Brand new course for 2011: Artisan bread in a day

Being an enthusiastic amateur baker, I adamantly refuse to buy bread as I know I can make it better than I can buy it anywhere in Suffolk . . . .until now!

Since I set up Food Safari I’ve been keen to run a bread course but I was unable to find a baker who I felt had what it takes to be a Food Safari Partner. Until I met, through Twitter initially, Chris Brennan an artisan baker based in Orford, near Woodbridge.

Chris’s route into baking is untraditional! Born and raised in the Caribbean, after a long career with IBM around the world, he retired from and moved to Orford. In 2003 he became fascinated by baking and started producing small batches with the aim of perfecting his sourdough.  He’s learnt from master bakers around the world including the incredible San Francisco Baking Institute, which I’d personally love the chance to go to!

Chris’s excitement about baking real bread exclusively from simple, natural ingredients led him to start selling bread at Orford’s weekly Country Market where he has been selling bread, baguettes, and pastries for over a year. Overwhelmed by how well the bread and pastries were received by villagers and visitors alike, Chris decided to open a bakery.

And after months of careful restoration to the building, and researching the best ingredients and equipment, The Pump Street Bakery in Orford opened its doors to the public last Saturday (November 20, 2010)  in a landmark building in Orford’s pretty Market Place.  Chris’s daughter, Joanna, who had been looking for an opportunity to work with food, has joined the family business and is running the shop and cafe.

The bakery itself is just on the edge of the village of Orford in a stunning conversion of an old dairy building,  overlooking the River Ore, Orfordness and the RSPB’s Havergate Island. No expense has been spared in kitting it out with state-of the art ovens, chillers, pastry rollers and mixers.

It’s here that that the new Food Safari course, Artisan Bread in a day will take place. Chris will share his enthusiasm for baking real bread from natural ingredients and show you how he creates different styles of breads, from baguettes to walnut & cherry, using a natural sourdough. You will learn to shape, prove and bake a sourdough; and see the tools and techniques used by artisan bakers and find out how to adapt them for home.

We’ll enjoy a delicious seasonal lunch in Pump Street Bakery’s stylish cafe in Orford village. At the end of the day you will take home some of the breads and pastries you have made as well as some recipes and tips for home-baking.  For full details of the course visit the Food Safari web site.

Orford has always been a food lover’s destination – now there is another reason to go! For more information about the Pump Street Bakery please visit their web site http://www.pumpstreetbakery.com/

Update 2012: Artisan Bread in a Day will now run at our new Food Safari HQ on July 22 and November 24 with our own Food Safari tutors. In addition we are running tours of the Pump Street Bakery on April 27 and November 23. For full details:

Artisan Bread in a Day >

Artisan Bakery Tour >