Sourdough Coconut Rice Pancakes

Sometimes it is good to stick your neck out. Not in an ugly or untoward way. More like an adventure.

I rather like adventures. They bring you to the end of your comfort zone. And then, perchance,  take you across those borders. Stretching your limits, extending your experience and abilities. And next time it is not so fearsome to go there any more. I am told by my psychology friends that you tend to compare present situations to your  past experiences before making decisions. Mostly in  unconscious ways.

Adventure, on the other hand, takes you into the unknown in a fully conscious way. You make a deliberate decision and then just carry on regardless.

It can get quite exciting, after a fashion.

Well, I did exactly this as part of my sourdough experimentation. The internet group Sourdough Surprises has a monthly challenge for dishes using sourdough. I thought this could turn into some culinary adventure, why not try it.

The challenge on hand is to make sourdough pancakes. Perhaps with the accent on the filling or sauce, rather than the pancakes themselves.

I reasoned that putting most of the accent on the filling, one would end up with a challenge on the sauce. Not overly sourdough, methinks.


So I surfed the net and got to appam. A sourdough pancake made from rice. A very popular dish in some southern Indian states. And very easy, given that it can be made without fancy equipment and processes.

I have a batch of apples fermenting merrily as part of my greater effort in catching more wild yeasts. These were picked from the tree, no additives, preservatives or wax to kill the natural yeast on the skin.

I have made appam before, also as an experiment. The full story can be read in a previous blog post. At that time I decided to take a short cut and use baking powder as the leavening agent. It worked a treat and cut the time from start to plate by a huge margin. This time I went the traditional way.

I soaked the rice (¾ cup) for eight hours before blitzing it in the blender to a fine pulp. Enough for a dinner for two. The  blended soak was then inoculated with some fermenting apple water. This lot was left overnight as per the traditional method. I digressed from the traditional recipe (there is a plethora of these recipes on the net) which calls for a self-fermenting process. As it is still winter here in the Cape of Storms, I decided that it would be prudent to help nature a bit and force a start to the fermentation using my known ferment. ( Well, at least I know it is an active yeast!)


Twelve hours later I added three dessert spoons of dessicated coconut, a pinch of salt and one egg, beaten.

This lot was bubbling away merrily before I added the additional ingredients. The full mix batter was then left for three hours to ferment a little more. By this time there was a lot of bubbles, but the batter seemed to separate a bit.

Adventure, no less!

I ignored that  part, reasoning that I shall stir the batter up each time before scooping a ladle full into the frying pan. The batter needs to be about the same consistency as for normal pancake. This batter is a bit more coarse than normal flour and it has no gluten. Therefore the pancake will be brittle, not elastic as one would expect from wheat flour. I added the egg to help bind the batter.

These pancakes came out brilliantly. You pour a little batter into a hot frying pan, then swirl the batter around to make nice patterns. I use a non-stick pan, so there is no fat involved. The pancake is left on its own to cook until it comes loose from the pan by itself. You shake the pan a bit when you think the time is right. By this time the bottom of the pancake will have turned a beautiful shade of brown caramel. A quick flip to cook the top will take the pancake to perfection. These do not really stick to the pan as there is no additional sugar in the mix. And the coconut helps to give a beautiful caramelised colour and taste.


I served these with a fast chicken curry called balti chicken. Compliments of the good offices of a fellow food blogger from Pakistan by the name of Maria Nasir. This dish is also very easy to prepare and it would be remiss of me not to point you directly to the recipe.

The chicken dish goes extremely well with the appam. There is a very yeasty sourness in the pancakes, delicious on its own. The curry complements the flavours and you end up with a sensual dish which is easy to prepare.

And so ends my culinary adventure. This time I gained a lot of confidence in the wild yeasts I am using in my culinary experiments. The flavours are exquisite and I am getting some idea of how the yeast flavours go with food.

