Miso & Sesame Sourdough + Breadsong

A flavourful, savory loaf and a book about mental health, family, and bread

Apr 16, 2023

Hello hello and welcome to Good Book/Good Bread! If you’re new here, the concept is pretty simple: I review a book I loved in part 1, and in part 2 I show you a bread I made that fits with an aspect of the story. As you read this I will have just arrived in Portugal, where I’m looking forward to eating as many pastéis de nata as I can, and ferreting out some delicious Portuguese breads.

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Part 1: Good Book

Breadsong: How Baking Changed Our Lives by Kitty Tait and Al Tait

In a nutshell

Breadsong is part memoir, part cookbook, authored by Kitty Tait and her father Al. When Kitty was 14, her family began noticing a massive shift in her personality. The once chatty and energetic teenager began suffering from serious anxiety, becoming so all-consuming she could no longer attend school or leave the house. Her family tried everything to support her, but little calmed her panicked mind. Eventually, she began to get into baking bread, finding it helped her relax. Over the course of a few years, this interest in bread evolved to Kitty and her dad Al running a successful bakery in their hometown. Together, Kitty and Al tell their story, with an alternating point of view every few pages. In addition to their unique story and beautiful illustrations, the book also includes 80 recipes for breads, buns, and treats.

Why I was drawn to this book

A reader of this newsletter recommended Breadsong (thanks Sandy!), and I was intrigued by the idea of a book combining recipes and memoir.

One of the many beautiful illustrations by Al Tait in Breadsong.

Three things I liked about Breadsong

1. Two very different points of view

In recounting Kitty’s mental health challenges, Kitty and Al are describing the same events. But of course, a 14-year-old girl’s perspective is not the same as a 50-year-old man’s. It was interesting to read how Kitty experienced her world changing, and then what the experience was like for her father, trying everything he could along with the rest of the family to help Kitty. The perspective changed every few pages, so you never got too comfortable with one narrator, keeping the story vivid.

2. Constant problem solving

I love reading about people who just keep barrelling right through every obstacle that crosses their path. This is especially helpful when I get into a contracted frame of mind and start coming up for reasons why various things won’t work. Kitty and Al came up against so many problems in establishing and growing their bakery. They were so creative and resourceful. From raising early financing to solving electrical problems to securing unconventional locations to bake, they managed to navigate so many potential setbacks. This was a real reminder that there is almost always a way to make something work.

3. Family and community support

I found it so heartwarming to read about how Kitty’s entire family (and community) came together to support her. Her father, mother, and two older siblings worked hard to care for her and made major changes in their own lives to try and help Kitty. Her small and tight-knit community rallied around her, and once she began baking, were generous with their encouragement and patronage. Early on, when Kitty and Al began a bread subscription service, some neighbours even let her use their kitchen ovens early in the morning so she could bake enough loaves.

Notable passage

“I could not have foreseen, at the age of 50, I would change careers and become a baker—and I am deeply grateful that I am. I wish that Kitty could have bypassed some of the grimmest bits of this story, but I also know that we wouldn’t have done any of this if it hadn’t at first been driven by desperation. I also know that the part of Kitty’s brain that makes like difficult for her is also probably the same bit that gives her extraordinary drive and determination and a way of seeing life differently.”—Al Tait

Miso and sesame sourdough

Why this bread for this book?

I of course had to bake something from Breadsong! I pretty much wanted to bake every single recipe in the book, from Swedish fika buns with cardamom to Snickers cookies to chocolate, halva and tahini cookies. But the recipe that really caught my eye was the miso and sesame seed sourdough. I know miso is added to all kinds of recipes to impart some subtle umami, but I’d never tried it in bread before. Plus, I love adding sesame seeds to bread and pizza dough as high heat causes the seeds to take on a delicious flavour and they infuse the baked bread with their oil.

Recipe

The only change I made here is using white miso instead of red as I already had it on hand.

How I ate it:

Breakfast sandwiches topped with cheddar and red onion.

Looking forward

Book I’m looking forward to reading: The Overstory by Richard Powers (I realize I’m about five years late to this one)
Treat I’m looking forward to baking: Aforementioned chocolate, tahini and halva cookies
New music I’m looking forward to listening to: Could Have Done Anything by Charlotte Cornfield

Thanks for reading!

Hannah