Have we forgotten what a good church tastes like?

Structural Protein

I started a journey a few years ago learning about bread. I used to help my Mom make it here and there, but as a child, I had little interest. Until recently, I didn’t understand how much I had learned, so I began where we left off.

The structural protein builds the elastic network that traps the gas to help it rise. When gluten is removed from the product there is no binding or elasticity left, scientifically the bread will fall apart. Some bakers have tried to improvise, making a like product by adding egg (most popular), to create that binding agent but with dense results. Some modern brownies have these characteristics.

In order for the product to be gluten-free the primary component, wheat, is removed and replaced with something else. The very thing that holds the environment together, and gives rise to it, is what is no longer tolerated.

Flour

Like grapes are crushed to make wine, grain is crushed to make flour. Isn’t it funny how the best things are crushed to create a better result? When grain is crushed there are 3 important things, bran, endosperm, and germ. With shelf flour, 2 of the 3 ingredients are removed, which allows the flour an extended shelf life. Manufacturers then add some conditioners, which now means that it is just more of a filler with no real nutritional value.

By design flour has gluten but it is not activated until water is added. The inherent characteristics of the flour design require something to make it rise. This is done with yeast or a leaven like substance, which produces a gas that gets trapped in the gluten strands. This raises the dough before baking, for a light and chewy result. Without a leavening agent, the result is a flat bread which is not bad, it’s just not a loaf. The flavor and the digestive benefits are still there. Some wheat is more glutenous than others, which makes it more responsive than others. There is pastry wheat which has less protein for the rise and there is bread wheat which has a lot of protein.

Let’s be clear that not all of the flavor of the bread is lost, but much of the appeal is when the gluten is removed.

Leavening

The leavening agent is made from flour and water. Over time it will start to rise on its own, but you have to feed (refresh) it or it will die. Good leaven smells sweet and gets its character from the atmosphere its in. I can transport a leaven from one place to the other and within days it will start to take on its new environment. For those that are in a hurry, there are other agents available for a quicker result, but the final product will show it.

The fermentation is natural from the wild yeasts in the environment around it. That air pollen is key to the unique flavor of the bread which makes the location an interesting factor.

Tweaking the recipe is necessary because of the atmospheric conditions like altitude, humidity, temperature, season, and time. These variables produce constant experiments and adaptations to get the desired results. Some bakers will build artificially controlled environments to maximize results. These artificial environments create a predictability and a profit.

I believe that gluten is the spirit of the bread. It can be good or bad, making or breaking the final product. The crumb is defined by the rise of the reaction along with its environmentals. It is the appearance of the bread slice when you look at it sideways.

The great thing is that there are over 30,000 different types of wheat, many of these with their own unique flavor. When you realize that mixing the grains is not only legal but expected an exponential flavor profile is available.

Summary

In the church we have settled on a recipe but the environmentals have changed. Our ability to experiment has been removed. We can continue to make a gluten-free product but it will never be bread.

We have allowed the most important thing to be changed, and then spoon fed the imposter, expecting the same or better result. I did not know that the flavor of bread was so good until I made my own. I also thought that what was in the store was normal.

Unfortunately there are many with Celiac disease and this is a real thing. I have a suspicion that for the rest, they may have been compromised with a product full of sugar and shelf preservatives. Others have had real bread with sudden digestive issues from the proteins they are not used to. I am not saying that removing gluten from your diet doesn’t help with stomach digestion issues, but I sure do find it a coincidence that we are the first in history to make it a problem.

My bread has 4 ingredients, flour, water, salt, and leaven, 3 ingredients if you count the leaven as flour and water. From this I get an uncompromised result knowing that I did all I could to experience it right. My attitude changed, my snacks changed, my pizza changed, my cholesterol changed, and my body changed. Its amazing what happens when the real thing is experienced properly, uncompromised, and in its fullness.

Final Word

I believe that the church is about to be turned upside down, not a single one will be spared. That which has not changed in 500 years will undergo a renaissance overhaul. God will no longer allow the narrative to be controlled. What once worked does not work anymore because the conditions have changed. We have allowed the most important ingredient to be swapped out for something that makes us feel better but is by no means better for us. It’s time to get back to the original ingredients and allow the rise to happen properly again.