And in spite of all my misgivings about the batter, the yeast performed as expected. The pancakes come out a bit chewy as a result of using dessicated coconut. The previous batch was made with coconut powder, which gives a finer texture. It is up to the cook to decide on which way to go, yeast or baking powder.

But the yeast version has the better taste...








Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Last updated on 2013-08-27.

This blog post also linked to Yeastspotting!

Raisin Sourdough Rusks: Very Traditional South African Fare

Ever had rusks with your coffee?


If you have been to South Africa or live there, you will know that these hard biscuits are almost inescapable. Together with coffee and biltong (beef jerky), rusks make up a full camping meal. Or a light breakfast.

I have reason to believe that these may have originated from dried bread supplied to the ships sailing around the Cape in the days of yore. Before refrigeration and the internal combustion engine. They would then naturally be part of the fare that the Voortrekkers of old took on their long treks in ox wagons into the harsh South African hinterland in 1838.


Light food to pack, if a bit bulky. But they will last almost indefinitely as long as you keep them dry.

Nowadays you find them in all grocers as well as most of t
he craft food stalls and bakers. And rusks are available in a myriad of styles.

The raisin water that started it all.

All using instant yeast or commercial yeast of some nature.


So I decided that it is time for some microbiology. An experiment to catch a yeast from raisins, then use that to make rusks in the traditional South African style.

These are called mosbolletjies, after the fermenting grape mush that they were first made of. The Cape had lots of grain and lots of grapes, even in those bygone days, so it was natural to use the fermented grapes in a sourdough starter.


I resorted to raisins. Bought them from my nearest grocer. Big mistake. It took almost a week before anything happened. Even after spiking the watery raisins with some brown sugar. Then it dawned on me that the raisin packers would take measures for the raisins not to ferment or go off in some other way. Therefore the raisins would be treated with a layer of wax after being washed, and possibly irradiated, to kill all germs, yeasts, bacteria and other flora generally mostly good for you.

Much volume after the first rise.

So I waited a bit more. My patience eventually paid off. There is no holding back of Mother Nature once she gets going. I saw some small bubbles forming. I waited another day or so, then fed the lot with about three tablespoons of stone ground, whole wheat, unbleached flour.


The results were immediate. Well, almost. The mix doubled in volume within three hours, so I added another half cup full of the same flour. This also took about three hours to double in volume.

Resting nicely after the first rise, looking just  enough.

At this stage I decided that I had a proper yeast. I split the mother into two, feeding each with a cup of flour and some water. Just enough to make a nice runny mix. These were left on the kitchen counter to bubble away merrily. Once these were lively enough to my judgement, one was promptly put in the refrigerator while the other went into my dough mix.


After reading The Bread Baker's Apprentice and Crust and Crumb, both by Peter Reinhart of the Fresh Loaf, I made up a dough with about 75% hydration. For this one I used two cups of rye, two cups of brown bread flour and six cups of white bread flour. Into this went about 40 grams of baking fat and two teaspoons of salt. Since this was to become rusks and not regular bread, I also added about ¾ cup of sugar. Rusks are supposed to be sweet, so I hoped for the best that the yeast will not consume it all!

Roll into small sausages. These differ from normal bread.

And of course, I would be remiss if there was no aniseed seeds in the mix. This was sorted by adding a royal helping of the seeds to the mix. The sourdough was added after mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly. The sourdough constitutes probably 500 ml of the water content, so I adjusted the rest of the water accordingly. This was mixed into the dough, adding the rest of the water. The molten dough was added after letting the basic mix rest for five minutes. No kneading yet!


After mixing the lot in, I kneaded the dough until it became silky to the touch, then left it to rest for ten minutes. The dough was still reasonably soft. This was patted with oil on the hands, then stowed in the large covered mixing bowl in the cold oven.


