Perfection: The Nth degree

  I want to make perfect bread.  This statement, in and of itself, is a challenge many bakers, home chefs and enthusiasts have uttered themselves over millennia, and yet what does it really mean?  What is perfect bread?  The subjective nature of bread and it's perfection relies upon the one beholden to the nature of it, ergo, perfection of a loaf, batard or brioche lies in what one finds perfect within themselves.

  The applicable dictionary reference defines perfection as:

the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art.

  I believe the search for perfect bread is indeed a search for perfection in ourselves, or at least those that have taken upon the challenge, to some degree.  Perfect bread is sublime in it's imperfections.  It is up to the creator or taster of such breads to transform the flaws found in themselves or in the loaf on which they sup, into perfection.  Ingredients.  The definition of ingredients germane to this topic would be elements added to a mixture. 

   A bread made without salt is not imperfect when the addition of pancetta and mustard or added, or a marmalade of reduced balsamic and treviso with goat cheese.   And yet conversely, as if Irony itself had a hand in our fates, ingredients can be detractors of perfection.  In short the saying "Keep it simple, stupid" applies.  What if you don't have access to such ingredients?  It's important to stay focused on the simple to maintain aim on perfection.  Once attained at lower levels of complexity, understanding gives way to imagination.

  Perfection is not attainable, some say.  I say perfection is a Nth degree of what we are willing to accept as the pinnacle of achievement, be it a boule with ears that would make a rabbit jealous, and with a crisp crackling song.  Or a chewy pretzel studded with bacon bits and dipped in chocolate.  Maybe perfection isn't a destination we'd like to end up at.  Maybe perfection is about the journey and satisfaction about knowledge gained, and being able to tell others  I can make some good bread.  

  I have chosen along my journey, not to make perfect bread.  I have decided to remove perfection as an ingredient because it is a redundant element to the mixture.  I have chosen to realize that my endeavors to make good bread are perfect in their concept and design - not necessarily in their outcome.  And that trying again is perfectly okay.  And also, eating my mistakes is a good way to gain weight knowledge.  It is that gaining of knowledge that is perfection, and merely measured from one day to the next as we pass on the arrow of time.