The 2022 Kneading Conference
An overview and a full pass giveaway
This year’s Maine Grain Alliance Kneading Conference is in a few short weeks, from July 25-30. While there were a few in-person workshops at last year’s conference, most of that one was held virtually, over Zoom. This year’s KC will be the first one since COVID to be held on-site in Skowheghan, so if you were hoping to attend in person, now’s your chance! (If you cannot make the trip up there, all is not lost, because most of the workshops will also be broadcast live via Zoom.) And if you were on the fence about attending, or the price of a pass is too steep, read on for a chance to win a free one (in-person or virtual, whichever you’d prefer).
Unfortunately, because I had made other plans already, I cannot make the conference myself, but I am giving a virtual matnakash (Armenian fingerprint flatbread) demo over Zoom (from my back yard) on Monday, 7/25, from 12-2, to kick it off. And I plan to tune in to as many of the lectures and demos that I can remotely (or after the fact, via recordings).
You can find the complete schedule at the link below, but here are a few highlights:
Mother Grains author and owner of Friends and Family Bakery Roxana Jullapat is giving the keynote address and teaching a tortilla and empanada workshop, both on Thursday.
David Kaminer, of Denver, CO’s Raleigh Street Bakery, is giving a 2-day workshop on Market Breads for a Micro Bakery.
Elmore Mountain Bread and New American Stone Mills’ Blair Marvin & Andrew Heyn are giving a talk on milling called Anatomy of a Stone Mill.
Members of the Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine are demoing Muufo, an unleavened Somali flatbread made with cornmeal.
Chef Ilma Lopez of Chaval in Portland Maine is teaching a fresh pasta workshop utilizing Maine Grains and Atlantic Sea Farms Kelp.
Sourdough wizard Beesham Soogrim is giving a workshop on Sourdough and Long Ferments.
Maura Kilpatrick, of Cambridge’s Sofra (who I got to hang out with the other day!) is giving a class on Turkish Breads and Pastries, using New England grains.
Brian Lance and Selene Tepatzi from Atticus Bakery in New Haven, CT (both of whom contributed a pan de muerto recipe and story here last year) are doing a workshop on an as-yet unnamed topic. (Knowing them, whatever they share is bound to be great.)
If you are unfamiliar with the Kneading Conference, I wrote a long love-letter to the annual event last year, which you can read right here:
Like last year, the folks at the Kneading Conference have graciously provided a free pass for one person to attend the conference, either in-person or virtually, whichever the winner would prefer. This contest is open to any paid Wordloaf subscriber. If you are one, and want in, just add a comment below. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, maybe now’s a good time to finally join up?
I’ll pick the winner in just over two weeks, on 7/16 at 8am, so there’s plenty of time to get in on it.
—Andrew
Would love to be in the running!
As Shrek’s donkey would say “pick me, pick me😂”