This lot was left to ferment overnight. It is really cold here at present, the day temperature inside the house being in the order of 17ºC/63ºF. So I reasoned that the dough will ferment slowly. I was right. The dough triple in volume overnight, which was good. The rest of the processing reduces the volume again, so there is time for a second rise.

Decent notes help to give you proper proportions of ingredients

This is where the making of rusks deviates from the bread making process. The dough is tipped gently out on to a floured kneading board and left to rest for twenty minutes. Then it is rolled into a snake just over 30mm thick (a bit over an inch for my other friends). This snake is cut into two inch sections , rolled into a ball , then rolled into a short sausage again before being stacked in a baking tin. This ensures that the pieces can be broken off after baking. Perhaps this is akin to making dinner rolls, except you pack these tight.



Leave these infant rusks to rise for another hour or so, until double the volume. Then dab some egg and milk wash on top before baking them at 175ºC/350ºF for thirty minutes. I spritzed the oven with water at the start, then twice again at five minute intervals. At twenty minutes I turned the baking tins around to get an even bake on the tins.

Pack tightly in the baking tray.  Neatness not really required!

At thirty five minutes the rusks were removed from the oven and left to cool. This part of the process is the same as for bread. The dough is still cooking for at least forty minutes after removal from the oven, as it is filled with steam.

Once cooled down, the rusks are broken apart and spread on a baking tray for drying. I dry mine at 125 175ºC/250ºF, just a tad over boiling point.  Two hours should see them nice, crisp and dry. This ensures good evaporation and some tanning to boot. We have no use for pale white rusks in this house! These are stored in a cake tin or plastic container away from humidity. They will soak up humidity like anything.



Especially coffee. They were designed to soak up coffee.

Voila, behold, your sourdough rusks!

Fully laden roaster

This was the first time I really paid attention to the relative quantities of ingredients in the dough. This is thanks to Peter Reinhart's admonishments! But jokes aside, I now am getting repeatable results. Predictable results, even without measuring internal temperatures or controlling the environment for any of the pre-ferment or the final proofing. It just shows what a little attention to detail can accomplish.

I would leave out some of the fat from this recipe next time I want to make rusks. Rusks are dry and as such will last a long time anyway. The fat will keep loaves fresh in bread form, so there is already a design difference. The rye also makes them a bit on the sour side, perhaps, so I shall leave out the rye altogether for rusks.

The rye contains less gluten than other flours and as a result you may find that the dough rises less than dough made with other flours. This will result in a more dense crumb. The extra density is not altogether unwanted in rusks. But the amount of handling and forming before the second rise will take care of that, resulting in a more dense crumb anyway. So the rye does not really add much to the end result.

Check for even baking, Wash with egg and milk mix.

Whatever you choose to do, these rusk soak up coffee as advertised and taste good too. Especially with the added aniseed flavour.



This post also linked to Yeastspotting!


Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Last updated on 2013-08-18

Break loaf into rusks after cooling, then dry them.

Is Light Sourdough Bread A Myth?

Perhaps the holy grail of all bakers: how to make a light loaf. This prize has been escaping me for a while now. Even after extensive consultation and blatant, overt picking of brains, my loaves came out on the heavy side. Whatever yeast I was using, the problem remained. Sometimes the loaves did come out reasonably light, but not light enough to my taste.

That is, until two days ago. I reasoned that the problem did not lie in my understanding of the oven and heat flow, nor was it vested in the ingredients. Therefore the problem had to lie in the process. So I sat myself down and started thinking.


...Read More...

Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Baking Sourdough Ciabatta After Consulting My Baker Gurus

Perhaps I should have called this post 'Making Headway Against The Vagaries of A wild Sourdough.' But this is not a lamentation.

I actually have two experienced bakers to consult. Not too shabby. So between the two sets of advice and my trusted copy of Classic Sourdoughs, Revised by Ed Wood and the late Jane Wood, I set out on my next affray into the wonderful world of baking with sourdough.

