The moment when time stops for a bread baker is when he or she tastes the first slice.
You hold the bread in your hands, you look at it closely and evaluate the crust, the crumb, the aroma. Finally, you savor the first morsel. At that point, you can complete your assessment of the result of your efforts. It's an emotional moment.
The bread in the top photo was baked in the wood-fired oven above, at the San Francisco Baking Institute, a wonderland for bread and pastry makers.
This is my contribution to edition #106 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Cinzia herself.
The photos were shot in color and then converted to black and white (Lightroom preset B&W Look 4).
This post contains the gallery of images submitted to the event.
On this page, you can find out who is hosting the current and future editions of the event.
Fabulous! I've baked a few loaves of sourdough that I hope to post soon! I'll definitely check out the San Francisco Baking Institute when I visit SFO again.
Posted by: Lynne | November 15, 2013 at 12:12 PM
That oven is beautiful!
Posted by: Alicia (foodycat) | November 16, 2013 at 02:16 AM
Hi Lynne. I am looking forward to reading about your sourdough adventure. SFBI is a great resource.
Indeed, it is, Alicia. A bit intimidating too, when you stand in front of its mouth to put in or take out bread or pizza. Fortunately, the one in my backyard is much smaller ;)
Posted by: Simona Carini | November 16, 2013 at 03:48 PM
Gorgeous crumb! Something so elemental baking with fire...
Posted by: diary of a tomato | November 17, 2013 at 06:48 AM
Agree, Debra. All the breads we baked in the wood-fired oven were excellent. And I love their rustic look.
Posted by: Simona Carini | November 18, 2013 at 01:35 PM
Grand shots! Hole-y bread makes for fantastic texture and wonderful chew.
Posted by: Susan | November 20, 2013 at 10:51 AM
Thank you, Susan. It was a challenging environment: lots of flour and fast movements in artificial light. But it's wonderland as far as I am concerned. The bread we tasted at the end of each day was awesome. Now it's up to me to apply what I learned in my environment.
Posted by: Simona Carini | November 20, 2013 at 04:00 PM
Very nice!
Posted by: pam (Sidewalk Shoes) | November 20, 2013 at 04:14 PM