BERTINET BAKERY.

A SHORT REPORT.I would like to thank ABIM for funding my trip to The Bertinet Cookery School.

TABLE OF CONTENTSContents

Day 1_______________________________________________________________________________________________________1

Day 2_______________________________________________________________________________________________________1

Day 3_______________________________________________________________________________________________________1

overal trip conclusion.____________________________________________________________________________________1

Thank you letter.___________________________________________________________________________________________1

Pictures.____________________________________________________________________________________________________1

BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

First day at Bertinet cookery school.

We jumped right in and started to make a sourdough. This was something we was going to use the next day. Richard went through every step with us in a demonstration, then walked around to help us individually. He allowed us to take notes in the lesson to help us remember the important little things when making artisan bread.

These are just some of the many things Richard Beritnet taught us:

Using less yeast make the bread easier to digest. Sourdough is one of these breads. Using your senses can help you make your dough a better bread. This is because

you are able to tell when your water is the perfect temperature. Do not add more flour to your desk if it is sticking, the dough will sort itself out

when you’re working with it. Never forget the basics, it will always come in handy, even when you are making

more complex breads. Mixers don’t knead the dough. This means that you can create the gluten bonds and

knead the dough at the same time by slapping the dough onto the table.

Richard showed me a new way of making bread. I had always personally used a mixer or only slightly mixed it on the table. He taught us to use a scraper and scrape round the side of your dry ingredients, this creates the 1st speed motion that you would get on the mixer. Once we had formed a dough, we put it straight onto the desk, without any flour to help. This is when we started to slap the dough onto the desk. Creating the gluten bonds is important for the structure of the bread.

Then we shaped the dough, it is important to keep the top on the top, because this allows the joining lines to always be on the bottom. This makes for a better looking end product. Once we thought the dough was ready we did a few more turns on the table, but this time with some maize flour for dusting. A quick dust of the bowl then we left the dough to rise naturally covered with a tea towel.

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BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

Second day at Bertinet cookery school.

Today we made Pain de Champagne, and we also did a test on what the different crumb, taste, colouring and, textures are on the same dough that has been processed in different ways (machine and by hand).

The results for the two different methods were subtle in the final product. The machine dough was slightly too tight, and the handmade dough was too loose. When they were baked, despite both making beautiful products, the handmade bread was slightly better. This is because the texture on the inside was more aerated, the crumb was ever so slightly ‘crunchier’ but the colour and taste was the same.

We made a simple dough, which was then used for Richard to show us how to incorporate foreign bodies into a fully made dough. This is done by slightly rolling out your dough, and firmly pushing the foreign bodies into the dough, Then, you roll your dough (like a cinnamon bun) and work the dough from there. This ensures that everything is evenly distributed.

Finally, we made French sticks. Richard showed us how to get the perfect slice on the top of the dough. This is done by holding the end of the stick (which must be tight but still full of pockets of air) and slice the dough from top to bottom. To hold the blade, we were told to use all of our fingers except our pinkies. Hold the blade at a 45˚ angle, this will ensure you a deep and controlled slice through your stick. Be careful though that you don’t curve the knife when you are slicing, because if you do then your slice will progress to the side of your stick not the top.

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BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

Third day at Bertinet cookery school.

Unfortunately, I had to leave this lesson slightly early due to the fact that my coaches only ran once a day from Bath to Sheffield. This meant that I wasn’t able to see the finished products or the whole method.

Richard told us to always use butter straight from the fridge when making pastry, this will stop your pastry from having a ‘soggy’ consistency. To help you use the butter, use the rolling pin to soften it slightly. He also told us to never add extra water to our pastry. Once again, no flour was added to our bench when we were finishing our pastry off.

We continued to watch Richard make a pastry cream for some of the products we were going to make. He showed us that using some cold cream and a hand blender you can bring a crème anglaise back to life. It won’t be as thick when finished but it will save money on ingredients.

Then he showed us how to make frangipan too. Once again using butter straight from the fridge. Then we made choux pastry, we learnt that if we pull out the damper for the last 10 minutes of baking.

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BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

Overall trip conclusion.

Overall, this was one of the most amazing baking experiences I have ever had. I learnt so much about so many things. Not only did Richard talk to us about what he was teaching us, he also helped me come up with some ideas for my upcoming project at the time.

On top of the above, Richard has invited me back to work with him on the 24th of April as part of the team whilst him teaching a pastry course.

This whole trip has opened up my eyes to the world of bread and helped put the passion back into me for artisan products. I can not wait to teach all of the above to future students of mine and even to use it in my up coming bread assignment.

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BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

Dear ABIM,

I would like to start off by saying thank you for helping students like myself find themselves in the bakery world. Helping lost students find where their passion lies and how to begin a career in this industry.

Words can not describe how grateful I am to ABIM and everyone involved. Nothing will come close to this unique opportunity you have provided me. I will carry the information I have learnt with me, and hopefully one day teach it myself. I promise to carry on my new found passion for artisan bread, and progress in this and all other departments of the bakery industry.

I hope you have enjoyed reading what my adventure was like. And I hope to see/speak to you all soon.

Many thanks,

Katy Marsden.

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BERTINET BAKERY REPORT.

Pictures.

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