My bread was moldy this morning, and that's a good thing. These days, about the only bread I eat is home-made in the bread machine. Nothing fancy, just basic 100 percent whole wheat bread. This time of the year, when it's cool in the house, I just keep it in a plastic bag on the kitchen counter. This morning, when I took out the last bit of a loaf I made nearly a week ago I noticed spots of mold growing on it. On the one hand, I didn't like wasting food, but other other, it was good to see that mold would eat my bread.
As Michael Pollan says, if food is so devoid of nutrients and so full of preservatives that it won't rot, it's not good for people, either. So, I'm happy to share a little bread with my fungal friends. But then again, maybe I'll just eat my next loaf a little faster.
Dipping into the Stream #3
8 years ago
7 comments:
Once I found an old hot dog bun (white) in a bread box I had decided not to use for at least a few months. The scary part was, it was perfectly dried, not a speck of mold on it.
I guess you could say you are sharing the wealth!
I hadn't thought about mold and bread that way, but yes it is a very good sign of life!
Hi MojoMan,
Before we (as a culture) started keeping bread in plastic bags, bread mainly went stale, not moldy (except maybe in very humid climates?). That's why we have so many uses for stale bread: French toast, croutons, egg stratas, etc.
So mold may be a good sign, but if you aren't keeping the bread artificially moist in a plastic bag, it doesn't have to go moldy to show it's not full of preservatives.
I keep almost all our bread in the freezer and take it out as needed to toast or defrost. I waste almost none this way (which is good because I buy good, natural bread from our local co-op and I hate the idea of wasting it) and it's always fresh.
Thanks for the tips, Penelope. Yes, I could refrigerate my bread, and do when it's warmer. For now, I'm trying for a happy balance between dryness and mold. You're probably too young to remember breadboxes. I like to imagine a time when we didn't use electric appliances for absolutely everything.
I once started to eat moldy bread thinking the little spots were raisins not mold spots.
I grew up with a breadbox, Mojoman!
(tho it was usually filled with Scooter Pies...)
;-)
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