Breadmaking in a Pandemic

 “Bread baking is a thing we do in a crisis, perhaps because bread is one of the very foundations of human civilization, and perhaps because it has been marketed to us as life-giving,” wrote Emily VanDerWerff in a Vox article discussing the existential comforts of making homemade bread.

#Quarantinebaking skyrocketed at the beginning of the pandemic. Over the last year, many folks turned to baking and cooking as a way to relieve stress and fill a void many felt during months of anxiety and isolation. Baking bread in particular became such a popular activity that products like flour and active dry yeast cleared the shelves. Sourdough starter became viral . The act of making bread from scratch can offer both  a creative outlet and calming mindfulness  while studies show that just the aroma of fresh bread improves one’s mood and makes us kinder.

Lilian Manansala shows how to make Alton Brown’s “Knead Not Sourdough Bread.” 

Videography and Editing by Lilian Manansala