I have the oven temperature and the spritzing with water under proper control. Ditto for the dough mix. And I am getting a wonderful fermentation of the starter as well as the main rise. I mix about a cupful of the mother with another cupful of flour for the starter, adding just enough water to make the starter somewhat runny. I go with personal judgement on quantities; this is worth about two cups of dough in the final mix, so I am not too worried about exact quantities.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Fresh rolls on the griddle

I recently had a few bright moments. At least, I think I had. Those moments when you are overcome with a sudden surge of hate for the daily drudgery and just knowing that it is time for something else.

In this instance I had the idea of shaking off all the ingrained inhibitions of a blogger of carefully planning, inventing and preparing a dish. Reworking the recipe and so on.

Drudgery at its best.

We have a regular Wednesday night braai (barbecue for my overseas friends) at the local yacht club.  “We” being a circle of friends and fellow sailors. There we literally share the food. One piece of meat is cooked at a time, whether it be sausage or a well matured steak. This is then cut into bite size slices and dished out. Then the next piece of meat goes on the griddle. And so on. Rather like a very South African dry fondue, if you will.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Forget your low GI diet: Sourdough Babka alla Ziets

I recently had another chance at pondering life and my experiences in general, having had a knee replaced. The time in hospital, drifting in and out of a pain killer induced daze, is quite useful for this sort of pondering. I pondered about my cooking and my lifestyle. And then some more. I thought that it was time for some baking again.

The operation went super well, everything just fine. The problem is now that I need to take things slowly, lest I damage the new joint in its settling period. So I have to slow down, take it easy. Lots of rest.

This had me reminisce about my hunting and fly-fishing days. I realised, after a number of unsuccessful outings, that you don't see anything until you slow down to the rhythm of the veld. Then suddenly, life explodes before you and you are swamped with images of movement and happenings. Like seeing a fish jump out the water and take an insect from the air. Or, once on a memorable occasion, a bass taking a malachite kingfisher in flight. But that is a different story.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

The Next Sourdough Experiment: French Loaf

After my last lost argument with my oven, I decided to walk the straight and narrow path of using a recipe slavishly.

Well, that is until I realised that in this oppressive heat in the Western Cape region, room temperature is actually around 30ºC, not 20ºC like the recipe requires for the first part of the rise. And how does one tell the amount of water in the starter?

Well, this is life, I thought and just carried on regardless. The elevated temperature will make the dough rise faster, but I may lose on some of the leavening and perhaps have a different flavour. This was my reasoning at any rate.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Fast Sourdough? The Next Argument With The Oven

I recently made another white bread loaf. Two, actually. I make two small loaves, otherwise one large one go stale long before we can finish it. There is only two of us.

I have often considered to make my cooking part of a community project by giving away the excess food to worthy causes or people who also may be struggling to make ends meet. The problem is a logistic one. I need to identify people, then get the food to them. This is a problem in my neck of the woods. But I am making headway.

Back to the baking and the argument with the oven.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Bannock: Another Fallow Field of Fast Food?

This is another venture into, for me at least, an unkown field. This time it is yet another staple food, namely bread in the form of bannock.

I was recently challenged by a fellow food blogger to come up with something out of the ordinary.  Her name is +Dionne Baldwin and she is a devoted foodie and teacher, working hard in her community.

The reward for the challenge is a guest blog post on her blog at Try Anything Once. 

In sympathy with +Dionne Baldwin 's community work, I decided to make the type of bread known as bannock.

Bread comes in many forms, including the familiar sandwich loaf you buy from the supermarket. Similar forms of bread also originate from different areas in the world. And bread does not have to be dull or ordinary.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Palappam: A Venture into the Unknown

Food bloggers are a creative bunch of people. Which means they try new things, just to tickle their fancies. They also do dares, which stretches the imagination some more. So, this happened to me as well.

A fellow food blogger, +Dionne Baldwin , dared our Google+community to do something outside the box, to stretch yourself in public, so to speak. No quiet experimentation in the back room, everything up front. And here is the result.

