Find out how yeast performs its biochemical transformation of a bit of flour and water into crusty, delicious bread. Explore the history of breadmaking around the world, and learn how bread has come to occupy such a central place in the cuisines of many nations. We'll bake some bread in our studio kitchen, play with yeast and glutens in our lab, and share recipes.
Our Guests:
Carol Field
Cookbook author, food and travel journalist and international culinary teacher Carol Field has been sharing her passion for Italy and Italian food since 1972. Her cookbooks have received James Beard and Julia Child awards, and four have been Book of the Month Club selections. Author of such books as The Italian Baker, Field spent two years working with the bakers of Italy, traversing the country again and again from Lugano and Como in the north to Lecce and Palermo in the south, tasting and testing, then going back to the States to rework the recipes in an American kitchen with American ingredients. She will bake Italian breads with us, showing us the traditional processes.
William Rubel
William Rubel is a cook and author specializing in traditional cooking methods and a collector of antique and modern culinary utensils. His widely respected book, The Magic of Fire, brought the ancient processes of hearth cooking back into currency. He will talk with us about the history of bread, breadmaking, and the cultural significance of bread across time and across cultures.
Karen Kalamuck
Exploratorium scientist and teacher Karen Kalamuck will join us to play with that most surprising of organisms--- yeast! Find out more about this widely prevalent, little understood organism, which plays a role in everything from bread to beer, and even to our own digestion!
Have a question for our guests? e-mail it to us at
live@exploratorium.edu
and we'll do our best to get it answered on the air.
