Chive Torpedo (Batard)
Bagels (New York style water)
Parisian Baguette

I chose these because they're all so different, but the list can be modified at will. I've been corresponding with a woman in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, who wants a couse tailored only to bagels because she plans to open a wood-fired bagel business there. Think about that one next winter . She's got a line on salvaging bricks from an old, wrecked paddle-wheeler boiler . Her interest would be in both NY style and what's called Montreal style here. The Montreal style uses egg as an enrichment and honey in the boiling water. The two products look the same, but don't taste the same.

Timing is all we need to settle, I think.

Jim

[telehort]

Jim/James - I would be very intersted in attending something like this if it came together!

[jwnorris]

Count me in, also. I am unable to make the open house and continue to regrete it. Just make sure that some of the classes are on a Saturday so that those of us who work can come up Friday night.

On a slightly related subject, is anyone else taking the Ramekin's class on June 2nd? If so, I am looking forward to meeting some folks from this forum.

J W