I am a great lover of Asian cooking. The spices being one of the reasons. There is much to say about the use of spices and I have more than a vague suspicion that one needs some more of those spices in your diet in order to stay healthy. That is, barring the exquisite taste.

But there is a more compelling and obvious reason to look at Asian cooking. All of the traditional foods are home-cooked and done in short time. The mother of the house does not have time to dilly-dally around cooking the main dish for the family dinner. Therefore most of the recipes are quite easy and quick to make. Which translates to simple utensils and equipment and simple procedures.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Naan at Sea

Tired of the store-bought light snacks on board on a day-sail? Getting home hungry because the store-bought snacks are just wind, no solid sustenance? Not going for long sails because you get very hungry in spite of the snacks you took on board?
Why not bake fresh bread on board? Your own product has much more sustenance than the commercial bread, perchance a lower GI.


Here is a recipe for making those delicious Indian flat breads. Some call it naan, the Indian word for bread. It is also known as puri and there are many recipes for this.

You would traditionally have these as a side dish with spicy dishes. Sometimes as a wrapper. There is, however, nothing that stops you from enjoying these with any stewed dish. Just think of it: warm, freshly baked bread that you tear little pieces from to use as a wrap for the food, then for mopping up the last of the sauce in your plate.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

The Next Baguette Experiment Using Sourdough

My first foray into making baguette ended in a success. I was using instant yeast for those, as I was feeling out on a limb a bit. One of the vagaries of blogging is that one's ego tends to get in the way with the cooking and you wish for a resounding success every time.

Well, the world simply does not work that way. However, it is a lot easier on the ego to just define your effort as an experiment. Then most of the results are a success because then you tend to learn a little with each experiment.

Exactly my thinking this time around. I took a deep breath, opened the refrigerator and hauled out my trusty wild sourdough. Time for the next experiment. I had already proved to myself that I can bake a decent baguette, even though it comes out a bit heavier than the industrial ones. Now it was time for the sourdough version a la Ziets.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Sourdough loaves with caraway seeds

Yesterday I got a gentle prompt from the missus that we were running out of bread. Time for another loaf.

The last one was not half bad, having sunflower and pumpkin seeds along with the rye. Although it did not rise as expected, the bread lasted long enough for me to take a loaf on board the yacht for the voyage from Port Owen on the West Coast to Gordon's Bay around Cape Point. Good food to have on board.

I was a bit miffed about my starter after my last baking experiment, until I realised that I may have had the dough too runny and did not allow sufficient rise time.

This time around I made a starter by washing the sourdough, dividing it in two and feeding it white bread flour. (AP flour for my American readers.)


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Sourdough Loaf With Sunflower and Pumpkin Seeds

I was quite pleased with my previous effort at baking bread. Especially with getting past my own fear of trying something new or different. And I am getting withdrawal symptoms!

So the decision went to making a sourdough loaf with sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I consulted my copy of Classic Sourdoughs, Revised by Ed and Jane Wood for ideas. The normal recipe requires all-purpose or white bread flour, but I opted for one cup of rye which I used for the starter, then added two cups of brown bread flour to this. Some salt followed, along with the ¼ cup each of sunflower and pumpkin seeds. I used the seeds raw, as per the recipe. I made bread, using sweetcorn before, which was edible but not really something you want to do often. The taste does not warrant the effort. Better to make a corn loaf with some maize flour added, then use the sweetcorn as an addition.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Korma Curry, Boat Style, With Rotis

I have often thought about the difference between what I do versus your standard urban food blogger, cooking in his or her five star kitchen. Complete with all the electricity and associated equipment. I have also thought at length about what I call in Afrikaans “afskeepkos”. Food made in negligence. I have gone so far as to post (or is it “pose”?) the question on my FaceBook wall, with some reaction.

