Friday Bread Basket 10/2/26

Hello from the Wordloaf Friday Bread Basket, a weekly roundup of links and items relating to bread, baking, and grain.

But first, some news: I will have more intel on other Breaducation events very soon, but the first one is happening on 11/16, at the Brookline Booksmith here in MA, where I'll be grilled by my friend Dan Souza:

It's free (unless you want to pre-purchase a book—you should!), but RSVP now if you are coming, because it is likely to fill up. (If you cannot make it that night, there will be two more Boston-area events in December, so not to worry.)

In good company

Forbes magazine recently chose the 14 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2026, with titles from such food royalties as Ina Garten, Marcus Samuelsson, Pati Jinich, Joanne Chang, and...me?!:

If you’re on a personal bread-making journey, Breaducation is here to elevate your skills to expert status. Brimming with science-backed bread education, this book covers everything from key ingredients and kneading techniques to milling your own grains and more. Plus, there are 50 recipes for a wide range of bread types that you can keep coming back to—think baguettes, sourdough, fougasse, pita and more.

Also on the list is Nara Smith, whose approach to reels and fashion I really need to emulate.

Hamburghum

I was very intrigued to read about this experimental recipe for a vegetarian burger made by growing mycelium on sorghum groats at Northeast Larder (TBH much of what they publish there is very intriguing to me):

This is a one (or two, perhaps) ingredient veggie burger made by growing mycelium on cracked sorghum groats. The mycelium binds the groats together, forming a patty that absorbs fat and moisture, becoming juicy and bouncy very much like a beef patty.

The mycelium also contributes to the umami taste of the patty, and in combination with additional savory sauces like shoyu, garum, or yeast extract, it truly begins to taste and feel like biting into meat!

It sounds like they have tried growing koji (Aspergillus oryzae), tempeh (Rhizopus oligosporus), and various basidiomycetes (edible mushrooms) on it, and koji had the best texture and flavor. Yet another reason to get moving on my Proofer Pro koji experiments...

Sorghum Burger

A veggie burger made by growing mycelium on cracked sorghum groats, which binds them into a juicy, bouncy patty.

Northeast Larder

Tomato tomato pie

This is a good video:

Have a peaceful, restful weekend. See you next week.

—Andrew