# 003 | Evolving Foodways
10 min read

Whole wheat coco bread

Evolving Foodways

Welcome to the third edition of Companion Piece!

With this issue I want to plant the seeds for contemplation on foodways – especially how our relationship to food is constantly being modulated by our memories and present realities, and the potential to conjure up inspiration from this place of tension.

For this month’s recipe, I made a milk bread that is inspired by Jamaican coco bread. Coco bread is a sandwich bread traditionally eaten throughout the Caribbean. Its origins are traced back to Jamaica, as the name implies, and food historians believe that the original recipe incorporated flour, yeast, sugar and coconut milk – which gives the bread its incredibly soft texture and a distinctly sweet aroma. These are humble ingredients that would have been available to enslaved Africans and, following emancipation, indentured Indian laborers on Caribbean sugar plantations – the first people believed to have eaten coco bread. Modern recipes that I have come across incorporate eggs, and sometimes butter.

Sourdough coconut milk bread pulled apart.

The bread’s unique shape makes it a great vessel for a filling, but it's also delicious on its own. It is traditionally paired with beef patties and/or cheddar cheese to create a sandwich that complements the slightly sweet flavor.

I had my first coco bread more than two decades ago in the Bronx, where a large number of Jamaicans in the diaspora live. I remember my Nigerian friend introducing me to it and the aromatic coconut flavor stuck with me, creating a new reference point for what a milk bread can be.

This edition's recipe brings to light how our encounters with the varying cultural interpretations of a particular food can generate something new. From a cohesive patchwork of flavors and forms, our evolving foodways become visible and edible.

Sourdough Coconut Milk Bread

What makes me fond of coco bread and other milk breads is their softness – a quality achieved by enriching bread dough with fats like coconut milk, eggs and butter. The addition of the latter two, in particular, shifts the bread towards a leavened pastry like a brioche, which I was keen to explore while developing this recipe. I added nutmeg to amplify the aromatic and nutty quality of the coconut milk. I also incorporated whole wheat into my recipe, but it can be completely omitted or reduced according to taste and preference.

The texture is perhaps one of my favorite aspects of this loaf. It’s shaped like a Yamagata-style shokupan*, or Japanese-style milk bread with domed tops consisting of conjoined rolls. When you separate the loaf at its seams, it reveals a feathery texture that allows you to vertically pull it apart in strips. Slicing it (as you would with any other loaf) reveals a breadlike crumb. It’s delicious either way, I promise! :)

Sourdough coconut milk bread pulled apart.
Pulled apart at the seam

Sliced sourdough coconut milk bread pulled apart.

Sliced horizontally

The levain rounds out its sweet and salty flavor notes by adding a bit of sourness without overpowering the delicate aromatic flavors. I don’t recommend fermenting the dough beyond bulk fermentation and a second, shorter rise before baking.

For all its complexity in form and flavor, this is actually an easy recipe for beginner sourdough bakers that comes together in less than half a day.

*The history of shokupan and evolution of its recipe are actually quite fascinating stories I would love to revisit in a future newsletter.

Toasted sourdough coconut milk bread.

Flavor and texture notes for this recipe

Mildly sweet and buttery, with a hint of sourness. Subtle coconut and cake-like aroma, with a nutty undertone and grassy, dairy notes. The tender, light and fluffy crumb has a soft, smooth crust.

*The slices depicted in the above image have been toasted.

Recipe for a loaf of bread

Levain (prepare overnight or first thing in the morning)
20g starter
20g whole wheat flour
20g bread flour
40g filtered Spring Water (78°F)

Wet ingredients
280g coconut milk
75g ripened levain
60g unsalted, melted butter (take care not to boil or overheat)
30g granulated sugar
8g salt
1 egg

1.5 tbsp room temperature butter to coat your mixing bowl and loaf pan

Dry ingredients
300g bread flour
185g whole wheat flour
2g grated nutmeg

Combine the coconut milk, melted butter, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. The temperature of your ingredients should ideally fall between 78°F and 80°F. Gently whisk in the egg and the ripe levain.

Mix your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and slowly stir into your wet ingredients to form a soft dough. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.

Lightly coat a mixing bowl with part of the room temperature butter. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the bowl. Add the dough, cover and let rest for 4.5 hours, or until it has visibly doubled in size.

In the meantime, coat a 9 or 10-inch loaf pan with the remainder of the room temperature butter.

Once your dough has doubled, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Divide it into four equal parts and pre-shape each piece into a ball.

With a rolling pin, roll out the first piece into an oval or rectangular shape. Position the piece so that its short edge is parallel to your work surface and roll it into a log from one short end to the other. Place the dough into the loaf pan and repeat with the remaining three.

Cover and let the dough rest until doubled or almost tripled in size, approximately 2 hours.

Preheat your oven to 350°F for 30 minutes and transfer the loaf pan to the oven. Bake for 27 – 30 minutes, until the top is brown.

Remove the loaf pan from the oven and let it sit for 3 minutes, after which the bread should slide out easily. Place the bread on an elevated rack and immediately brush with melted butter if desired. Let it cool and enjoy!

Happenings
Our June gathering will be held on Sunday, June 18 at 3:00pm - 3:45pm (New York time). We will continue our discussion on essential sourdough bread baking tools. The format is a presentation on the topic, accompanied by an open knowledge exchange. Simply respond to this message to RSVP and receive a virtual link if you’re interested in joining us!

Curiosities

The story of Panis Quadratus and Mount Vesuvius
One of the things I enjoyed most while working on this edition’s recipe is that it allowed me to think more about how bakers can visually communicate ways in which a loaf can be handled or consumed. An example of this is the indication of portion size or the ideal point at which a piece can be broken off with ease. This is an idea that has been documented as far back as 3rd Century AD in Greece, and is a wonderful segue to the Herculaneum Loaf shown above.

Herculaneum Loaf is the name given to sourdough bread that was baked the morning of (and survived) the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The loaf was protected by the oven in which it was baked until it was discovered in the 1930s at Herculaneum, a Roman city near Naples in Italy. Eighty-one such carbonized bread loaves were also excavated at the more famous archaeological site of Pompeii, which was also buried by Vesuvius’ volcanic ash. The loaves had been baked at the Modestus bakery, one of the larger 30 or so commercial bakeries in the city, and were abandoned in the oven before the volcanic eruption.

You might have noticed that the loaf is divided into eight wedges on top. Frescos and other imagery of bread found in villas from that era show these traditional round loaves with eight tear-off wedges. It also has a horizontal indentation around the body, which is created by tying a string around it, making it easier to carry. The name given to these Roman loaves is Panis Quadratus. Their Greek forerunners known as blōmiaioi (which is related to the Greek word for bran bread) were baked with poppy seeds, fennel and parsley.

You can learn more about the history of Panis Quadratus and ancient bread making on food archaeologist Farrell Monaco’s blog, Tavola Mediterranea.

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Thank you and until next time!

-Nana