The answer is not easy to find, as the term “afskeepkos” is a neologism, even in Afrikaans.

The proper answer needs to be researched and pondered, if you will.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Baguettes: Are They Really So Difficult To Make?

I was scared of making baguettes for a long time. For no apparent reason, just an eerie feeling of awe. Perhaps the whole reputation of the baguette got to me.

Until today. I decided that this is just another bread recipe and I am quite able to make bread. In fact, I have been researching and practicing the art for almost a year now. About time for the leap of faith, don't you think?

I already crossed the hurdle of having steam in the oven, so that would not be a problem. I also solved the problem of over-baking the loaves, which has to do with the fan in the oven and having a more even temperature gradient in the oven. I now use a temperature setting of 20-25 degrees C lower than what the recipe asks for. After the requisite baking time, I check the status of the loaves and may up the temperature or leave the loaves to bake a bit longer or both. The problem only arises when you already have too high a temperature and things happen faster than one anticipates. Perhaps there is another lesson there.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Sourdough Brown Loaf on Bricks: Part Two of the Experiment

My previous blog post documented my first affray into the world of baking on a stone. The experiment was successful in two parts.

Firstly, I tested a new method of baking. I used paving bricks as an oven stone to get more thermal mass in the oven to help keeping the temperature stable. Secondly I tested a new idea with the dough that I was using.

On both counts I learnt something.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 10: The Big Cleanup, Last Puri And A RAS Exercise

Last Puri

Or is it khubz, perhaps? Today I made the last bread of the voyage. Literally. All the flour has now been consumed. I did not even bother to treat the sourdough nicely. I just fed it some rye flour and a little water after taking it out of the refrigerator, then left it in the cupboard for nine hours to wake up.

The oven has been decommissioned, so the bread had to be baked or fried in a pan. I chose to make a thin flat-bread, Even the flour mixture was sort of pot luck.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 7: Persisting Doldrums And Puri

Puri

Puri is the collective name for bread fried in oil. You can make bread in several ways. With or without leavening. Then bake it in the oven, over the coals, fry it in a dry pan, light oil or deep oil. All came out slightly different, depending on the leavening, the flour, the yeast and the cooking method.

Vetkoek, the South African version of the bread, is made with yeast, cake flour, salt and water. We used white bread flour, brown bread flour salt, water and instant yeast.

This is part of our last legs dishes aboard. We have five odd days left on this voyage. We may make another batch of these breads using sourdough, and the rest of the flour, which includes rye. But that is for another day.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

3rd Leg Day 4: Another Loaf And A Visit from The Birds

We were all a bit weary from yesterday's dismal daily run this morning. The day dawned with some promise of wind, a small network of little ripples on the water. And the wind did come, except it was a headwind yet again. We altered course to be able to use it, but to no avail. The wind veered and we were back to square one. We resignedly furled away the sail and carried on motoring. At least we are making some way and are now crossing the Mona Passage between Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, on which resides the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Real voodoo country.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 28: Entering the Caribbean and a Sourdough Seed Loaf

Sourdough Seed Loaf

I made another sourdough loaf today, adding seeds and raisins. The sourdough starter was mixed during my 00h00 to 03h00 watch and left to proof until daylight. While this is not overnight, bear in mind that the ambient temperature is still over 28ºC/82ºF, so you get a fast reaction from your favourite sourdough.

The sourdough proof was used this morning to make the final dough mix, which was left in the cold oven aboard to rise.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 24: Sweetcorn Rye Loaf, Navigation and Sweet & Sour Fish

Today the wind returned and we are able to motor sail. The wind is not that strong yet.

Dawid started coastal navigation lessons yesterday and got some homework, which he actually did. We reviewed it this morning. Another tutorial or three and he will be ready to do his practical work for real when we pass Barbados and reach the Windward Islands.

