Bread oven at a baked joint
Bread is among the oldest and most important foods worldwide. It’s a staple of many diets and can take dozens of forms ranging from the hearty country loaf to the pillow-soft, yeasted challah. But what exactly makes pain de mie fluffy or a baguette crisp? What’s the difference between ciabatta and focaccia? How do you make a sourdough chewy, crusty, and airy?
Bread bakers Omar Qazi and Nora Velazco offer the answers as they share their passion for the processes behind the combinations of grain, water, and yeast that produce the delicious diversity of doughs, loaves, and buns offered at their shop, a baked joint, in Washington’s Mount Vernon neighborhood.
Qazi and Velazco explore the science, history, and culture of bread making, and trace the complete process—from farmer to miller to baker—as they follow the lifecycle of their loaves’ fermentation, mixing, shaping, and baking. All of a baked joint’s breads are handcrafted and baked daily using organic wheat and a long, naturally leavened fermentation process designed to bring out the maximum flavor and nutrition of the grain.
The open-plan dining and kitchen space at a baked joint is open exclusively to Smithsonian guests for an after-hours program that includes bread demonstrations and a tour of the bread kitchen. Qazi and Velazco also guide participants through a curated tasting of two freshly made artisanal breads and a charcuterie spread of prosciutto, house-made butter, jams, olive oil, honey, and goat cheese. All guests take home a demi-loaf of handcrafted bread. Arrive early and enjoy a drink or a snack.
(Tasting and demi-loaf are included in the ticket price; additional bread, beer, and wine are available for purchase before and after the program.)
This program is subject to limited capacity.
