This week we are celebrating Real Bread Week and we’re also recognising our talented chefs who have perfected the art of additive-free bread making.

Read Bread Week aims to encourage people to buy real bread from their local independent bakeries and to bake their own bread at home. We’re passionate about fantastic bread at Vacherin and we encourage all of our chefs to develop their bread making skills for the benefit of our clients and customers.

Nikki Low, our Vacherin sourdough guru describes what makes sourdough such a special bread. 

Sourdough is a bread with ‘character’. Great sourdough is created from a starter which is made from fermented flour and water, this gives the unique tang and depth of flavour. It allows the bread to develop and is what differentiates your sourdough from a normal loaf of bread. 

Sourdough is considered to be a ‘better’ bread as it is more digestible and nutritious than your standard loaf of bread. The lactic acid produced makes the vitamins and minerals in the flour more available to the body by helping neutralise the phytates in flour that would interfere with their absorption. These acids slow down the rate at which glucose is released into the blood stream and thereby lower the bread’s glycaemic index. 

The signature scoring found on a loaf is beneficial for both a scientific and aesthetic purpose. Scoring the dough’s surface lets the steam and carbon dioxide escape during baking which allows the bread to expand evenly. 

A few baker’s tips:

- When feeding your sourdough starter, it’s best to add water using your hands and then add the flour

- Mixing the starter with your hands allows for the key growth of bacteria 

- Feeding amounts for your starter are always in equal amounts, for example if you add 100g of flour then add 100g of water.

Nikki hosts regular sourdough workshops where he teaches our team and customers how to make their own sourdough.