
Do You Even Bake, Bro? How Silicon Valley Fell in Love with Sourdough - bootsz
https://www.eater.com/2018/11/19/18099127/bread-silicon-valley-sourdough-tech-bros-tartine-chad-robertson
======
perl4ever
The title immediately evokes a feeling of disgust in me, for someone to take
the tone that people in and around _San Francisco_ making sourdough is a
surprising or novel phenomenon that needs to be picked apart - because _gasp_
they work in technology.

~~~
bootsz
Yeah seriously. Seems to really be scraping the bottom of the barrel for ways
to make fun of tech workers

------
bootsz
I feel conflicted about this piece. On the one hand I'm excited to see someone
do an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of engineer-types gravitating toward
sourdough baking (which is something I've been noticing for a few years now
since I myself picked it up).

On the other hand, there seems to be a lot of unnecessary negativity and
shaming going on here toward the male engineer-types (the author uses the term
"tech bro" at least a dozen times -- really?) who are getting into sourdough,
implying that we are somehow ruining a pure and ancient craft for the sake of
fashion and "disruption".

I get it to some extent. The pseudo-celebrity status of Chad Robertson of
Tartine, the ubiquity of Instagram shots that emphasize only the visual
aesthetic of breads, etc... those things definitely do tend to convey
shallowness and egotism.

I just don't think we should be stereotyping and shaming people for picking up
a hobby that brings them joy and yields direct benefits to others with little-
to-no downsides. Anything that helps techies (or anyone really) un-plug and
reconnect with their physical environment is a huge net-positive for society
IMO. Plus, when people you know make good bread, you get to eat good bread.
It's a win-win people!

I also don't think it's fair to scoff at the recent trend in the scientific
approach to bread as a futile endeavor:

> _Bread has been around for 6,000 years and the process of making bread has
> fundamentally not changed ... I think it’s funny that people would think
> they’d disrupt something that has this 6,000-year history to it. It’s not
> that easy to step into the river and change its course_

The fact of the matter though is that some of these folks _are_ actually
making significant innovations in bread-making. The bread that results from
these new methods is really, really, really good in ways that their
predecessors simply were not. Just because something has been around for that
long doesn't mean there aren't many new discoveries to be had. Hell, it wasn't
until a couple _decades_ ago that people picked up on the fact that you don't
have to knead the dough to make great bread. Sometimes little things like this
go undiscovered because _no one bothered to look_.

My final critique is that I think the author is blowing this a bit out of
proportion. There is definitely a growing interest in sourdough from _many
types of people_ all over the world. Yes, an unusual proportion of them seem
to be men working in tech. But this is not some panic-inducing mass-epidemic
of "tech-bros" suddenly swarming every supermarket by the thousands for
artisan flour and baking tools. Three years in, I'm still the only person I
know who makes bread on a regular basis. People are getting more interested
and trying it out, but it's still pretty rare for someone to commit to it at
the same level as myself or the author's partner.

These days it's fashionable to blame "tech bros" for a wide variety of
societal issues, sometimes justifiably so, but I think going after them for
thinking bread is cool is a hell of a stretch.

~~~
sharkmerry
Kneading was not "discovered" decades ago. A quick google search yielded
([https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/traded-goods-
dic...](https://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/traded-goods-
dictionary/1550-1820/kneading-trough-kyle-pin))

Kneading Trough - A WOODEN trough or TUB in which to knead dough in order to
make BREAD. Common before 1660, they become rather less common thereafter,
possibly indicating a gradual abandonment of home baking.

1660, just a few decades.

Besides kneading (which wasnt one), can you name some other "significant
innovations in bread-making" that are being made?

~~~
bootsz
You clearly misread what I wrote. I was referring to the “no-knead” method
which was popularized starting in the late 90s to mid-00s, and built upon by
Robertson. No one is claiming kneading is new; it’s ancient.

We can debate over what constitutes “significant” innovation. I’m not saying
anyone is going to come out and be like “hey turns out you don’t need flour OR
water either!”. Clearly the foundation of bread is super simple and those
basic principles are still unchanged. But I don’t agree with the author’s
implication that it’s total hubris to be attempting to innovate and move the
art forward.

Only very recently in history have we had certain technology available to us
that has allowed people to exert super precise control over the baking
environment (ambient temperatures, steam, etc.) and ingredients (flour blends,
grinds, breeds of grain, strains of yeast). Bakers have and continue to tinker
endlessly with these variables and the result is that the bread keeps getting
better. Sure, not everyone cares about these things. For most people bread is
bread. But it’s pretty cool (as a bread nerd anyway) to see someone like Chad
Robertson put in many years of tinkering and experimentation and come up with
a unique recipe that really influenced a whole new generation of bakers.
Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new or
original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a way
that was new and exciting.

~~~
sharkmerry
you're right, I did misread.

>> the result is that the bread keeps getting better.

I think its because of generalized answers like this that the author is
thinking its hubris. Perhaps they need to do a blind test and see if they can
notice, but I dont think the author is wrong to think that some of these
"innovations" are just hype or an old style re-packaged and marketed.

>> Perhaps no single part of his technique or the resulting bread is 100% new
or original, but he managed to compose several characteristics together in a
way that was new and exciting.

What is new and exciting about it? Ive had tartine, years ago, and last month,
ive baked my entire life, nothing about it was mindblowing. I hope you can
change my mind

~~~
sdtechbro
>>>>What is new and exciting about it? Ive had tartine, years ago, and last
month, ive baked my entire life, nothing about it was mindblowing. I hope you
can change my mind

So, you've been baking your entire life and there's no seeking for
improvement, nothing new and exciting? And you feel that your bread is perfect
already?

Isn't it quite sad? Where's the heart and intend when you're making bread?
Where's the passion? Where's the innovation. And 6000 years is just
nonsensensical. Might as well say that bread was there before any human
existed.

Even though I love making bread. Im primarily a coffee guy. If we are not
using technology and innovation with better equipments to brew, roast,
harvest, plant, cultivate. I wouldn't be in this industry no more. you might
want to put down your pride and rethink your take on baking and do some
researching and discovering for new techniques and skills. You know, ever
heard there's always room for improvement? And maybe, just maybe, you could
find some excitement, or get mind-blowned, and find a little joy, and impart
that joy and passion through your baking.. come on. Every person that eats
your bakes deserve that. (;