He followed on by preparing, kneading and baking his second loaf. A rye loaf with sweetcorn, as was his wont. He is turning out to be a real student. His surname is Schoeman, Dutch for shoemaker, but we are considering to change it to Bakker, Dutch for baker. However, with the navigation lessons also progressing nicely we need to think up a new pseudonym for him. Perhaps Dawid the Charter. Or perhaps Dawid the Plotter. The options remain open for the time. For Renier we have reserved the title Numero UNO, after his unbeatable performance to date.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 21: Of Bread and Fish and Stirfry Chicken

 A somewhat Biblical day we had today, no less. We have a new novice baker on board. And three exited fishermen. After a few days of very little happening, we had lots of excitement today to make up for the tedium.

Dawid decided that he wants to learn to bake bread. The way he carries on he may just become the baker's apprentice, like the title of the book. However, first things first. We decided on an easy loaf for his first affray into the floury world of dough. The ingredients are simple and you get to experience all the facets of making bread.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 12: Hand Steering and A Raisin Sourdough Loaf

 Yes, the vagaries of electronic engineering and software stability struck yet again. At a most inopportune time on this occasion. The autohelm lost its mind completely this afternoon. In weather that can only be described as uncomfortable. Large choppy swells, the odd one some four meters high. A wind of around 20 knots, gusting 25, cloudy and rainy weather with squalls to boot.

Of course, the day did not start this way, it just developed into this situation. The day dawned on cloudy skies with squalls. We did not see the sun come up this morning. It was actually tolerable, given that it is quite warm out here. Even the sea water is warm. Then the weather took a turn for the worse and we had a rough time for a while, being tossed about in the saloon.

I was kept quite busy during my watch, trimming the sails and making steering adjustments, especially during the last half hour. Small course adjustments on the autopilot are required to keep the sail from gybing. We had the wind directly behind us, which makes it very difficult to steer in choppy seas. The swells cause the boat to yaw, which in turn causes a gybe if you are not careful. We had lots of squalls approaching, the result of which is that we motored the rest of the day, as the wind strength and direction varies significantly during squalls and makes sailing nigh impossible in the direction we need to go.

Then, around the middle of the day, the autohelm lost its memory and all the control settings. For the second time. On the first occasion, we had calmer seas and could get a modicum of control back by performing a factory reset tot he equipment. Alas, this did not work this time around. We did not contact the factory, as we had already exhausted their expertise on the first occasion of failure.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 6: Cheese & Onion Loaf, Squalls and Fish Curry

Today is Monday, 6 August. We have been at sea for six days since leaving St Helena, and 22 days since leaving Cape Town. We have about 35 days of the voyage left, depending on the weather.

Dawn saw an overcast sky, gray and rainy. Renier got his the first dowsing from a squall on the voyage during his 00h00 to 03h00 watch slot, I mine on the 06h00 to 09h00 slot. Dawid was spared a dowsing for this round. The weather was cool enough to warrant a T-shirt and a rain jacket. Later in the morning the clouds cleared somewhat and blue sky was to be seen all over. But the squalls stole our wind and we had to motor along. Needless to say, in these conditions we did not catch any fish.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 5: Summer, Spit'n Polish and Sourdough

The days are getting more and more summery as we travel further north. The wind is holding up and we sailed 138 nautical miles over the last 24 hours. This in spite of a stoppage of over an hour for the fish yesterday after lunch. Good news indeed. We have now done 72 straight hours of sailing, barring four hours to charge the batteries. Good wind indeed.

I managed to get sextant sightings of both the moon and Venus early this morning. Then I had to dig deep in my mind (and the celestial navigation manual!) to perform the reduction calculations on these. I had two very good sets of sights, each set clustered close together, but disagreeing with each other.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

2nd Leg Day 3: Rye Bread, Beef Curry and Whales

Rye Loaf

The rye loaf was done on a fast track. I used instant yeast this time. The flour was a mix of one cup rye, one and a half cup brown bread flour and one cup white bread flour. The kneading board was floured with rye, which added another half cup of rye flour to the mix. I mixed this lot, adding some salt and the dry instant yeast, followed by 1 cup of lukewarm water.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


 Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day 10: Second Sourdough Loaf and a Start to Spit and Polish

The day dawned cloudy and grey. A thick woollen blanket obscuring the sun, but not our spirits. No rain, but thankfully a cool day where we didn't have to wear wind breakers or thick jerseys. Unfortunately also hardly any wind.

