烘焙這件事 Baking

烘焙這件事，我從沒想過自己會樂在其中。

才瞭解自己花了很長時間對抗所有被認為是「女孩子家」做的事。因為被期待而急於擺脫，被限制而急於自由，其實都沒看清到底自己喜不喜歡。
在這艘船上，我們做著自己愛做的事、願意做的事、喜歡做的事，其他則輪流平均共同分擔。這是很奢侈的一段時間，讓我得以有真正自由看見自己的喜好。

一開始是Rob首先發難，培養我們酸麵包的酵母。在幾次辛苦餵養照顧酵母卻做出如石般麵包之後，我接過此艱鉅任務，卻偷吃步的購買超市快速酵母，就想嚐嚐親手做出鬆軟土司的滋味。

而我成功了！！！

由於船上沒有烤箱，所有麵包、蛋糕都在壓力鍋中完成，所有烘烤時間就得自己摸索。又由於不易上網取得食譜資訊，就只能從一個食譜衍生、實驗。全麥麵包的比例和原先白麵包怎麼調整，調整了麵粉後又發現酵母、水、蒸麵包時間也得隨之調整，沒有麵包機，就得自己揉麵團。原先被我看扁的「做麵包」其實像在實驗室做實驗一樣得注重比例。蛋糕的原理也是相同。船上空間狹窄，沒有打蛋器，搖搖晃晃的，我也不做蛋白蛋黃分離這種苦差事。一切由香蕉蛋糕成功後，就同樣比例開始做水果蛋糕、檸檬椰子蛋糕。

旅途開始前就聽說越北方食物價格就越加昂貴，麵包尤其得來不易，甚至有人可以用麵包換取鮭魚肉。在懷著可以以麵包換海鮮的美夢之下，開始我的「撲粉生涯」，不過自從麵包嘗試成功之後，通常一「蒸」上來就被我和Rob瓜分一半。說要拿去換取食物我們還得克制別一下子吞食完畢。

這一切辛苦說穿了都是為了在遠離人煙時，燒上一壺咖啡、切上一片現蒸蛋糕（但是通常都是用扒的），眼前如此美景，還能一手咖啡、一手蛋糕的這種幸福。

[translation\
I never thought I would be someone to enjoy baking.

I've spent a long time fighting against anything that could be considered “woman's work.” If it was expected of me, I pushed it aside. Where I saw limitations, I fought for freedom. I never thought to ask myself whether or not I might like baking, or any of these “women's” activities. I simply pushed them aside.

On the boat, we do what we want and what we're willing to do. We take turns completing any leftover tasks. This is a luxurious time, allowing us the leisure and the freedom to truly see ourselves and find out what we truly enjoy.

In the beginning, Rob started baking, raising sourdough cultures and attempting to make bread. After several painstaking attempts to make a good loaf of bread, and creating rock-hard disks instead, I took over the baking. And then I made made a few sourdough bricks as well. Finally I “cheated.” I bought some commercial yeast. I was looking forward to eating a loaf of bread made with my own hands.

And I succeeded!

Since we don't have an oven, all of our bread and cakes are cooked in a pressure cooker. I use a standard recipe, but I have to figure out my own cooking times. Since we only seldom have internet access, I don't have many recipes. Instead, I use a couple of basic recipes and create variations and experiments. So, when using whole wheat flour, I have to balance the amounts of whole wheat and white flour. After that, then I have to balance, yeast, water, and cooking time as well. We have no bread machine. I knead my own bread. What I used to think of as simply “making bread” turns out to be as exacting as conducting experiments in a laboratory.

Baking cakes is the same process. Our space is limited on the boat. We have no eggbeater, or mixer. I don't go to the trouble of separating egg whites and egg yolks. I start with a banana cake recipe and then use it to create lemon coconut or berry chocolate cake.

When we started this journey we heard that there was not much bread up north and that the price of food was very high. We had friends tell us it might even be possible to trade bread for fish. With this beautiful dream in mind, that I might trade my bread for seafood, I started my baking career. But every time a load is done being steamed, Rob and I eat half of it while it's still warm. If we were actually going to trade it for something, we would have to keep ourselves from eating it.

All of this effort is actually to fulfill my dream of having a cup of coffee in one hand and a slice of cake in the other (but usually we don't even slice it, we just break off a piece. Having my coffee and cake in such a remote, beautiful place is truly an inconceivable pleasure.