By September 2034. The fifth cohort of the traditional foods curriculum started and the program had developed something I hadn't anticipated: reputation for rigor. Students came now knowing it was serious work. A few had been rejected in the interview process because they weren't ready for the commitment—I'd developed an intake conversation that filtered for genuine interest rather than casual curiosity. The cohorts were smaller and more engaged as a result.
Madison had taken on the role of lead instructor for the fry bread, bean bread, and plant identification portions of the curriculum. I taught the wild harvesting, the field sessions, and the historical context. We'd divided it along the lines of where each of us was strongest and the students got the benefit of both lineages—Madison's formal pedagogy plus my practitioner depth, neither one substitutable by the other.
One student in the fifth cohort, a woman named Roberta who was thirty-eight and had been raised away from the community and was working her way back to it, asked me after the first field session: how do you know all of this? I said: someone showed me. She said: who? I said: my great-uncle Danny. He grew up knowing it and then he taught me. She said: how did he know it? I said: from his mother and her parents and the people before them. She said: so it's always been passed person to person. I said: yes. She said: and if it stops being passed, it stops. I said: that's why we're here.
After Roberta said “that’s why we’re here,” I didn’t say anything else—she’d said the whole thing already. That evening I made pull-apart herb bread, the same way I always do when something has settled in me that I want to keep. There’s something about bread that mirrors the curriculum itself: each piece distinct, but none of it makes sense pulled away from the rest. You have to make it with your hands, and you have to share it to finish it.
Pull-Apart Herb Bread
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup warm water (about 110°F)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the bowl
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, for topping
Instructions
- Activate the yeast. Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl. Stir gently and let sit for 5 to 7 minutes until foamy and fragrant.
- Mix the dough. Add the olive oil and salt to the yeast mixture, then stir in flour one cup at a time until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Knead. Knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should spring back when you poke it. Form into a ball.
- First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean towel. Let rise in a warm spot for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled in size.
- Make the herb butter. While the dough rises, stir together the melted butter, garlic, rosemary, parsley, and thyme. Set aside.
- Shape the bread. Punch down the dough. Pull off pieces roughly the size of golf balls—you should get about 20. Toss each ball in the herb butter, then layer them into a greased 9-inch round cake pan or cast-iron skillet, stacking loosely.
- Second rise. Cover the pan and let rise for another 20 to 25 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Bake. Drizzle any remaining herb butter over the top and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, until deep golden brown on top and cooked through at the center.
- Rest and serve. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a board or serve straight from the skillet. Pull apart to eat.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 290mg