Real Bread Festival
The first Real Bread Festival was held in London in 2012. The next year the festival hosted by the Cheese & Wine Festival was held at the Old Spitalfields Market 1-2 in November 2013.
This was the website for the festival.
Content is from the site's 2012 -2013 archived pages.
"A nice loaf of bread from a bakery may cost a little more, but you’re actually buying something that’s good for you, as opposed to something that could wreck your digestive system. I genuinely hope that The Real Bread Festival will help educate people and steer them away from poor quality loaves and toward delicious and healthy, real bread." Rachel de Thample
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In 2013 the Old Spitalfields Market plays host to the Cheese & Wine and Real Bread Festival.
As well as the opportunity to try and buy tasty breads and moreish cheeses, well-known foodies, such as cheesemonger Patricia Michelson, wine journalist Tim Atkin, founder of the Real Bread Campaign Andrew Whitley and Vincent Talleu of Flint Owl Bakery will entertain and educate visitors to the festival.
Demonstrations, tutored tastings and talks
Coordinated and hosted by Chef Valentina Harris
Watch chefs demonstrating bread recipes and recipes using cheese as well as tutored wine tastings and more.
Venue:
Old Spitalfields Market
16 Horner Square
London
E1 6EW
"Attending the Real Bread Festival was an experience that went beyond my expectations as a dedicated bread baker. The opportunity to engage in deep conversations with peers who share the same passion for bread making was truly rewarding. Learning the art of making Indian naan has added a new dimension to my baking skills, and I'm eager to bring this recipe into my kitchen. Additionally, the pastry techniques shared by David Muniz have been an invaluable addition to my muffin repertoire, promising to elevate my baking to new heights.
One of the festival's most remarkable moments was unexpectedly reconnecting with Rue Sakayama, my old classmate from RISD. Rue has carved out a niche for herself as a renowned Providence photographer and, to my delight, an avid bread baker. Our friendship, spanning several years, has been enriched by shared experiences and a mutual love for creativity, both in photography and bread making. A testament to our enduring connection is one of Rue's wedding photographs, which holds a place of honor on our living room wall, serving as a daily reminder of the beauty she captures through her lens.
The festival allowed us to immerse ourselves in the vast world of bread culture, absorbing every bit of knowledge and inspiration available. Our reunion turned into a night-long conversation about our baking journeys, life, and the paths we've traveled since our RISD days. This encounter, amidst the backdrop of a gathering dedicated to the craft of bread making, highlighted the festival's unique ability to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds, united by a common love for the art of baking." OneInAmelia
Why a Real Bread Festival?
Real bread – the good stuff made from just 100% natural ingredients – is enjoying a renaissance.
Thanks to pioneers like Richard Bertinet, Andrew Whiteley of Bread Matters and TV’s Tom Herbert from The Fabulous Baker Brothers, as a nation we are finally waking up to the delights of real bread, skilfully made, from wholesome ingredients.
Witness the emergence of a new generation of artisan bakers. While home bread making is booming as never before.
Against this exciting backdrop comes The Real Bread Festival: the first event to celebrate Real Bread in the heart of London.
It is our hope that by bringing together Britain’s best independent bakers, we will create a hub for real bread lovers to share and enjoy this wonderful food.
Join the Real Bread Revolution!
Why visit The Real Bread Festival?
Whether you’re a seasoned bread maker or simply looking for a fun family day out, at this exciting new event you’ll discover a feast of things to see and do.
- See, smell, touch and taste a breathtaking array of artisan bread and buy direct from the passionate bakers who make it. Full Exhibitor’s list here.
- Watch Britain’s best Master Bakers demonstrate how to make delicious recipes live in the Cookery Theatre.
- Join Bakers’ Question Time and get expert, individual advice on bread making.
- Try your hand at a fun bread-making workshop and pick up techniques and skills to try at home.
- Learn all about gluten sensitivity and discover an exciting range of gluten free recipes and products.
- Get involved. Find out how to start your own bread making enterprise from visionary Rose Prince from The Pocket Bakery.
- Meet fellow bread makers and join the growing community of real bread lovers.
12:00 – 12:45
A cooking demonstration by Rachel de Thample: Fast breads
Rachel de Thample is the recipe consultant for Abel and Cole, one of Britain’s first veg-box suppliers – with such a great selection of ethically sourced veg, milk, eggs, meat, fish and all sorts, she has a wonderful job. Rachel will demonstrate how to make homemade Mexican flour tortilla wraps plus a quick dough which you can turn into 3 fab flat breads: Indian naan, Turkish honeyed breakfast bread, griddled pizzas or calzones. £2.
