A Loaf of Spells
Bread scoring for the modern kitchen witch.
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Hello, wonderful witches!
So I learned something pretty exciting this past week. Apparently I’ve been publishing Kitchen Witch for an entire year! The time just flew by, and I have really enjoyed it. Not only do I get to bring interesting stories to your inbox, I also get to pay witchy writers for great work and continue on my own spiritual path at the same time.
Now I want your opinions. What do you want to see more of in the coming year? What do you want to see less of? Are you aching for events or livestreams? Let me know your wishlist!
Today’s article is about making magic with bread scoring patterns. I think it’s such a unique way to cast spells, and nothing I’d thought about before. So let’s go!
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Bread Scoring Spells for the Modern Kitchen Witch
By Rebecca Valley
I grew up watching my father make bread on our kitchen island. As a child, the transformation of dough into loaf was magic—his kneading fingers, flour floating in the air above our heads. Baking is alchemy, an act of transformation that, in the right hands, might be imbued with magic. As I make bread in my own kitchen, lost in the memory of my father's focaccia and Portuguese sweet bread, I think about the potential for magic in our loaves. And bread scoring, once used to ward off the devil, seems like an ideal place to begin.
Bread scoring, or making an incision on the top of a loaf of bread just before baking, was popularized in France in the 19th century, when scientist Vaudry cited the practice as a scientifically-grounded step for improved baking practice. Prominent bakers would have signature scores, which consumers could use to identify the source of their bread. Scoring was also used to differentiate loaves in communal ovens. Families in rural areas would have a signature score that would help them determine which loaf to take home after a community bake.
Scientifically, bakers score bread to alleviate “oven spring,” a rupture in the dough that happens when yeast releases gas as it enters a hot oven. Scoring bread allows bakers to control how and where these gases release, so a loaf comes out looking the way the baker intended.
But gases are not the only things released when bread is scored. In Irish folklore, certain scores can ward off the devil.
Writer Kathleen Mangan began to explore Irish superstitions around scoring after watching her Irish Catholic grandmother bake a weekly loaf of soda bread for the church. According to Mary Gleeson, a master baker in Roscommon, Ireland, that Mangan interviewed, “You have to cut a cross in the dough to let the fairies out.” The act of scoring a cross on soda bread dough, which also releases pressure, is spiritually important for traditional Irish bakers—so important that Gleeson reports she is too “scared not to” score her dough.
Contemporary bakers often use scoring to create intricately decorated loaves. But with that beauty comes the potential for symbolic and supernatural meaning. By embracing the decorative, scientific, and supernatural functions of bread scoring, it is possible to craft a spell that rises with each loaf. Below, I offer four modalities that might guide you as you design your own scoring spell.
Designing a Scoring Spell
Herbal
Herbalists might consider scoring a loaf to complement an herbal remedy or blend which they incorporate into their bread dough. This score might symbolize the herb itself—many scores take the shape of leaves, stems, and flowers—or the healing power of the herbs used. For example, you might add basil, an herb which can boost mood, to your dough, and combine it with an uplifting score pattern like a star or vertical rays of light.
Elemental
Baking bread is already a celebration of two primary elements: fire and earth. The flour and hot oven, combined with the alchemy of the baking process, provide the perfect canvas for an elemental spell. You might explore celebrating one of these elements by scoring your bread with flames or stalks of wheat.
Seasonal
Celebrating the season in bread is not only delicious, but useful, particularly during the harvest when you are inundated with fresh vegetables and herbs. Consider scoring a loaf to complement the seasonal ingredients you include in your bread—spring herbs like dill, lemongrass, and mint might be combined with scored flowers. In the depths of winter, fennel and leek loaves can be combined with a cross-hatch score to emulate falling snow.
Lunar
Sourdough, which comes from a “mother” and is traditionally baked in a round boule shape, feels like a particularly lunar loaf to me. You might celebrate the moon by scoring its phase into your loaf—whether it be full or a slender crescent. You might also think about this loaf and its lunar connection to embrace the power of femininity or motherhood.
How to Score Bread
The most important instrument in the casting of your spell is a lame. This thin knife is almost like a scalpel, and allows you to make clean, deep cuts in the loaf without disturbing the rest of the dough. In a pinch, you can also use a razor blade.
Scoring is typically done after the final rise, just before the loaf enters the hot oven. Scoring is only done on hearth breads—don't score the breads you bake in a pan, brioches, twists, or other enriched breads whose soft crust will be ruined by the cuts. Flouring your dough before scoring can also help develop a contrast in your crust.
As you design your score patterns, keep this basic principle in mind: For round loaves, score across the surface of the bread (think perpendicular). For long, thin loaves, score parallel to the length of the loaf. This will help you maintain the structure of the loaf.
Rebecca Valley is a poet, writer, and animal enthusiast from Saint Albans, Vermont. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from UMass Amherst, and serves as the editor-in-chief of Drizzle Review, a book review site with a focus on minority authors and books in translation. She also curates an asynchronous workshop on writing and performance on Instagram @living_room_theatre. Her kitchen witchcraft practice includes baking, raising animals, creating herbal oils and tinctures, and gardening. You can find her creative work at www.rebeccavalley.com.
Coming Up Next Week…
Coming up next week, an essay about reclaiming the magic of the kitchen after a tremendous loss and medical setback.
See you then!
WHOA. This is WAY up my alley and super cool.
Congrats on your anniversary!! Here’s to many more years of KitchenWitch!!