Meyers Madhus - Bread with a purpose

At the end of May I traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark to give a two-hour lecture on sourdough bread at Meyers Madhus. Mad is Danish for food so Madhus is Food House, and Meyers is Claus Meyers (here is his Wikipedia entry), one of the founders of Noma, at one time the top rated restaurant in the world.

Two days before my presentation I handed some smuggled starters from my kitchen to the baker in the apron. I am so sorry I do not know his name, because within 48 hours he managed to expand my starters -- Cripple Creek, Colorado (1893, whole wheat) and Russian Rye (1960) into several loaves of the most delicious bread I'd ever eaten. The fellow with the beard is Jonas Astrup and together they were the most wonderful hosts.

A few of the loaves made by Meyers Madhus using my smuggled Cripple Creek starter.

In addition to making breads, he prepared a large vat of each starter so that guests attending my lecture could take some home. Of the fifty people that came, I'm figuring more than 35 took at least one sample.

Breads were feasted upon before, during, and after my talk.

The round loaves are whole wheat from Cripple Creek starter. The oblongs are Danish ryes made with my Russian starter.

I was most inspired by all the ways in which bread, food, cooking, and Nordic ingenuity were being applied by Meyers Madhus to make a difference in the world. Meyers Madhus is

• Teaching street kids in Bolivia how to become certified chefs.
• Preparing organic foods for all of Denmark's hospitals.
• Improving food quality in nursery schools and nursing homes, helping serve 70,000 public meals in Copenhagen for those in need.
• Teaching Cookery in Danish prisons.
• Food education projects in Danish schools that are too numerous and diverse to list.
• Infusing environmental sustainability into kitchens and businesses of every stripe, including the municipality of Copenhagen.

Meyers Madhus gave me a copy of their recently translated cookbook, Meyer's Bakery, by Claus Meyer. I've only had a chance to make one bread, a sourdough rye with cooked barley, anise, and caraway.

The flavor of rye in this loaf was so sweet and nutty and enhanced by the spices that upon eating my first moist slice, my eyes closed in appreciation.