Product Background
Our loaves are made the traditional way, with natural ingredients: stone-ground flour, charcoal filtered water, Kalahari Silver Crystal salt, natural yeast and time. NO industrial yeast, chemicals, flavouring or preservatives are added at any stage.
We developed a levain (natural leaven) in February 2007 and refresh it regularly. We take a part of the levain to prepare a starter which in turn is used to prepare the dough. We also incorporate a part of the previous day's dough in this process, which is called sourdough. The final rise is made in"banettons" (baskets) lined with linen, then finally baked in a wood-fired oven.
Sourdough has been used for over 5000 years; traces of the 1st bakery date back to 2900BC in ancient Egypt during the Pharonic Dynasty.
Bread baked this way is denser than those made with added yeast and take longer to rise, during which time earthy, complex flavours develop, as well as the characteristic wood-fired taste.
Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum) which is high in gluten, results in the elasticity that allows air pockets to expand during baking, giving the crumb its lightness while producing a crispy crust.
In addition to the many wild yeast strains in sourdough cultures, lactic acid bacteria generates flavour producing ingredients.
Commercially baked bread does not match the flavour and texture of sourdough baked bread.
We only use flour from Eureka Mills - Premium stone-ground from Swellendam in the Overberg (Western Cape), and Kalahari Silver Crystal Gourmet Salt from Kalahari Pristine Salt Worx.