Perseverance Bread

There is nothing more romantic than bread by candlelight, and here is why. Some 15 hours after botching up making bagels, Noodle Cook persevered on the longest bread making marathon in history.



The fiasco starts at 7 am, when after 45 minutes the yeast sponge stalls at 30% rise. No chance of bread for lunch, so may as well let the bread rise slowly in the refrigerator. At 5 pm, the dough looks no better.

A bit of heat in a car parked in the setting sun, and the sponge doubles at long last! Punch down, scale, mold... Most cooks would have abandoned the attempt by now. This strange yeast is SLOW. There is no smell of over fermentation even after all these hours.



By quarter to 11 pm, a very hungry John wakes up from the couch after spending the evening waiting for bread. A triumphant Noodle Cook presents a golden brown loaf, hot from the oven, the perfect bread to eat with extra virgin olive oil and black olives.

The used by date on the box of yeast reads 1995. The yeast is at least 15 years old.