Chapter 147 Bakery Opening
Bread is the art of fermentation, and this "art" has been slowly mastered by people over a long period of time.
In the beginning, the food people often made was thick, unfermented dough flatbread, which was solid, hard, and airless, and even had no sugar or salt for seasoning, making it difficult to swallow.
Later, the story goes that a nobleman's lazy servant left unbaked raw dough near the fireplace and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found that the dough had swelled and had a slightly sour smell.
Fearing punishment, the servant continued to bake the bread, and accidentally made one that tasted pretty good... After that, people repeatedly studied the ratio of flour, water and temperature, trying to recreate the magic miracle... Finally, they discovered yeast.
At that time, people here had a very superficial understanding of yeast, and this technology was not mastered by the general public, but was firmly controlled by the aristocratic cooks.
After all, only the nobles had enough flour, sugar, and eggs to allow the cooks to adjust the taste through repeated experiments.
Common people's bread consisted simply of flour, salt, water, and time. Even the yeast was a naturally occurring bacteria floating in the air, uncultivated and unfed. To get the dough to ferment to a barely acceptable level under these conditions, it required an extremely long time. Fermentation could take anywhere from several days to a week, until the bread developed a sour smell... hence the name sourdough bread.
Such crude technology is naturally not used in Jiangyou's bakery.
The yeast she used was cultivated by herself, and she carefully fed it with new flour every day. After the exorcism spell killed the bacteria and the nourishment spell was targeted, it was very active and could burst out with very strong vitality under the right temperature and suitable ratio.
The kneading technique is also very particular. The correct kneading and beating techniques can promote the formation of gluten. The glove-like structure can form perfect air cells in the bread. Yeast diligently breaks down starch in these air cells, producing carbon dioxide to fill these air cells and make the bread soft and puffy.
The bread made in this way, even the version tried by beginners, tastes better than those bland and hard black breads.
Generally speaking, it takes years of hard work to train a baker, during which time a large amount of ingredients are consumed and a variety of poor, substandard bread products are produced...but Jiangyou is not worried about this at all.
At the beginning, these bakers did produce a variety of breads that were not fermented properly, baked for too long or too short, burnt or not cooked enough... Except for the undercooked ones that were returned to the oven, the remaining breads that did not meet the sales standards of Jiangyou but were still very tempting to the locals were given to the poor as charity.
As the bakers continued to produce, their skills improved rapidly. After two or three days, their substandard products were enough to supply the Kingdom Knights' canteen in West Eston. After four or five days, they were able to produce quite good quality bread. On the seventh day, the bakery officially opened for business.
The bakery's name was still quite straightforward: "Lich's Bakery." At six in the morning, the bakers were already freshly dressed and in the bakery, taking out the Polish yeast that had been slowly fermenting in the refrigerator the night before and adding it to the fresh dough.
Normally, if a bakery wants to open for the early morning market, its bakers would have to wake up at 3 or 4 a.m. to make bread. But Easton West City isn't a modern metropolis, and there aren't any unlucky office workers who have to work at 8 a.m. So, considerate of his employees, the lich boss extended the opening hours, working from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., so that the first batch of bread can be baked on time.
Ten o'clock was the time when the people of West Eston usually went out to eat and chat. People who were used to queuing for food at the brewery at this time smelled a particularly tempting sweet aroma at the intersection and couldn't help but stop to look.
"Hey, Boss Lich's bakery is open!"
"Is it today? I thought it would be a while later!"
"Let's go! Let's try it!"
The four sides of the bakery are inlaid with large and transparent dragon crystals, allowing the breeze and fragrance to flow freely, while annoying mosquitoes and flies are kept out. When customers pass through the dragon crystal door, they can see all kinds of bread neatly arranged on the shelves.
Rectangular golden toast, long baguettes that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, palm-sized crescent-shaped croissants, and delicate sausage rolls filled with sausages... Under each type of bread is a label with the type and price of bread written on it. The ingredients and fillings are also carefully marked below, and it is even carefully noted which foods people who are allergic to cannot eat.
——Just this label makes people feel the boss’s meticulousness and thoughtfulness.
The price of bread varies with the complexity of the ingredients used. Bread with sugar is more expensive than bread without sugar, and bread with meat filling and butter is more expensive than bread without filling... The cheapest improved rye sourdough bread can be bought for just a few nickels, while the most expensive chocolate mille-feuille croissant sandwich with fried egg and bacon costs a silver coin.
In addition to the freshly baked bread on the shelves, there is a hot food counter in front of the checkout counter, which sells steamed meat buns, steamed buns, flower rolls, and freshly made sandwiches that are baked and heated on the spot. The glass refrigerator is filled with washed vegetables and fruits of various colors, as well as a large plate of sliced bacon and smoked sausages.
There is also a beverage counter next to it, selling black tea, coffee, soy milk and milk. There is a row of tables and chairs on the far right of the store where customers can rest, eat, drink tea and enjoy the scenery.
There was a clerk busy at the hot food counter, the beverage counter, and the cash register. From time to time, a baker would push a cart full of bread out to replenish the stock. Through the glass behind the counter, customers could vaguely see the baker busy in the back room, kneading various kinds of bread.
Behind the cash register hangs a price board that lists the prices of various hot foods, drinks, and bread, as well as a large sign: [The next batch of special pizzas will be out at 12:00].
"Specialty pizza? What's that?" a customer who had bought a lot of bread asked curiously. "Is it delicious?"
"Delicious, absolutely delicious." The young cashier seemed to recall the wonderful taste and couldn't help licking her lips. "The thick crust is piled high with white cheese, smeared with a thick layer of tomato sauce, and the thick slices of sausage are evenly spread all over the crust. The aroma fills the room when it's baked! When you pick up the sliced pizza, the melted cheese stretches out in long strings. It's super, super delicious!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
