Working in a bakery, some of the most fun conversations all of us working there have with customers revolve around the bread or pastries that *they* bake at home, or when we give them some of our sourdough starter to use in their own kitchens, or when we can talk flour types with them. It’s a testament to the fact that most home bakers a…
Working in a bakery, some of the most fun conversations all of us working there have with customers revolve around the bread or pastries that *they* bake at home, or when we give them some of our sourdough starter to use in their own kitchens, or when we can talk flour types with them. It’s a testament to the fact that most home bakers aren’t baking at home for purely individualist reasons--they’re seeking community in doing that, too, and able to find that support in local bakeries
I have no data to back this up, but I bet many home bakers are *more* willing to patronize local bakeries and to spend the money they require, since they appreciate the labor and expense that go into a great loaf.
I also think, apropos my update, it would be fruitful for you to respond to in your newsletter to the book and why it doesn't work for you. I want to read that!
Andrew, I actually would love to hear a conversation with the two of you, live. He's really coming at this from decades of being a home baker before he opened a bakery. And he's not much of a fighter, or name-caller, or my-way-or-the-highway kind of person -- in short: I think the conversation would go more smoothly than one might think based on the comments.
As I updated in the post and explained in comments, this was a breath of fresh air to me and my circumstances. I was hoping others might feel the same—if not, oh well!
I think this probably tracks (anecdotally, it’s how I treated bakeries as a home baker, before I started working in one), and it aligns with points Alicia made about people maybe making one or two kinds of bread at home, but going to a local bakery for something that’s more difficult to create in a home kitchen (baguettes, perhaps a type of bread special to a bakery)
A very important material condition to baking bread! This has me thinking to a recent essay in Vittles about the elitism of the cottagecore lifestyle. As with many things done at home, a holier-than-thou perspective or tone can easily come across, when not everyone has the material resources or the time/energy to engage in such tasks!
Working in a bakery, some of the most fun conversations all of us working there have with customers revolve around the bread or pastries that *they* bake at home, or when we give them some of our sourdough starter to use in their own kitchens, or when we can talk flour types with them. It’s a testament to the fact that most home bakers aren’t baking at home for purely individualist reasons--they’re seeking community in doing that, too, and able to find that support in local bakeries
I have no data to back this up, but I bet many home bakers are *more* willing to patronize local bakeries and to spend the money they require, since they appreciate the labor and expense that go into a great loaf.
I also think, apropos my update, it would be fruitful for you to respond to in your newsletter to the book and why it doesn't work for you. I want to read that!
On it now, actually!
Andrew, I actually would love to hear a conversation with the two of you, live. He's really coming at this from decades of being a home baker before he opened a bakery. And he's not much of a fighter, or name-caller, or my-way-or-the-highway kind of person -- in short: I think the conversation would go more smoothly than one might think based on the comments.
As I updated in the post and explained in comments, this was a breath of fresh air to me and my circumstances. I was hoping others might feel the same—if not, oh well!
I think this probably tracks (anecdotally, it’s how I treated bakeries as a home baker, before I started working in one), and it aligns with points Alicia made about people maybe making one or two kinds of bread at home, but going to a local bakery for something that’s more difficult to create in a home kitchen (baguettes, perhaps a type of bread special to a bakery)
I also live in a place where most people don’t have ovens, making local bakers even more significant. As said, food is contextual!
A very important material condition to baking bread! This has me thinking to a recent essay in Vittles about the elitism of the cottagecore lifestyle. As with many things done at home, a holier-than-thou perspective or tone can easily come across, when not everyone has the material resources or the time/energy to engage in such tasks!