Discovery of Bread Tartine
In Spring of 2011, I took my Debbie to San Francisco to celebrate out 10 year anniversary. Leading up to the trip I wanted to try and find some of the not so “touristy” things to do while we were there. San Francisco, of course is known for its famous Sour Dough bread, which even before our arrival I was always a big fan of…Debbie…not so much. Of course with me now doing Body Beast, bread made like this is something that I can put on my menu! There were many bakeries in and around San Francisco, so the options were abundant.
However, I stumbled upon an article that suggested trying a smaller, out of the way, bakery located in the Mission District of San Francisco. The bakery was called Tartine Bakery. The bread Tartine Bakery is like none other in the area and this is where the locals of the city buy there bread, the tourists are generally unaware of it. I had to try it.
Here’s a shot of the bakery from the street…notice the line!
You want great sourdough bread Tartine Bakery is your place
But you better get there early! Due to the complex schedule of the bread making process, the bread isn’t pulled out of the oven in the morning like most bakeries. The bread tartine is pulled and made available around 5:00 PM, but only Wednesday through Sunday and in limited supply. Each day roughly 300 loaves are prepared and baked and you would be lucky to get a loaf after 6:00 PM!
Our travel schedule worked out perfectly! We arrived just after 3:00 PM on Sunday afternoon and this was going to be our first scheduled stop. We arrived at the bakery just after 4:00 PM and stood in line with many other patrons who were eager to sample the bread tartine cranks out. A single loaf is priced at $7.00 and I would have paid double that! It was phenomenal, hard crunchy crust and soft, warm dense crumb.
The only “downside” to this trip was that we also planned to have dinner at Delphina’s, located just around the corner, at 6:00 PM, so we couldn’t indulge too much. To our surprise, Delphina’s served the bread tartine baked that evening with our dinner, so we were able to have a wonderful, romantic dinner AND enjoy the bread as well. Only it wasn’t the loaf we just purchased…BONUS!
My mission to make bread Tartine
Before we arrived in San Francisco, the owner of Tartine Bakery, Chad Robertson, had recently published a book that allowed anyone that loved his bread the ability to make it themselves with his guidance. “Tartine Bread” was the aptly named title of the book and I planned to purchase while we visited the bakery, but I was so caught up in the moment, I completely forgot and missed my chance…
However, I was able to reserve a copy from my local library and use it for my journey. You can pick up your own copy from Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread-Chad-Robertson/dp/0811870413
I read the book’s detailed instructions and purchased the necessary supplies to get started. My first bake came out okay…I didn’t have quite the same shape and rise of the dough I would have like, but the flavor was excellent and I was hooked and determined to perfect my process.
Photos of my latest bread Tartine bake
Here is an extensive gallery of photos from my most recent bread tartine bake. I feel like I have the process down pretty good now and the loaves that came out of this bake were most excellent! The entire process of baking a loaf of Tartine bread is considerably longer than a standard loaf of bread. Actually, it take several weeks in fact to get the Starter going in a consistent manner. I have condensed that in the photos below. The bake you see below was started early in the morning and then finished with the actual baking, the next morning. This made for an awesome breakfast!
The Starter
This is what replaces your traditional yeast in the bread making process and can take several weeks to get going. But once you have it going, it is pretty low maintenance to keep going and re-use as often as needed.
The Leaven
Made the night before, or early in the morning, as was the case for me. This is the beginnings of your bread Tartine and is an offspring of the starter from above.
The Dough
Once your leaven has risen over the course of about 12 hours, you should be ready to start mixing the actual dough for your bread. Notice no electric mixer or extensive list of ingredients (flour, salt and water) are used in this process. This is what make this bread making process so unique and different than any other recipe.
The Shaping
By far, the most tricky aspect of the entire process. Because the dough is so wet and sticky, you really have to “learn” this process before you can tackle it and not ruin the dough. I think that I finally have it down and am able to work the dough without deflating it much at all.
The Bake
The dough must go through a series of rises; one in the container/bowls seen above and then again once it has been shaped and placed into a bread basket. This can be done on the counter or in the refrigerator, it all depends on how long you need between the final shaping and the bake. The amount of “sour” you prefer is also affected by this final rise.
This is where all of your efforts come back to reward you with the sweet smells of freshly baked bread! The crunchy crust, the warm and soft crumb both go perfect with a hot cup of coffee! This bread tartine is perfect with dinner or for use with french toast.
Summary
I have really grown fond of the bread making process and have a great amount of respect for all of the bakers out there, it is truly a labor of love that make such a simple staple so enjoyable. A special thanks to my lovely wife, Debbie for allowing me to take on something rather different and for her time spent with me in shooting most, if not all, of the photos detailed above. Thanks baby!
If you want to give yourself a bit of a challenge where the reward at the end is worth every bit of time put in; pick up the “Tartine Bread” book and bake some sourdough bread Tartine Style!
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