Ode to Sourdough Bread

During my stint in Sydney, Australia, I lived near one of the iconic Bourke Street Bakeries. The first time I tried their sourdough I couldn’t believe that simple bread could be so delicious! Over the next few weeks, I went through their entire menu. They were a much smaller company back then but famous for their almond croissants, pizza slices, ginger cream Brulé tarts, and of course the flat whites. But for me, the most surprising and heavenly product was always their sourdough: simple white, hazelnut and raisins, roast potato and rosemary, baguettes. They rarely lasted a day in our house. Fifteen years ago, I couldn’t easily find bread like that in England, so I thought I’d learn to make it for my family while the opportunity was there.

I had a one-day sourdough course for beginners and then started experimenting on my own. I quickly killed the starter given to me on the course, then spent weeks fermenting my own.

You know, it’s fairly easy to make a cake, if you follow a recipe of course, since there are so many ingredients which are delicious as they are, like butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate, milk. On the contrary, sourdough bread is a seemingly simple yet clever product. There are only three ingredients – flour, water and salt – but somehow a skilful baker manages to give it volume, create soft crumb with large holes and chewy crust and regulate the level of acidity and sourness.

I love everything we make at Crumbs, but our sourdough is still my favourite.  It was the very first product I started my little home bakery with back in 2016. After some months of baking bread for family and friends I thought I’d see if it could become my business. One Friday I baked 30 different loaves of sourdough, loaded them in my car, and offered to give them away in my daughter’s school car park in return for feedback. I was so worried that no one would come and I’d end up bringing them all back home! But they disappeared in minutes and the feedback was great. That’s market research done; I thought! Then there were a couple of years of baking at home and selling at farmers’ markets all over Hertfordshire. And even though I had pastries, cakes and cookies, the sourdough was the biggest hit.

We opened our first artisan bakery and cafe in Watton at Stone in February 2019, Bishop’s Stortford followed in 2024. Now our product line counts over 200 items on rotation including cakes, cookies, made to order drinks and sandwiches, and of course the sourdough. Our customers travel to us from all over the county for it – we are grateful to each one of you!! Our starter is now 9 years old and we feed it twice a day.

For me bread is not just food, it’s what warms your heart, unites people around the table. We use idioms with bread to describe situations and people: we break bread to share a meal together, we describe someone as a breadwinner, or the upper crust, or proudly refer to an innovation as the best thing since sliced bread.  It’s a symbol of sustenance, provision, and spiritual nourishment. For my last supper I’d be happy with a loaf of Crumbs Country Sourdough, some double barrel Lincolnshire poacher, a glass of hefty red, and my favourite people around me.  

When I opened Crumbs, I had two fundamental goals. First, for Crumbs to become a hub where people meet, have their happy moments, and enjoy tasty wholesome food. Second, for Crumbs to be the employer of choice, where people who work here grow to meet the better version of themselves, and generally enjoy spending time together doing their best. I believe if you must spend a third of your life somewhere you may as well enjoy it!

A few of weeks ago a customer tagged us on their page. @hertfordfoodie wrote:

“Popped to a new little spot I’ve had my eye on for a while! @crumbsbakeryandcafe is a wonderful little bakery/café in Watton at Stone selling delicious home made bread, cakes and pastries as well and having a café! I went for my usual Avo toast and it was perfect along with a really good oat milk latte! What I loved the most though was that because it’s in a village there was a wonderful atmosphere, I was sat on my own and because it was busy a lovely elderly gentleman asked if he could sit with me, we ended up mattering away and it transpired the whole row of tables was in fact people on their own who had ended up in conversation which really made my heart happy. I’ll be going back soon for sure!”  

When I read that it made my heart very happy too! “Yes! We’re on the right track with goal #1!”

As for goal #2, just watch our bakers who bring out trays of hot-out-of-the-oven pastries or a fancy cake, our baristas who have a little happy chat with customers whilst whipping out a six-ingredient sandwich in a precise order, or our drivers who deliver all this deliciousness to our café in Bishop’s Stortford in a tempting smelling Crumbs van. Running a busy bakery and café involves a lot of hard work, both physically and emotionally. The testament to a good workplace is that people form lasting friendships while working at Crumbs and become a part of Crumbs family. And I am very proud of what we have achieved together.

Live on the tasty side!

Maria x