www.abelandcole.co.uk
13:00 – 13:45
A cooking demonstration with Valentina Harris of Cucina Valentina: Parmigiano Reggianno
The magical melting properties of Parmigiano Reggiano are well-known to anyone scattering a heaped spoon or two on top of pasta. Valentina will show you that this king of Italian cheeses, protected by EU law as a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), is so much more than a condiment. On the menu are parmesan tuiles and lollipops, parmesan curls to perk up a caesar salad, and the ultimate pasta quatro formaggi. £2.
www.parmegianoreggianno.com
www.cucinavalentina.co.uk
14:00 – 14:45
A cooking demonstration with Chef Alessandro Grano of Androuet: Tartiflette
Androuet is the No.1 go-to specialty cheese shop for Parisiens who, let’s face it, know their cheese. In 2009, a hundred years since it first started trading, the company opened a store in Old Spitalfields Market. Stuffed to the rafters with every French cheese you can name and more, an association with Paxton & Whitfield allows a few of the best of British (and other European) cheeses in the door. Chef Alessandro Grano creates the everyday cheesy delights that are available to take away, and here he will demonstrate two versions of the classic tartiflette – first the traditional with bacon, and then a vegetarian version with butternut squash. £2.
www.androuet.co.uk
15:00 – 15:45
A tutored wine tasting with My VitiBox: How to taste wine
My VitiBox, a Paris-based start-up operating in the wine-tasting sector, offers a range of monthly wine box subscriptions designed to reveal the secrets of oenology. Subscribers receive a box each month containing from 1 to 6 bottles of great wine, together with a tasting kit so wine-lovers can taste and learn in the comfort of their home. My VitiBox will conduct a wine-tasting which will teach you how to evaluate wine, then follow with a food and wine pairings quiz. £2.
www.myvitibox.com
16:00 – 16:45
A cooking demonstration with David Muniz of Outsider Tart: Sweet and savoury
Outsider Tart is an established American bakery in Chiswick much loved by many an ex-pat where they can find the sweet treats they crave: supersize cookies, brownies, muffins and more. Owners David Muniz and David Lesniak have newly opened Blue Diner – a haven of blue plate specials and American diner classics. David and David will delight with a demo of how cheese is an important element in both a sweet kitchen and a savory one. Come hungry, as these boys like to feed people! £2.
Copies of Outsider Tart’s ‘Baked’ will be available for purchase and signing.
www.outsidertart.com
17:00 – 17:45
A tutored tasting and cheese pairing with Sam Sake: Sake from Akita
Sam Sake imports, distributes and retails Japanese Sake from the Akita Prefecture in Japan, commonly known as the ‘Empire of the Beautiful Sake’. They represent Sake from seven long-established, award winning, and renowned breweries: Aramasa, Asamai, Fukurokuju, Ginrin, Harukasumi, Hinomaru & Hideyoshi. Learn about the history of sake, its various styles and how to pair them with cheese. £2.
www.samsake.com
18:00 – 18:45
TBC
19:00 – 19:45
The daily quiz hosted by Valentina Harris
Think you know about cheese? Test your foodie credentials in this fun, informal and informative quiz. Prizes to be won for the winning team! Free to attend.
10:00 – 10:45
A tutored talk and tasting with Andrew Whitley of Bread Matters: Sourdough
Andrew Whitley is Britain’s leading exponent of the art of baking naturally-fermented organic breads using stone-ground wheat and wood fired ovens. In 2011 he received a BBC Food & Farming Special Judges’ Award for ‘changing the way we think about bread’. He will give a mini masters class in sourdough: What it is, Why it makes the best bread, and How easy it is to bake with (once you know how). He will introduce the Bread Matters Original Sourdough Starter (originally from Russia) and talk about the Fungal Network – the new online community of bakers and bread lovers linked by sourdough. £2.
www.breadmatters.com
11:00 – 11:45
A cooking demonstration with Jane Mason and Virtuous Bread’s Bread Angels: No need to knead
Think you don’t have time to make real bread? Of course you do! If you have 30 minutes you can make fantastic “no knead” bread and buns using different kinds of flour, seeds, olives, sun dried tomatoes, dried fruit, spices and whatever else you like! There really is no kneading involved in the “no knead” method. Simply stir the ingredients together, let them sit in the fridge over night, and bake the bread in the morning while you are in the shower! Nothing could be easier, healthier, or more delicious. Listen to Virtuous Bread’s Bread Angels talk about how to set up a micro bakery and watch while they bake amazing buns in front of your eyes for everyone to share during the session! £2.
12:00 – 12:45
A tutored talk and tasting with Chris Young of the Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign kneads YOU!
Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young shares how we can all do our bit to help the rise of Real Bread and make Britain’s loaf life better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether you’re interested in Community Supported Bakery, running a microbakery from home, or supporting your local loafmonger, Chris invites you to come along with your questions or stories to share. He will also be giving a sneak peek at the Campaign’s plans for a project designed to help people living with mental health issues who can benefit from the therapeutic, social and employment opportunities offered by bread making. £2.
