Memory lane: Sourdough baking at River Cottage HQ

t’s almost been over a year since I put together my #foodie40 bucket list. And what a year! There has been personal upheaval (subscribe to my newsletter for details), national crises (bushfires over summer) and global upheaval in the form of #covid19. I feel fortunate that I got to start on my bucket list before international travel shut down, but now that it has I feel strange writing about my past experiences. It feels as though my day spent baking at River Cottage took place in a parallel universe. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away so to speak.

At the same time, I feel like we can all do with a little escapism. I know I need an opportunity to get out the house - even if it is only to take a trip down memory lane. Since every second person seems to be baking sourdough bread while in isolation at home, I thought I’d start by writing up my day spent baking bread at River Cottage HQ in Devon, England.

One Day Sourdough at River Cottage HQ

Number 19 on my #foodie40 list is a cooking class at River Cottage HQ in Devon, England. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is one of my heroes. He is an outspoken advocate of home cooking and making vegetables delicious as well as acting and advocating on food and sustainability issues in the UK. His recipes are so approachable. Veg Everyday is the most useful cookbook I own. I regularly give it as a gift for people who are new to cooking (along with my book, of course!)

Since River Cottage was founded 20 years ago, it has grown into a large enterprise so I wasn’t expecting to have the man himself as a tutor or teacher. However, I wanted to participate in what Hugh had created as a kind of homage. I enrolled in their popular One Day Sourdough course, figuring that I might learn something that would help with number 28 on my list.

But first, cake.

I travelled to Axminster from London by train the day before my course. Due to some Sunday track work, I had to catch a bus for part of the journey. I resigned myself to the trip taking five hours rather than the usual three. However, an unexpectedly enthusiastic bus driver meant that I not only got to see Stone Henge from the highway as we drove past, but I had a full hour to spare before my taxi arrived to get me from the Axminister train station to my accomodation. I had just enough time to dash up the hill and stop in at the River Cottage Kitchen before it closed. The coffee cake called to me in a way that it doesn’t usually.

My original plan had been to drive myself from London - but I am so glad I didn’t. The country lanes in Devon and Dorset are narrow and single lane. My taxi driver rocketed along them with a confidence that I could never replicate. My BnB was located in what Jane Austen once called “the cheerful village of Uplyme”. I am happy to report that 200 years on and Uplyme has lost none of its charm or cheerfulness.

Let the baking begin…

My One Day Sourdough course was everything I wanted it to be: inspiring, creative, full of fun, delicious and skill building. On arrival, a tractor hauled a bunch of happy bakers-to-be down the hill from the carpark to the sparkling cookery school overlooking the greener-than-greener countryside with five stations set up and ready to go. At first, I was a little disappointed to find myself at the back of the room (how was I going to learn properly?) but I ended up sharing my day and lots of laughs with three other lovely women (two Brits and one German) which enhanced everything about the day.

First up, we were fortified by a bit of breakfast. Then we set to work baking the first of six items. Baking that many sourdough loaves from scratch in one day is no small task. At River Cottage they have nailed the cookery school processes and so the guest experience was seamless. Starters were prepared and ingredients measured out, so participants only had to think about mixing, kneading, resting and baking. It meant that so much content could be packed into the day.

We started with the breads that needed the longest proving times (traditional sourdough and rye sourdough) so that they could rest all day while we worked on other breads. I was lucky that the women I spent my day with already baked a lot of their own bread. They gave great advice for kneading which is essential for a good crumb in your loaf. Honestly, I still have a lot of work to do to improve my kneading. I think this is where I am meant to talk about how therapeutic the physical process of kneading is. But, in reality, I bore a little too easily to embrace it with much enthusiasm.

Standing on your feet all day kneading is hard work. We were absolutely starving and happy for a rest by the time lunch rolled (pardon the pun) around. Of course, we made our own pizza bases, topped them with yummy morsels from the River Cottage kitchen and garden and they were expertly cooked in the wood fired pizza oven by our tutor, Dan. My cooking station-mates and I enjoyed our pizzas together, chatting with kind of camaraderie that a day of hard work together brings on.

A bounty of bread

Over the day, we made white sourdough, rye sourdough, brioche, pizza base and focaccia, as well as a brioche doughnut for afternoon tea. We were able to take home our products, as well as some sourdough starter to continue the baking at home. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take my starter because I was travelling. There was simply no way to take (and, God forbid, eat) six loaves of bread on the road when I was travelling solo. I was very glad that my BnB hosts were able to make use of my baking - and kindly prepared my own brioche for me for breakfast the next day.

It was a disappointment not to be able to take all my baking home. I would have loved to have a sourdough starter that originated from River Cottage - but let’s face it: there’s no way I was going to get that through Australian quarantine! Despite this, the course was still money well spent. I now have my memories, photos and a pack full of notes and recipes to get me started with sourdough baking at home.

All this begs the question: have I started baking my own sourdough bread at home? … Not yet. Not even in this time of Covid-19. I still remain hopeful that I will nail number 28 on the #Foodie40 list, but I’ve already manage to kill a starter that was kindly and unexpectedly given to my by The Joyful Frugalista.

But does that really matter? Honestly, not to me. The course in itself was such a wonderful cornerstone experience around which I planned four days in the glorious English countryside. While rain bucketed down in London, I was able to enjoy sunshine as I travelled by bus and train through the verdantly green landscape. I was able to see coastal hamlets in Dorset, Dartmoor National Park and the fascinating university town Exeter while I was in that part of England.

Trying to recreate at home things we’ve experienced on our travels is often fraught, especially when it comes to food. Nothing tastes quite the same once it is removed from its original setting - and you don’t eat it with the same wide-eyed wonder. But I might just hunt down some strong bread flour at the shops this weekend and see what I can create. After all, travelling down the road of memory like this is its own special kind of treatment for Covid-19 cabin fever.

How are you going during this crazy and turbulent time? Do you want more arm chair travel to keep you going until travel restrictions are lifted? Let me know what you think on Facebook.