On breadmaking.

There is much wisdom and truth in bread-making. Gluten can form simply by mixing water, flour, yeast. But that’s not all. There is also the crucial element of waiting, of waiting for time to work its magic. Of course, gluten can form without waiting. We can knead it, but did you know, we can also just wait and do nothing. Gluten will form that way too. It might take a bit longer, but it is in no way weaker. In fact, if one chooses to knead the dough to form gluten, one must still wait before rolling out and shaping the dough. One must wait and do nothing for the gluten to relax and do its thing. Sometimes we forget to rest the dough. Sometimes, we start rolling and stretching it out and the dough resist. It fights back. Now, if we keep rolling it out, keep applying pressure, it will break. The thing to do is wait. Wait and then roll. If it resists, stop again. Wait again. Give it time. Let the magic brew. Even magic takes time. When we are stretched thin, when we realise that we are thin, on the brink of breaking, we know at least 2 truths: first, that gluten, or its human analogue, has already formed. Second we must wait. 

 

We know there is gluten, because it is stretchable and it has stretched this far. Since there is gluten, it must have come from somewhere. Thus, we also know that we must have mixed water flour and yeast. The thinner we are stretched, the more well formed the gluten is. Our very feeling of being stretched is a testament to the work we’ve put in, the time that has gone into the making of the dough that is us, the simple magic of mixing water flour and yeast, the life that it breeds. (Yeast are living organisms! They breathe. They eat. They grow and they socialise with its surroundings to form gluten). In fact the very membrane of us that is stretched thin proves the life that is in us. We might be on the brink of breaking, we might be on the edge of suffocation, but are they not the best, most undeniable evidence of the gluten that is in the dough, the life that we are living, the breath that fills our lungs? When we are stretched thin, we should be reminded how far we’ve come, how far we’ve stretched, how hard we’ve been stretched, we should see that as proof of the life in us, the life that is poured into us, and the life that can come out of us. 

 

Like when let magic of time be casted on the dough that resist rolling and shaping, we should also allow the spell of waiting be casted on us, we should also let time work its magic on us. Remember, even the magic of time takes time. Rest, so you may be stretched out further without pain. Wait, so that the work you await is welcomed once more. Let every pore, every fibre, every muscle, every patch of skin, every hair relax and get lazy. Then you will see that the form of you will become malleable again. It will once again welcome the forces applied, and move smoothly along.

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