The fatal glass of beer… we're working on a Graça bread :-}

I love waking up to the smell of home-baked bread

Thomas has made his own bread since he was a teenager. So I have been used to waking up to the smell of his bread from the kitchen – well I don’t mean since he was a teenager, but for the almost 25 years we have been together. [gallery ids="38793,38795,38799" type="rectangular"] When we arrived in Kathmandu in 2009 Thomas insisted on keeping his morning bread routine. It wasn’t an easy start – not because of the flour and yeast. It took him a few weeks to get hold of an OK quality of both. The problem was the altitude!!! ‘In 1.400 m above sea level the fermentation tales longer, which he wasn’t aware off in the beginning. It was our friend and Master Brewer from Carlsberg who told him that. He also told him how to speed up the fermentation (just add e little sugar LOL). So some how beer has an important part of our bread tradition in Kathmandu. [caption id="attachment_38796" align="aligncenter" width="5598"] Don’t be surprised if you feel that Graça sometimes smells of Bread. It’s due to the Malt from 8a Colina. After working for years at Tuborg and Carlsberg Breweries this smell is very familiar to us – and the reason why we solved the problem with our home-baked Rye Bread.[/caption]

Beer and bread at Tings Lisbon

In Kathmandu we’re known for our home-baked bread – so of course we keep on baking our own bread in Lisbon. And by a coincident – or fate? – beer also get involved here in Lisbon. Thomas has always wanted to make a Danish Rye Bread. The problem is the rye that is very difficult to get hold of. But he finally managed to find a quality that is good. Still – when he tasted the first test breads – he felt that something was wrong. One afternoon when he was passing by our local brewery 8e Colina he realised what was missing: MALT!. This morning we served Light Malted Rye Bread for breakfast for the first time. And  – unlike Thomas first trials -it seems to work! When we got the bread baskets back after breakfast all the rye bread was missing which mean that our guests liked it. If it’s because the dough has been cold raised for 24 hours which gives the bread its spongy and long-lasting texture or because of the beer malt, is hard to say. But Thomas insists that it’s the beer… :-} Annette

The fatal glass of beer