We still haven't been able to buy any yeast, be it dry, instant, active, or fresh "cake" yeast (levure en cube). Every time we order groceries from one of the two local supermarkets, we order some. And every time we drive to the supermarket to pick up the groceries we've ordered, we're told there is no yeast available.
I really shouldn't complain. The four or five local boulangeries are open and selling really good bread. Even the supermarkets sell really good bread nowadays. It's baked on the premises from dough that's probably made in an industrial bakery and probably frozen for delivery to the stores. That's okay with me, as long as it's good to eat. And it is.
Still, it's fun to bake bread. We still have flour, salt, and water. That's really all you need, plus yeast. Making a loaf of bread or a batch of rolls is very satisfying. It passes the time. And it's fun to eat good bread and think to yourself: C'est moi qui l'ai fait! — "I made that!"
These are some rolls or petits pains that I made on April 22, in pre-yeast-penury days. I made them with all-purpose flour (French type 55) because that's what I had at the time. I'd like to try making them again with bread flour, but without yeast it's not possible of course.
Sourdough. Maybe I should try to get a starter going, but apparently the process takes a week or more. It's not something you can be spontaneous about. Actually, I'm not even sure I like sourdough bread all that much. Here, by the way, is the YouTube video that inspired me to make the rolls in these photos back in April. It's time to place another on-line order for groceries. Maybe they'll have yeast now.
Warm sourdough and butter are perfection. Wonder why there's no yeast?
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. About the only way I really liked sourdough bread when we were in San Francsico was slathered with butter. I don't know why there's no yeast. People are snapping it up as soon as it's on the shelves or on the on-line order forms.
DeleteAccording to Lesaffre, the yeast giant, demand has quadrupled since the begining of the pandemic because people are baking bread and cakes to get busy during the lockdown!
DeleteIn my bread machine I use Saf-Instant yeast. I wonder if you could order it from Lesaffre directly?
DeleteAs Travel says it freezes well.
Get a starter going.... there are all sorts of other recipes for using the discard, too.... muffins [English]... crumpets.... pancakes.... chewy granola bars [they are very good - almost time for some more].... crackers.... I even used some in my steak&kidney cobbler topping....
ReplyDeleteI probably should do that. And on YouTube I've seen recipes for starter-dough by-products like the ones you mention. In the U.S., muffins like the ones you include in your list are called... "English muffins". They are very good, and we've made them here in France.
DeleteThe link doesn't work.
DeleteOops. Try this one. So sorry. Glad you are recovering and making progress.
DeleteWhen yeast comes back into stock, dried instant yeast, freezes well. I order one-pound bags on Amazon and store them in the freezer. I have three pounds in the freezer. I make your pizza crust recipe about once a month.
ReplyDeleteFor years we had a good quantity of dry yeast in the house. Then we started buying fresh "yeast cakes" (levure en cubes) at Intermarché and thought it worked really well. So our supply of dry yeast dwindled. And we didn't want to buy fresh yeast cubes in large quantities because fresh yeast is perishable. Thus the shortage and current difficulties.
DeleteFor being almost a month old, these rolls look delicious! ;)
ReplyDeletePhotos age well, don't they?
DeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDelete: ^ )
DeleteHave you tried asking at a boulangerie if you can buy some yeast?
ReplyDeleteIf I go to a boulangerie, I just end up buying bread!
DeleteI hope you find some yeast soon. Like chm said, look on Amazon and freeze any yeast that you find. I wish I could send you some. Your rolls are beautiful and that video makes making them look easy.
ReplyDeleteI'll be placing another supermarket order this weekend, including yeast on my list. Maybe they'll have some this time. I ordered some yeast from amazon.fr this morning. Delivery dates: between June 29 to July 20.
DeleteThat's funny -- I was just making a slideshow of images of French food items, and was really focused on petit pains and showing the different numbers assigned to flour -- and then, here comes Ken, with a mention of both!
ReplyDeleteI did a search on your blog, and found that Charlotte strawberries were the big find that you and Walt had in the past few years... sweet and short-lived, like Gariguettes, you said, but even better. Our strawberries here are relatively forgettable.
Here there's no comparison between the sweet local strawberries (Charlotte, Gariguette) and the gigantic, tasteless Spanish strawberries that are grown in greenhouses and shipped to France. The Spanish berries are the same as the ones grown in California, I think, and might has well be made of styrofoam!
DeleteThis is why you could get some fresh yeast: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-freeze-fresh-yeast/
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I'll try it when we get fresh yeast again. We do freeze fresh yeast, but not like that. We just cut the "cake" of yeast into 10-gram pieces and freeze them in a plastic container. When we take out a piece, we drop it in a little bit of warm water and it thaws and starts bubbling in just a few minutes.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteNeed me to mail you some yeast? :)
I appreciate the offer, but who are you, and where are you? I have again ordered yeast from our local supermarket, but I won't know for a few days if any is available.
DeleteHello Ken, just as difficult to obtain yeast here in England, and we don't have the luxury of click and collect either. But we do get occasional deliveries from the supermarket some miles away when we can get a slot. Thank goodness for kitchen gardens and freezers! We DO love our home made bread.
ReplyDeleteKen, you may want to try Amazon FR for yeast. It is still available online in the US on Amazon. I can't say there is not a little price gouging going on though. I ended up ordering bread flour from a company in Kentucky since there was never any at the grocery store. I didn't realize there were so many bread bakers in the US! Thankfully, I had a jar of yeast but it's getting to the end date. I don't know how long after it's expired it will work, but I've kept in the refrigerator. I use a bread machine. I wish I had your bread making skills. Those rolls look delicious!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that. I have ordered some yeast and other groceries from our local Super U market. Maybe they'll have some in stock this time. Meanwhile, a friend in England says she has sent me a pound of dried yeast. It should arrive this coming week. Good to read you again.
DeleteMeant to say too that I have ordered some yeast from Amazon France. The delivery date is June 29!
DeleteWe don't have access to the good bakeries that you do, so we (read Tom) does a lot of the baking. We have been about to find yeast easily in the one pound packaging. As for your mask steaming up your glasses, I wash my lenses with dish soap (and rinse well), before putting going out when I will have to wear a mask. It does prevent the mask from steaming up.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Harriett. I'll try it tomorrow, because I'm going out on an expedition. I want Walt to make pizza, and I'm hoping the yeast I ordered from the supermarket will be in stock this time. A friend in England has mailed us a 1 lb. package of yeast and we hope to receive it any day now. Stay well. We're doing our best to do the same.
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