This week, I went to a tour of the Stone Circle Bakehouse. Well, it wasn't a tour as much as a sample tutorial and Q&A. Nevertheless, Kevin Cosgrove welcomed the local Slow Food Group into his bakehouse and shared with us how he came to be a baker and it was so much more than I had imagined.
He was so kind and generous, he offered to let us put bread into the oven. I was too nervous to do it, but one of the gals from MSU stepped up and did it. Kevin's humility was one thing that struck me. He was so amazingly nonchalant in his manner and speaking and it made me respect him even more. He told us of traveling across the country and asking other bakers what they did so that he could learn. He didn't want their secrets, he just wanted to watch what they did. He wanted to learn the craft.
I asked him why he picked baking, if he had baked previously and enjoyed it. His answer was that he had been in the hotel catering business for years. He was very familiar with food services, and yet he couldn't help but notice that the bread service, which was an integral part of the meal, was so poorly executed and under recognized. I loved this answer and when he finished, I said, "So you went for the underdog." He seemed to click with this recognition and looked at me like, "Yes, exactly." It was a great moment.
The experience of being there in his bakehouse is hard to describe. There were about about ten of us, yet it seemed intimate. I suppose part of that is because he was inviting us into his space and it almost seemed like a place to revere. Kevin was open to questions and was just so generous with his time and patience. He was funny, and made it clear that he did not want to expand his business beyond his bakehouse. He intends to stay local, wants to keep it manageable, wants to stay close to who is eating his bread.
I came away understanding breadmaking better and understanding that it is, indeed, a craft. This experience only reinstated to me the importance of getting our food locally and knowing where it comes from. And it inspired me. I understand more fully now that what goes into food isn't only ingredients, but intent, effort and craft. I always knew this, but now I understand it on a different level. And it makes the food even more delicious. In this case, fougasse, or a close relative to foccacia. Mmmmm, incredible.
