Slow-rise bread is a test of our patience and faith in certain processes. There is also a test awaiting at the end. The aroma of fresh-baked bread is an image that has certainly been evoked in the soul-satisfying qualities of breadmaking. Just as the sound of crust is an expression of beauty, the aroma of bread is deeply intoxicating and warrants its own poetics.
I heard on one of those national Public Radio programs that so often reveal interesting and little-known facts that the smell of bread in the oven is considered an antidote for depression. Something so primal that it cannot be fully explained occurs when one smells bread baking; it is soothing and affirmative and it chases the blues away. Having had many intense moments in our bakery fretting over mundanities such as accounts receivable, broken dough hooks, burned-out pilot lights, and whether I put the yeast in the dough, I believe that a good deal of what is left of my sanity is owed to the aromatic safety net that wafts through the atmosphere, supporting me in the midst of crisis.