Regenerative Baking – Details, episodes & analysis

Patrick Shaw-Kitch was the head baker at Blue Hill at Stone Barns for five years, and is now opening Brooklyn Granary and Mill (@brooklyngranaryandmill), a flour mill and bakery in Brooklyn that will source grain directly from regenerative farmers, and sell bread, pastries, and fresh-milled flour to customers. In this very bread-nerdy episode, Patrick and Dressler dig into the nitty-gritty hows and whys of whole grain bread baking, independent seed breeders, the best ways to test out new flours, which grains are destined to be bread, Patrick's business model and goals for Brooklyn Granary and Mill, the economics of regional grains, and so, so much more. 

Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Patreon: patreon.com/regenerativebaking

Little Loaf Bakeshop (@littleloafbakeshop) is a queer woman-and-trans-owned bakery in Poughkeepsie, New York. In this episode, Dressler talks to co-owner Colleen Orlando about her journey in the food world, vegan recipe testing, building community through pastries, the inclusive culture of the bakery, how queerness shows up in baking, stoneground flour, vegan cheese and butter, how limitations can actually fuel creativity, and so much more. 

Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Patreon: patreon.com/regenerativebaking

Katie Gourley(@k.e.gourley) is a farmer and baker deeply rooted in biodiversity and alternative economies. As one half of La Merenda Farm (@lamerendafarm), she operates a beautiful heirloom bean CSA, and also bakes seasonal whole-grain cakes through her small-scale community baking project, Sweet Clover Baking. Katie also has a Masters in Urban Planning with Distinction from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where her thesis on community seed saving and alternative economies was the recipient of the Harvard Urban Planning and Design Thesis Prize. Listen in for a deep dive on seed libraries, sharing economies, biodiversity in baking, zines, farming challenges, and dreams of a more caring world. 

Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Jack Algiere is the Director of Agroecology at Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture (@stonebarns), which is also home to the two-Michelin-starred Blue Hill at Stone Barns. First brought in to design the center’s boldly experimental organic farm in 2004, Jack Algiere warmly recalls his farming history, some of the projects Stone Barns is working on right now, his philosophy around farming, agroecology, and much more. Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Rose Wilde (@trosewilde) is a powerhouse of a pastry chef—she’s a former human rights lawyer turned writer, master food preserver, master gardener, and chef-owner of Red Bread in Los Angeles. She’s also the author of the fabulous new whole-grain baking cookbook, Bread and Roses: 100+ Grain Forward Recipes Featuring Global Ingredients and Botanicals. Listen in for an exploration of human rights and kitchens, developing your own sense of whole grain taste, replacing baking powder with sourdough, cultivating community, and much, much more. 

Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Rachel Fukumoto’s Instagram handle is @thepastryfarmer, and she’s trying to bridge the worlds of pastry and farming in Hawaii. Right now, she’s a full-time farmer at Big Island Tea, a regenerative tea farm, while her dreams of tea-inspired pastries gently steep. Tune in for a chat about Hawaii’s biggest beginner farming program, the endless possibility of tarts, farming in a rainforest, baking with local ingredients, vanilla in Oahu, and much, much more. Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @dresslerparsons and @regenerativebaking

Solar Punk Farms (@solarpunkfarms) is a queer-run agricultural community space in Guerneville, CA founded by Nick Schwanz and Spencer Scott. In this episode, Nick and Dressler dive into cover cropping, farming challenges, garden design, planting a food forest, a special perennial grain, solarpunk as a movement, and—crucially—what a solarpunk bakery would look like. Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Sarah Lohman (@fourpoundsflour) is a culinary historian, public speaker, and author. Her latest book, Endangered Eating: America's Vanishing Foods, deeply explores eight different foods listed on Slow Food USA's Ark of Taste. Two of these compassionately researched foods are Coachella Valley dates and Hawaiian legacy sugarcane, each with their own surprising and complex history. Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

When it comes to baking what you grow, processing sugar feels like a hitch in the gears. But pastry cook and author Brian Levy (@bybrianlevy) tackles this question with "Good & Sweet," his inventive cookbook of thoroughly-tested dessert recipes that use no added sugar. Instead, everything is sweetened with a combination of fruit (fresh, cooked, dried, or freeze-dried) and other ingredients with natural built-in sweetness, like coconut flakes or chestnut flour, opening up doors of complex, flavorful possibilities. Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking

Instagram: @regenerativebaking and @dresslerparsons

Though fermentation might not seem related to baking, it deeply intersects; in sourdough, yogurt, cheese, cultured butter, and even jams and pie fillings. In this episode of Regenerative Baking, Dressler Parsons talks to Dr. Julia Skinner (@yourrootsandbranches)--award-winning author, food historian, PhD, and founder and director of Root Kitchens (@rootkitchens). Her latest book, “Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures and Communities,” is chock-full of recipes and practical information for getting started fermenting, and where fermentation might fit in to the future of food.

Full show notes and further reading links available at dresslerparsons.com/regenerativebaking