A Tribe In Spain

Breaking Bread

2012-03-19T23:30:00.001+01:00

Bless me Mother! My sin? To fall spelt over rye in love with bread making (is that a sin or a blessing?) either way, I did not see it coming. It hit me, like a fist punching air out of dough. Before I could say "bakers dozen" that sticky, glutinous mass was all over me. The intoxicating yeasty smell of the starter overwhelming my senses. I was transported to another place, another galaxy. My journey into the world of bread making, of bread maker had begun.

In my search to know more I am discovering that almost every culture over all over the world eats bread in some form or another from focaccia in Italy, baguettes in France, tortillas in Mexico, soda bread in Ireland or mantou in China (and that's just a small list) it is being sliced and toasted, broken and shared.

It is a magical process with its basic set of ingredients: flour, water, yeast (that came much later it used to be flat before it rose to great heights) and salt that contain complex scientific properties we do not even think about when we munch our way through our scrumptious ploughman's lunch and a pint, or perhaps you enjoy it smothered in nutella or as a flat bread rolled up with a falafel and humous. The ingenious process has come along way since being baked on a hot stone, to the mass produced factory bread that feeds millions in the world every day. It is amazing to think about how many people ate it for breakfast this morning.

Bread plays out in history beyond simply feeding us all. To a Christian, bread is a symbol of Christ’s death and the believer’s renewal. For a baker, it is much the same. He knows that in order for his bread to have its final rise in the oven, the yeast must first give up its life and “die”. When the yeast reaches this thermal death point of 140 degrees celsius it is no longer a living organism. That’s why the word leaven means, “enliven” or “bring to life”.

Bread symbolises transformation. For Jews, who celebrate Passover, or the Feast of Unleavened Bread, eating bread without leavening is a reminder of their ancestors’ quick exodus out of Egypt. The story tells us that the exiled Jews left in such haste that they could not even wait for their bread to rise. Whenever Buddhist monks hold bread in their hands, they believe they are holding on to the cosmos ("he's got the whole world in his hands"...and beyond! "Beam me up Scotty!").

Bread is symbolic of life and sustenance the world over and is often used as a metaphor such as “the bread of life”, “bring home the bread”, or “our daily bread”. Historically bread was used to signify someone’s social status. The darker your bread was, the lower your social status was because white flour was considered more difficult to process than the darker, whole grain flours. Now the white and dark have done a little role reversal and it is significantly trendier and far more sophisticated to indulge in darker breads like the ancient grains of spelt or kamut, or perhaps flavoured with olives, flax seed or even raw bread (well isn't all bread "raw" until we cover it with something?:).

Personally I see bread as something that has been symbolic in bringing people together throughout its history. As a staple and symbol of life, the act of sharing it during meals became a highly social and sometimes ceremonial act. The phrase which came to be associated with this act--"to break bread", came to mean simply to share a meal with others. And isn't that what life is all about?

So bring out the grains, unleash that yeast, throw on the water and bake bread. You too may find yourself in a new and consuming love affair.

I can sure see this new love affair of mine consuming me for a long time to come.

YB

Where do you go in a financial crises?

2012-02-17T17:59:00.003+01:00

Don Quijote de La Mancha and Sancho Panza by Gustave Dore

It has been a year and it has not been easy. What I thought would be a breeze, being the veteran traveller that I am, has actually been far more difficult than I thought. Why? Because you are never local when you are an expat and when the the going gets tough, well you just have to keep going. And the financial crises spreading through Europe has not helped.

In some ways I think I was very naive and didn't really have a plan but then that has been my life story and to date it has worked for me but not this time. Call it an age thing, call it bad luck but whatever the case a little research before coming over here may have helped me out a little to understand the way the culture and the people.

I once read a book called "Being Indian" by Pavan Varma, which gave a kind of overview of what it is to be Indian and about the country. I truly believe it would be very helpful if there was such a book for any country that you decide to travel to or perhaps live in. I know that seems a little simplistic to think that you could understand a culture and a country by reading and perhaps re-reading some text but nonetheless it would give you an idea of what you may be stepping into. And I am not advocating that the adventure be taken away, far from it because like reading about art, it is nothing like the real thing, until you step into and experience life on the ground and running.

So I have gone from one brilliant idea to another, running like an animal crazed with the scent of blood in its nostrils, thinking this is it, this is the "one" and not really achieving much so far but I am learning heaps, through trial and error that is for sure.

One of my ideas was to set up a catering business. I jumped right in and had a logo designed by an Argentinian friend of mine. My thought process was, "Well, I am a good cook I can do this, let's just get it going". And I did when an opportunity arose for me to do a job for a yoga group of 10 women visiting from Sweden near the end of last year. I spent months swatting - research and recipes like I was cramming for my university exams and in the end it was worth it. Over the 7 days I worked like a mule dragging coal from the mines cooking my menu up to a storm of thank-yous and brilliant - I just wish that I had planned my journey over here as well.

So now it is all a little quiet but in fairness it hasn't been because I haven't been trying to source more work. No I have been keeping myself busy thinking about the next creative step I can take, even with all the doom and gloom forecast about the Euro zone crises.

Now please don't get the impression that I am feeling sorry for myself, far from it that moment came and went but I have had an epiphany of sorts. Slowly over the last six months I have been emerging out of some sort of human cocoon, coming out as a totally different woman to the one that idealistically left the UK a year ago. I have realised that even with all the planning in the world you can anticipate and research only so much. The rest just happens and you have to let it, especially as a foreigner in a foreign land. You have no control.

There have been many dark moments that seem to have stretched into a void of nothingness where I thought I would never escape but with the love of some new friends and a new found self-esteem it all seems to be coming together finally.

Look there is a lot I haven't said here, some things are quite personal, right? But I need to say this has been the biggest, greatest learning curve in my life. It has overwhelmed me and taken me to places I would rather forget but I am emerging, stronger in mind, body and spirit, resolved to stay strong. This strength is propelling me to places I do not know exist yet but the arrow is pointed up and my aim is straight.

Like Don Quijote of La Mancha with his ever faithful companion Sancho Panza riding by his side, I am caught in a world of imaginings and deception, of laughter and intrigue. What more can one do in a "financial crises".

YB

It started with a view...

2011-02-18T00:17:00.001+01:00

You know how it is? You get up at 6am to cram in the morning meditation before going to work or perhaps not. You stick your big toe out the door to gauge the weather conditions and draw it back in with icicles attached. You heart sinks deflated and limp to the bottom of your stomach, you cannot even manage to muster some sense of enthusiasm for the day ahead. Your head and heart are screaming "Exit stage left even". The time has come for that lifestyle change because the woods have too many trees and you can't see past the thick of it all.

Some of us dream about it because we have no choice but to dream. There's the mortgage repayments or the kids school/university fees...it goes on like a long winding road. An endless list of responsibilities that bind us to our current life. For us the bond to our former life was not that strong. We had the chance to break away and we fled. Me and my man and a van, bulging at the edges with all that we owned, including the greenery.

We sat at the dock in Portsmouth, waiting patiently to drive on board, surging forward on the open seas (thanks to Brittany Ferries) toward our new new life. I can't say we didn't feel like kids on a merry-go-round because we did. We were riding high on that pony into a world of possibilities, a strong sense of intuition and not much else.

And so the journey begins...a tribe has arrived in Spain to take root. I hope you enjoy the trials and tribulations as we make our way.