About 'Bread' and Myself

Prior to the conception of my small business, I worked in the hotel Industry for over 10 years, always being a “foodie” at heart, and having trained as a chef before settling in to a career “in front of house.”

In each hotel I have worked in we bought all of our bread from London in a partially baked form for us to finish off in the oven. Although this is a very convenient way of catering, providing bread of a reasonably high standard for an unpredictable and fluctuating daily number of dinners, it is not a freshly made baguette or roll. Instead it is one baked miles away, not fresh and without chemicals & preservatives and most importantly…not baked locally!

Over time I thought a lot about this London bread and decided it was unnecessary for a loaf of bread to travel so far, so I set up a bakery in Suffolk, with the specific aim of using local organic flour and wherever possible local produce, for the purpose of supplying the local trade.
 
I deliver to hotels, restaurants, delicatessens and farm shops in the Suffolk area, and following the success I have had attending farmers markets in the local region, I now bake at The Suffolk Food Hall in Wherstead, located on the outskirts of Ipswich. The Food Hall supports locally produced food which is fresh and of the highest quality. Baking at the food hall has provided me with the platform to extend my varied range and the farmers market ethos which I support, to a larger consumer base.

We only need 4 basic ingredients to make a loaf of bread; flour, water, yeast & salt, but I permit this to raise to add fabulous flavours such as local cheeses, sun-dried tomatoes & various seeds! This is contrary to our general day to day ‘plastic’ loaf when over 80% of bread is made using lower-protein wheat and a selection of additives augmented with high speed mixing or a method called ADD (activated dough development). These types of industrial methods cause the sticky lump you have on the roof of your mouth when eating a mass produced and cheaper range slice of bread.

I feel that good and proper bread should be made without the additives, preservatives and injected air. I apologise for being so blunt but as with most good things in life, you generally get the quality you pay for.