Different farm, different mill, different weather, different harvest = not the same bread.
Bread cannot always taste the same, as plastic-bagged bread has accustomed us to, bread should taste, feel and melt in the mouth as the land and the grains that make it. What could have been perceived as an inconsistency in ingredient qualities became the core of my work and research
At Panicuocoli, controlling these variations proved futile and exhausting. Instead, we work with them. When we were delivered a new rye variety, we adapted fermentation times and hydration; when the wheat dough became more extensible, we adjusted our mixing and the blend of flours we used. This is what I call “eating the land” and what I am trying to define as co-existing survivals: modes of making that depend on cooperation between human intentions and others’ agencies. The sourdough cultures, the seasonal rhythms, the farmers’ decisions, the bakery, the hands, … all present to allow bread to emerge each day.
Design as (is) co-existence, not mastery and control.