Savour 2012 (Bread making tips and Demo Video from the Global Baker Dean Brettschneider Included)

Sharing some photos taken during SAVOUR, a gourmet event in Singapore.

The SAVOUR concept is a first of its kind in Singapore, with a philosophy to unite the finest food and drink with a plethora of expert master classes, live demonstrations, fun workshops and culinary shopping, in an event that is accessible to all. It was held from 30th March to 1st April 2012 at the F1 Paddock and Pit Building, just beside Singapore Flyer. I was there on 30th March evening.

I have bookmarked three workshops that I would like to attend prior to the event but unfortunately I only managed to attend two which already made me feel very excited. I will share the detail and what I have learnt (including video clips) at the end of this post.

A glance from top

The prominent Singapore Flyer

Hong Kong’s popular street food - egg waffle “gai dan zai”

Do you notice the black colour thingy? It’s black truffle!


This is the final product, serve with a scoop of condensed milk ice-cream (S$9), creation of Bo Innovation, Hong Kong.

Molecular xiao long bao

Molecular xiao long bao by Chef Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation, Hong Kong (S$6).

Borrowing a technique created by el Bulli's Ferran Adria, the liquid soup filling is served without its traditional dough wrapper. Rather, the liquid is encapsulated in a thin gel skin which bursts immediately upon entering your mouth, creating much the same effect as eating a traditional xiao long bao.

It’s about the same size of a typical tangyuan or slightly smaller, the whole thing is ultra smooth and jelly like. The red colour hairline is actually pickled ginger. Eating this is an unique experience to me. In fact this is the first time I tasted molecular food.

Some macarons and sweet treats seen in the Gourmet Market



From a stall selling organic veggies and food in the Gourmet Market 



ThreeSixty Market Place. Can't get enough of food sampling.

ThreeSixty Market Place. I didn't try the Iberico ham because I had tasted it before and I didn't like it.

ThreeSixty Market Place

ThreeSixty Market Place. Do you expect this in a supermarket?

ThreeSixty Market Place must be the largest exibitor in the Gourmet Market. It occupied the entire flour. The set up was almost like the real one at ION, except that there were many booths for food sampling, even with a live band to keep all the visitors entertained.

VIP pavilion

VIP ticket holders got to enjoy free flow of wine, champagne and snack in the pavilion.

My cup of champagne

Now come to the highlights of the two bread making workshops that I attended.

Chef Jason Tan from Vina Artisan Bakery

I attended ARTISAN BREAD MAKING workshop taught by chef Jason Tan. He is young and friendly. In the workshop I got the chance to learn the basics of bread making from him including some hands-on. We were given the recipe of French Baguette.

Here is a video clip of chef Jason Tan demonstrating how to shape a French Baguette.

I ended my day by attending another workshop - SECRET RECIPES OF THE GLOBAL BAKER taught by chef Dean Brettschneider. Chef Dean is founder and co owner of the global bakery chain Baker & Cook in Singapore. Coincidentally, Baker & Cook was featured in the local newspaper (My Paper) that day.

The Global Baker Dean Brettschneider

Chef Dean is very charming and humorous in person (I think he looks better in person too :P).

Here is a short video clip of chef Dean demonstrating how to knead bread dough by hand.

In the video Chef Dean is kneading 1kg of flour. His hands motion helps to incorporate air into the dough and air is one of the key factors for the yeast to grow. This was the only step he followed throughout the kneading process. Look simple, isn't it?

Bread made by Chef Dean

The bread was not fully cooked art the end of the session. So I didn’t get the chance to taste it.

Dressed up pecan pie

Notice the beautiful caramel deco on top? Chef Dean showed us how it was done. He simply took spoonful of caramel and dripped it on the back of a ladle. The beautiful deco was then done in no time.

Often we do not know how to drop cream nicely on serving plate expect using a piping bag. The secret is to warm the spoon (just dip in warm water) before scooping the cream. See how the scoop of cream turns out in the picture.

Below are some tips of bread making I learnt from both workshops that I would like to share with you: -

1) The secret of easy and effective kneading by hand is to rest for 30-45 seconds several times during the kneading process. This allows both the baker and the elastic flour protein to relax a little before further kneading.

2) At the moulding stage, use both hands to roll the bread dough on tabletop in circular motion. The friction helps to “seal” the bottom of the dough and you will get a smooth round dough.

3) The correct way of punching after first proofing. After seeing the demonstration from chef Dean I realized I had done it wrongly all the while. When recipe writes punch down, we don’t really punch the dough. Instead, we should use both hands to press down the dough gently and fold in the four sides.

4) Singapore weather is perfect for proofing. Thus, don’t be tempted to create a warm environment to fasten the proofing process. It’s okay to let it proof for longer time. Importantly is to observe the dough. I like to put my dough in the oven beside a cup of warm water during second proofing; I should not do that next time.

5) Artisan bread needs to have steam during baking in order to get crispy and thin crust. Both chefs suggested to spray water right after the bread dough is sent into the oven. Chef Dean just poured some water from his mineral water bottle during the live demo. Chef Jason also suggested putting some ices in the oven. When the ices start to melt, they create steam.

The entrance ticket

The ticket was sponsored by Bosch. Thanks Bosch for the Savour experience. It was a long story. To cut it short, I was being stopped at the entrance because I brought an expired ticket unknowingly. It was not my fault but I also got to blame myself for being too careless by not checking the tickets individually. Luckily, Min of Bosch came and “rescued” me from the awkward situation and even passed me the VIP ticket.

Bosch is one of the main sponsors of Savour. Too bad I didn’t manage to attend any of the Bosch cooking class that day as the class schedule clashed with the bread making workshop.

Savour official website:
http://www.savour.sg/