Chef Michael Kalanty chats with us about the interesting road that led him to a career in baking. From a mathematics major to graduate school in architecture, to writing his thesis on the flying buttress of France’s cathedrals where he couldn’t help but notice the boulangeries next to every cathedral. He was so drawn to them that he apprenticed with a baker he met while there. This episode is worth listening to just for the description of focaccia with olive oil and “little pools of harvest grape jelly.”

An award-winning, professional baker with more than 20 years' experience, Michael Kalanty is a craft bread baker, culinary instructor, and cookbook author. His certifications include Executive Pastry Chef, Culinary Educator, and Master Taster. Kalanty was also named Chef Instructor of the Year by Le Cordon Bleu and has several full-length baking courses online, produced in partnership with Craftsy.com. His first book, How to Bake Bread, won "Best Bread Book in the World" at the Paris Cookbook Fair in 2011.

Michael is also a culinary R&D professional offering laboratory expertise in fermentation, sensory, and food analysis who works exclusively with companies who support a more sustainable and safe food system. Applied sciences formed the core of his undergrad training at Bucknell where he earned a degree in mathematics, specializing in statistics. Michael draws on his science background to develop and teach food science courses for professional culinary schools.

Michael has generously arranged for a 30% discount for his “Discovering Focaccia” video class in partnership with Central Milling’s Artisan Baking Center in Petaluma, CA! See link below.

MICHAEL’S LINKS:

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• Discovering Focaccia

Women Beyond a Certain Age is an award-winning weekly podcast with Denise Vivaldo. She brings her own lively, humorous, and experienced viewpoint to the topics she discusses with her guests. The podcast covers wide-ranging subjects of importance to older women.

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