Sprout Bread, and review of Sproutman's Kitchen Garden

Sprout Bread a la Sproutman

Well, we baked it and ate it. Verdict: edible, unusual, tasty, but probably not going back for seconds.

The basic recipe is to take 2 cups of whole wheat berries, sprout them the same way you'd make your own mung bean sprouts or whatever, but when the shoot is not quite as long as the length of the berry, puree them to a paste in the food processor. Then shape it into little roll-sized loaves and 'bake' at 125degC for about 3 or 4 hours.

The flavour is quite sweet and malty, because when the wheat berries sprout their enzymes all kick into action and produce a fair amount of maltose. So that's quite yummy. And the sprouts are way more nutritious than straight wheat flour. I think the flavour would go better in a biscuit (what the North Americans would call a cookie). There are recipes for such in the cookbook, and I'll try them next. Just think, cookies with no sugar, no wheat flour, no baking soda etc etc. Good stuff.

It's funny, but despite the Sproutman being a near Vegan, there is a whole lot of cross-over between the recipes in his "Kitchen Garden" book and those in Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" book (fan review here), who is a confirmed meat-o-saurus, and whose book we now own because I thought it was so good. The cross-over comes because both authors/food philosophers believe strongly in reducing the 'processing' of food to almost nil, in maximising the enzyme content of your food, and have a strong emphasis on lacto-fermentation. Most of the recipes in the Kitchen Garden book would not be at all out of place in the Nourishing Traditions book.

All in all, I recommend the book, but not, perhaps the bread :)