Bread is one of the oldest forms of food known to mankind. Human race has been making this wonderful food for over thousands of years.
The transmutation of the ingredients occur from the mixing and the application of force (kneeding) to the mixture of flour, water, yeast and other savory elements that will become, after the right amount of force time and heat, into a fluffy loaf of bread, if done right.
Next, I'm going to give a basic recipe for bread:
Ingredients:
Flour 500 grams
Active dry yeast 15 grams
Warm water 300 mL
Olive Oil 2 tablespoons
Salt 1 tablespoon
Sugar 1 tablespoon
Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a bowl. Pour the water into the mixture and start working the ingredients with a spoon until a dough forms.
Pay attention to what happens to the ingredients as you mix. The water desapears and a dough starts to form. Why does this happen? the combination of the dry ingredients with the moisture of the water (earth and water elements) will form a moist product that eventually will stop sticking to the spoon. Before this happens, make sure to add the oil to give flavor to the bread and help the gluten structure to be less strong. This is where the forces of the elements work together to create a new product.
If the mixture seems to wet, dont add more flour, eventually the starch will keep absorbing the remaining moisture and will form a doughball. Aproximately 2 to 3 minutes depending on the force of the mixing and the air flow. A third element is involved on this process, air will help dry out the mixture.
Watch and smell the dough as it transforms because of the living factor on it (yeast). The yeast gives the final element wich is fire. Why? because of the properties that yeast gives to the dough. When the yeast feeds, it transforms the sugars on the flour and the added one into CO2 and alcohol. Alcohol is known by alchemists as liquid fire because it contains the spirits of the basic elements from what they were created. Alcohol will help out with the weakening of the gluten links that were formed by the kneeding (next step). CO2 is the gas that will make rise the dough. This two new components will give character and flavor to the final product. Alcohol burns out in the baking process.
After you achieve the doughball, which should not be that sticky anymore, take it out in a lightly flouered counter and start kneeding for about 5 to 10 minutes or until a smooth and elastic ball forms.
As you knead your dough, turn, fold and press each time. The folding traps air (elemental) that will help out on the rising of the bread, the pressing adds mechanical energy which makes the particles within the doughball to create friction and heat (elemental). By the kneading, the gluten will form, which is a network of streachy proteins. The turning helps to form a homogeneous gluten structure. Stop kneading when the dough stops ripping off by the force applyed and forms a smooth, elastic surface. You have to be careful with the flour that you use and the time that you kneed. A strong gluten structure will make your bread hard.
Return the dough to a clean bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let it rest for 1 to 2 hours.
This is when the alchemy occurs. All the elements are working together to become a new one. If you read about alchemy, you will find 4 main stages which are the nigredo or the death, rubedo or the rebirth, the cauda pavonis or the peacock's tail, and finally the albedo or the completition of the transformation. This information may vary depending on the autor of the article, the given sequence is according to my believes.
While we wait, we are in the presence of the cauda pavonis, where all the elements work togheter to become one, but this requires time and one final step for the cook (or alchemist). The final step is divided into two. First the risen dough must be deflated and given form, any form that you like. If you have a bread box you can put it in there and let it rest for another hour. Make sure to grease the bread box before you stick the dough in there. If not, just shape it into a loaf and let it rest. The yeast will start its work again and this is when the albedo occurs because all the ingredients are in their proper state and the fire within the product creates the final reaction in order to transmute. The second stage of the albedo is when you put your dough in the oven.
Preheat the oven at 220 C while the second rising occurs, place the shaped dough in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 min. or until the dough is golden brown.
This final step is the closure of the transmutation of the product. After introducing the dough into a cotroled and heated environment (fire environment) the transmutation of the ingredients will occur by the drying of the gluten structures, the dying of the yeast, the disapearance of the alcohol and rising of the bread by the gas trapped inside of the gluten structures. After is done, take the bread out of the oven and cool in a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Cut the loaf and take a look, what happened to the soft elastic ball that you had earlier? what happened to the water inside the mixture? what happened to that characteristic smell of alcohol and moisture? Everything transformed into a new product. It transmutated from one state to another. Its not magic my friends... its Alchemy.