Today was the third day in a row where it was impossible to take a sun sight, or any other sight for that matter. I shall have to use some form of dead reckoning as a start to the navigation on the next clear day to enable my sight reduction calculations. Another challenge for primitive navigation methods not to take a peek at the GPS.

We are now closer to St Helena island than any other dry land on earth and hope to reach the island by Monday morning. A distance of just under 600 nautical miles remains. We are at present sailing along at just on six knots, nice comfortable speed in the flat sea. I say it is rather enjoyable, but from a different perspective it is rather like driving through the Great Karoo in a slow car. Or Texas, if you are from that neck of the woods.


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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day 9: Loaf Number Two on a Cloudy Day

Interesting day that we had today. Cloudy and mostly overcast, but no rain. The wind behind us at around fifteen to twenty knots, pushing us gently along. The weather stays cool at just over twenty degrees Celsius (around 68ºF), but it is discernibly warmer than a week ago and we are wearing rain jackets and wind breakers only when outside for extended periods.

No fish was caught today, probably because of the cool and overcast weather. We are still praying for the wind to stay. We sailed without motoring now for over 48 hours and only had to run the engines to charge the boat's batteries. A blessing, no less.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


 Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day 5: Cajun Style Snoek and a Rye Loaf

The day dawned breathless yet again. But what a sight! Pastel blue and pink skies in the west, with a hint of stripey clouds, somewhat hazy. A balm to the soul.

We motored the whole day in basically windless conditions. A lazy zephyr every now and then. Navigation instructions for getting to St Helena island from Cape Town appears to be: sail north along the west coast of Africa till you get to the town of Luderitz, then turn a bit left if there is wind. Else, go further north till you find wind, then turn left. If you bump into Africa far north, you have gone too far.

I know this is not accurate, but it gives an idea of the navigation decisions to be made. And it is relatively easy to explain to those not deeply involved in navigation.

Today was the day of baking bread. The first experiment with the gas oven proved to be a bit beyond me. I removed the grid in favour of putting the baking tin directly on the plate. This gave me some more height in the small oven for the bread to rise. Wrong idea. The silicone baking tin did not like the heat from below and burned. Luckily the bread wasn't spoilt. In fact, it was consumed at such a pace that I hardly had time to take a photograph before it was finished.!

The bread, however, did not rise as expected.

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Authored by Johan Zietsman.

Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05

Day 4: Headwinds and Making Bread

Thursday 19 July dawned with a light headwind that soon freshened. The skipper did a twenty degree turn to starboard, enough to use the breeze and so save on fuel. We need the fuel for the doldrums later in the voyage.

I was on duty 09h00 to 12h00. The sourdough starter that I made yesterday sat quietly fermenting in the cold oven. It was smelling quite delicious, a bit sour, but not ugly. I added a cup and a bit of white bread flour and mixed it thoroughly, adding a dash of salt. After some decent kneading, helped along by having to use my kneading hand as a prop due to the choppy swell, the dough was put in a lukewarm oven to rise.

Towards the end of my watch the dough had risen to double its size, so I promptly kneaded it down. Then the dough was folded and flattened for about five minutes or so. Then it went back in the cold oven to rest until tomorrow, when we shall bake it in our gas oven. A first for me, no less. I have never used a gas oven before. Now I do it on a heaving boat in the middle of the ocean.



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Authored by Johan Zietsman.


Reposted from The Hungry Sailor on 2013-08-05