I find no better test of how I’m doing with regard to multiple sclerosis (MS) than making bread by hand.
It’s a great way to de-stress, too.
My MS is a progressive form of the disease — secondary-progressive to be specific. I don’t have much in the way of the “big” exacerbations or attacks that once plagued my life. Rather, my abilities are nibbled away (though sometimes in great bites) by the disease.
I try not to focus on my slide in abilities, but I do like to keep track of them as well as hold on to those I have left with the grip of a sand burr in a fleece.
I’ve a number of methods for keeping track, and the tastiest of these has more checks and benefits than you might imagine.
I’ve always said that I’m a “head before heart” guy. Making bread forces me to exercise my brain before I experience the joy of kneading and eating.
What Each Step of Bread Baking Tells Me About My MS
“Cooking is art,” I used to tell my students, “Baking is science.” There are 12 steps in the production of bread (measurement, mixing, fermentation, knock back, portioning, round up, resting, makeup, proof, baking, and cooling), and each must be adhered to in the correct order to produce a perfect loaf.
Measurement For the measurement step, one must scale the ingredients accurately (always best to weigh ingredients rather than use volume measurements).
In my professional chef days, I used bakers’ formulas (or ratios), which base the amount of all ingredients on the weight of the flour. It’s an easy system that allows for multiplying (or dividing) a recipe exactly. As my MS has cognitive attributes, following a recipe that includes maths and measurements is a sure tell of a good day or a bad day.
Memory Because I follow an old way of mixing, whereby salt isn’t added until about two-thirds of the way through mixing and kneading, memory plays its part here as well as the physical dexterity required to ply the dough. If you’ve ever tasted bread that hasn’t any salt, you’ll know it straightaway!
Rest A nice thing about making bread dough when you have MS is that it needs a period of rest, too! After my mental and physical workout with maths and gluten, the yeast needs time to do its part of the work, and by this time I likely need a break as well.
RELATED: 12 Ways to Fight MS Fatigue
Perception of relative proportions My perception in the portioning process — whereby I cut the dough into like-size pieces, scale them out, and round them for their next rest — is put to the test. Some days I get very close on the first try. Other days … let’s just say that it’s a good thing the dough has another relaxation period to repair the damage I’ve done.
Hand strength and control Fine motor skills and hand strength get put to the test when working balls of dough into their final shape. I don’t usually try for anything fancy anymore. A simple round boule is about all I can muster. My baguettes look more akin to a great snake that has swallowed something very large than to the slim French sticks we all know and love.
Dexterity and balance Dexterity, balance, and strength are tested one final time as I transfer the loaves from the wooden peel to the baking stone in my oven without either the dough or the baker awkwardly ending up on the floor. If I’ve got to this point and I know that I just don’t have it in me, I adapt and just bake the bread on a pan. Not the same, but we have all learned to adapt to our life with MS and accept that some parts are just not as good as they were before.
Bread Baking: Both a Short- and Long-Term MS Ability Test
As with anything related to my former life, before MS and its increased g-forces began to weigh on me, baking bread brings into sharp relief the difference between then and now.
I use the process to test myself now versus a few weeks prior, but I can’t help noticing how far I’ve slipped in the past two decades. I notice it, but I try not to spend too much time regretting it.
Besides, if I’ve done all the steps along the way, we’ve lovely fresh bread to enjoy at the end of the process. There aren’t many MS ability tests which end in crackling crusts and soft, yielding crumb.
My hands and my head will be tired from the work, but it’s a satisfying exhaustion, and the loaf never lies …
Wishing you and your family the best of health.
Cheers
Trevis
My book, Chef Interrupted, is available on Amazon. Follow me on the Life With MS Facebook page and on Twitter, and read more on Life With Multiple Sclerosis.
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September 09, 2021 at 02:44AM
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What Baking Bread Tells Me About My MS - Everyday Health
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