The Sourdough School

BALM – Proven as one of the healthiest approaches to bread in the world.

Based in the walled gardens of Dr. Vanessa Kimbell's beautiful Victorian home in rural Northamptonshire, UK, we tutor individuals and train bakers and healthcare professionals in Baking as Lifestyle Medicine (BALM). Personalising bread to your lifestyle, gut microbiome, and unique genetics for optimal health—tailoring fermentation, fibre, and diversity so that your daily bread becomes the foundation of your health.

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What will I learn on a workshop?

Workshops are development days – bridge the gap between theory and practice.

This is about the BALM Experience: A Sensory Connection Workshop

Welcome to a unique exploration at BALM Training Academy. Having delved into the principles of Baking As Lifestyle Medicine (BALM) through a year of online learning, the workshops are an opportunity to connect on a deeper, more sensory level. Our connection workshop days are designed to bring you closer to the heart of BALM.

A Sensory Journey into BALM: This is not just a continuation of your online studies; this is an invitation to see, touch, taste, smell, and eat BALM. Engage with the workshop style that involves baking, creating, developing, discussing, photographing, and applying principles to recipes that are usually published. Get up close to how we produce course material, participate in the process, and become integral to the BALM experience.

Here’s What Awaits You:

  • Understanding Your Ingredients: I love that you get to feel the texture of the flour, inhale the smells of the dough as it ferments and the bread as it bakes, and create blends that awaken your senses.
  • Mastering Sourdough: Handle wholegrain starters, control flavours, and savour the lunches and the baked sourdough.
  • The Art and Science of Bread: This is about observing variables affecting fermentation, experimenting with hydration, and appreciating nuances in creating something from scratch and of craftsmanship in shaping and scoring.
  • Holistic Health Approach: Explore the connection between bread and gut health through flavours, textures, and the beneficial effects on the body.

By immersing yourself in the workshop, you’ll bridge the gap between theory and practice, between learning and living BALM. You’ll leave not only with new skills and knowledge but with a profound connection to the art and science of baking as lifestyle medicine.

 

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