Freshly baked bread hits my nose as soon as I open the door to my house on April 9. It’s unusual considering I live alone, worked all day, and then went to class. But my cousin Parisa Amini has been staying with me for the last couple of weeks, and she’s become obsessed with baking.
I know why, too, because I’ve been there. The Great British Bake Off (also known as The Great British Baking Show) got under her skin, into her head, and compelled her to do something about it. Parisa has watched four seasons since she’s been at my house, and I’m the one who gets to reap all of the benefits.
In the past week, I’ve come home to freshly baked banana bread, an apple tart that most definitely did not have a soggy bottom, French rolls, and bread that looks like focaccia but apparently isn’t. “It’s fougasse,” she corrects me.
So instead of snacking on some crappy chips that are in my cupboard, I’m ripping a piece of freshly baked fougasse off one of the loaves she slaved over today.
“You should have smelled it when it was cooking,” she says. “But oh well.”
Oh well indeed, but I’m not complaining.
Her apple tart was divine. My younger cousin knows a lot about baking—pies, especially.
She walked me through the tips she’s got tucked away in her mind for making a nice flaky pie crust, which is butter, flour, and water (sometimes a pinch of sugar and/or salt, too). Everything has to be cold. Some people freeze butter and then grate it, because if the butter is too warm, it will seep out of the dough as it’s baking. Then, you won’t get that flaky texture.
“Duly noted,” I think. “That’s why my quiche had a soggy bottom.”
I also went on a bit of a baking spree during my obsession with the Great British Bake Off about a year ago. And while Parisa seems to be nailing her bakes, I was mediocre at best.
Those of you who have felt the pull of The Great British Bake Off are probably with me, but the rest of you might be wondering what the hell I’m talking about. So I’ll give you a quick explainer: The Brits created a fabulous show all about baking—tarts, pies, cakes, breads, biscuits, rolls, amuse-bouche, merengue, petit fours, the list is endless, honestly (and it’s a little hard to believe).
It’s a reality TV show that starred celebrity British bakers Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry in the first few seasons (Prue Leith is now Hollywood’s co-host) where amateur bakers from around the U.K. face off in a series of challenges until they get kicked off the show, one-by-one.
“Everyone is so encouraging of everyone else on that show, and it’s just so nice to see that,” Parisa says. “A lot of American reality shows are about creating villains and watching people argue. It’s just such a wholesome show. And you learn a lot.”
The contestants go through a signature bake, a technical challenge (this is the hardest as the contestants are given a bare-bones recipe and asked to follow it to time), and a showstopper on each episode.
It’s awesome. The fougasse that she baked? It’s a technical challenge from season 4, episode 6: “Botanical.” She found Hollywood’s recipe online—it’s available on both the BBC and PBS websites—and decided to try it for herself. It’s an herbaceous bread that, in my defense, has an aura of focaccia about it. But it’s not Italian; it’s French. And it doesn’t have that fluffy, spongy texture that focaccia is famous for.
“That bread just sounded so good. … And it’s delicious,” she says. “I have to say that Paul Hollywood wouldn’t be proud, and I definitely wouldn’t get the Hollywood handshake, but I don’t think I would be last on the technical challenge. And isn’t that the goal?”
There’s something about watching people bake a bunch of stuff to a timer that’s invigorating and inspiring. Seeing amateur bakers mature and grow kind of gives you the feeling that you can do what they’re doing. Parisa actually re-watched the episode as she was baking the fougasse to make sure that it looked like what the contestants were baking because she wasn’t sure that her dough was the right consistency.
“Look at their dough,” she tells me as we watch it yet again. “See how it’s sticky and pliable? Mine didn’t do that.”
It also was supposed to crackle a little when you rip a piece off, which she assured me that she tested when it came out of the oven. Although pies are her thing, she says, this adventure into bread-making has definitely challenged her. Bread is complicated because it has to rest, or “proof,” which gives the yeast you add to the dough a chance to do its thing. The dough has to be worked to the perfect consistency, be proofed for the perfect amount of time, get shaped in the perfect way, and then allowed to proof again.
“I would like to try it again, though,” she says with a laugh. “I’m determined to make it properly.”
I’m down to eat it.
Editor Camillia Lanham is living off the labor of someone else’s bake. Send your thoughts to clanham@newtimesslo.com.
BITES
• Think you can only get a really good cup o’ tea with all the highfalutin’ fixings on the other side of the Atlantic? Think again. First & Oak Restaurant at the Mirabelle Inn in Solvang is launching a monthly High Tea Experience starting May 19 from 1 to 3 p.m. The event will feature fine tea served in Royal Albert teapots and three tiers of sweet and savory bites—complete with those precious little tea sandwiches, which Chef JJ Guerrero will craft with seasonal, local ingredients. All of the fanciness can be yours for $59 a person. Reservations are required. Visit firstandoak.com or find the restaurant on Facebook to learn more.
• Root 246 in Solvang launched new spring dinner and bar menus and appointed a new in-house pastry chef, Bethany Burns! Her dessert menu includes a bacon chocolate peanut butter crunch bar (five layers of milk and dark chocolate AND peanut butter AND crispy bacon). Yes please! But back to dinner: Chef Crystal “Pink” DeLongpré is bringing you yumminess like oak-grilled asparagus with cured egg yolk, red radish, house-made kimchi, and Korean chili aioli as well as local halibut in a kombu broth with Marcona almonds, fava beans, Meyer lemon, and fresh herbs. The California Avocado Commission also announced that Chef Pink was one of the commission’s California Avocado Season Opening Partners, so chefs Pink and Burns included a new vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free option on the dessert menu. The Bliss Cake is made up of a raw pecan and date cake with an avocado, banana, and cocoa mousse and an avocado coconut créme. Visit the restaurant on Instagram @Root246 to drool a little or in person for a taste of the avo action at 420 Alisal Road in Solvang.
• Hop on the Santa Maria Valley Wine Trolley for the third season in a row starting on May 11. It will run every weekend through Oct. 13, making a loop from the Costa de Oro Wine Tasting Room at 1331 S. Nicholson in Santa Maria with stops that include Presqu’ile Winery, Cottonwood Canyon Winery, and Old Town Orcutt. Guests can hop on and off at the wineries and locations of their choosing along the route. Cost is $10 per person in advance or $18 at the trolley. Go for a ride on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Learn more by visiting santamariavalley.com/winetrolley/.
Editor Camillia Lanham is full of avocado at the moment. Send your nibbles and bites to clanham@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 2, 2019.