Sunday’s We Bake Bread with Emerald who lives in Phoenix
Emerald Green (@thegemthecolor) is a 32 year old bread baker and artist living in Arizona and is also a a bread artist for @proofbread and the cofounder of @bakers4good which is a collective of bakers in the Greater Phoenix Metro Area changing the world the best way they know how: through baked goods.
How did your love for baking start?
My mom taught me how to cook as soon as I was old enough to assist in the kitchen. After college when I was living on my own, I realized I still hadn’t learned how to bake. I had a friend who had a range of dietary restrictions who was lamenting about not being able to find any bakeries that had cupcakes she could eat without making her sick. So I ordered a specialty cupcake book to make her cupcakes as a surprise. I haven’t looked back since.
What emotions provoke you when you bake?
I love the alchemy that comes with baking. Mix some things in a bowl and watch the magic happen. Makes me feel like a wizard.
What are your favorite things to bake?
I work in an all sourdough bakery, which happens to be where my passion is. More than anything else, I love to intricately score bread and then eagerly wait for the results.
What’s been inspiring you lately?
My specialty is decorative bread scoring. For my scoring designs, I am often inspired by the environment around me (the Arizona desert), produce that is in season, animals, portraits. As far as flavors go, I enjoy bringing Korean flavors into sourdough bread. I am half Korean and half German. Bringing the flavors of Korea inside an artisan loaf of sourdough bread is like the culmination of my heritage.
A lot changed for me when I started to see bread as an art medium. I’m always challenging myself to see what the limits are to manipulating bread in different ways. It’s challenging but lights a childlike wonder in me at the same time.
What does bread symbolize for you?
Sourdough bread is universal. Every culture has their own history and traditions when it comes to naturally leavened bread. It’s one of the most basic and essential food staples. It brings people of all walks of life together.
What is the most challenging part of baking bread?
Like everything else, it’s a skill. It takes repetition to build up the muscle memory required. Sourdough is a long process that’s a refined science but also necessitates a level of intuition and flexibility. It’s a lot of hands-on hard work.
What’s the most important thing when baking bread?
Patience with both the process and yourself. There are so many factors that come into play to have a successful loaf of bread. Keeping detailed notes, being mindful of temperature and timing, and not feeling defeated when a loaf doesn’t come out the way you’d hoped are all important as a bread baker.
What are some things you’ve learned about bread?
Every sourdough loaf is unique to the baker who made it. The microbes that live on your hands have a relationship with the microbes that live in the dough. The more you are touching your bread as you’re mixing, folding, and shaping, the more those microbes flourish and become an intrinsic characteristic of your bread. I think that’s the coolest thing.
How do you like to eat your bread?
Most often I’m eating it as avocado toast with a bed of arugula tossed in a light dressing and topped with fried eggs. However, the simplicity of a toasted slice of bread with a pad of butter is undefeated.
