Baking friends
In an increasingly indoor and segregated society, Friendship Bread might be a way to connect 21st century communities.
Friendship bread—the chain letter of baking friends—is making a reappearance thanks to Chinese-American blogger Darien Gee. She’s largely responsible for the recent popularity of a tradition that’s thought to originate from Amish culture.
To participate in the chain, you make a starter, use some to bake up a loaf or other baked item, and pass the rest on to a friend who keeps the chain going by doing the same.
Darien told National Public Radio (NPR), “We’ve become so independent and insular as families. In communities where the starter is actively passed around, touching different households and very different lives, it reflects the commonality among us. This starter exists because we are all playing a part in this process.”
Anne Byrn, who researches historical recipes, told NPR, “The concept behind it is really old and there are recipes for Friendship Cake, instead of Friendship Bread, that date back to the 1860s.”
Anne described how pioneer women travelling the Oregon Trail would feed a starter along their journey, sharing it with others along the way.
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