Copies of the ‘Knead to Know’ guide to starting your own Real Bread enterprise will be available at a show special discount.
13:00 – 13:45
TBC
14:00 – 14:45
A cooking demonstration with Yann Legallais & Manuel Monade of Flour Power City Bakery: Bread baking secrets
Flour Power City Bakery is a rare thing: an artisanal bakery that grew in four short years to employ more than 40 bakers and patissiers. They started as a farmer’s market trader and now supply independent retailers and restaurants with their range of specialty organic breads, sourdough, pastries and cakes. Despite the rapid rise, core philosophies are maintained: Keep it organic, Keep it free from unnecessary additives and Stay ethical. Long-term FPCB bakers, Yann and Manuel, will show you how to create a starter and keep it alive, mixing & shaping techniques, how to prove successfully and then share the final product with you. £2.
15:00 – 15:45
A tutored Wine and Cheese tasting with Tim Atkin MW presenting Vintage Roots Organic Wine paired with cheese from Androuet
Join our wonderfully entertaining Master of Wine as he shows you how to pair the flavour profiles of wine and cheese. Tim Atkin MW is a renowned wine journalist with an international following and appears regularly as a wine expert on BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen. His website is packed with information and insights and has recently been shortlisted for the 2013 Louis Roederer Awards. £15.
16:00 – 16:45
A cooking demonstration with Vincent Talleu of Flint Owl Bakery: Viennoiserie
French baker Vincent Talleu started his career in London where he worked at some of the best bakeries in the capital (Exeter Street Bakery, Born and Bread Bakery, Sally Clarkes, The Artisan Bakery, etc). He currently bakes bread at the Flint Owl Bakery in Lewes, a bakery that uses 100% stone-milled flour for its breads – this not only preserves all the goodness of the wheat, but is also known to aid digestion, especially for the gluten-intolerant. Flint Owl makes a range of traditional British loaves as well as sourdough breads. Vincent will share his passion for viennoiserie – the croissants, pain au raisin and pain chocolat that brighten our mornings. £2.
17:00 – 17:45
A cooking demonstration with Valentina Harris of Cucina Valentina: Gorgonzola!
Italy’s famous creamy blue cheese can be tricky to cook with – it’s strong flavours can overwhelm some dishes. Here, Valentina will share her favourite Autumn bake of pumpkin, gorgonzola and walnuts as well as her signature gorgonzola risotto which allows the cheese to shine. £2.
18:00 – 18:45
The daily quiz hosted by Valentina Harris
Think you know about cheese? Test your foodie credentials in this fun, informal and informative quiz. Prizes to be won for winning team! Free to attend.
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Jane Mason
“In 2010 I woke up one morning and realised I could change the world through bread. I set up Virtuous Bread to make it fun and easy for people all over the world to make, find and learn about good bread and in so doing to forge the link between bread and virtue.”
Jane has an MBA from London Business School and until 2005 she was a partner in a strategy consulting firm, working with senior executives in international professional services firms to help resolve strategic, organisational, and leadership issues.
From 2005-2010 Jane spent most of her time working as an independent consultant and moon lighted as a professional baker. For six months Jane worked on a project to develop a contemporary understanding of virtue and how to embed it more deeply and broadly in society at large, as a way to get us out of the mess the financial crisis has brought to light.
Currently Jane runs Virtuousbread.com, baking, teaching, speaking and writing to demystify the process of baking bread, and focus on the way that it continues to play a central role in our lives, tables, and traditions.
Jane’s first book, All You Knead is Bread, has over 55 easy and elegant bread recipes from around the world as well as stories and travelogues and was published in October 2012.
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Andrew Whitley
Andrew Whitley left a career as a producer in the BBC Russian Service in 1976 to found The Village Bakery Melmerby, which became one of the country’s leading organic bakeries. He baked bread from British organic wheat and was, for over two decades, the only commercial baker in the country using renewable energy by baking in wood-fired brick ovens.
Andrew left The Village Bakery in 2002, did a Masters in Food Policy at City University and wrote ‘Bread Matters. Why and how to make your own’ . The book, which was described by one reviewer as “a searing critique of commercial baking methods”, won the André Simon 2006 Food Book Award.
In 2008, Andrew co-founded the Real Bread Campaign that aims to bring good bread to every neighbourhood in the land. His popular courses for enthusiastic amateurs, professional cooks and community bakers are based near Edinburgh.
"Access to good, nutritious food in adequate quantity is a basic human right. I would like everyone in Britain to be within walking distance of real bread – across their kitchen, from a friend or workmate, at a neighbourhood bakery, through a box scheme or community food shed. If we succeed, bread will do so much more than just fill our bellies. It will bring people together"
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Jonas Stone
Jonas is a genuine refugee from the world of geek. Having achieved phenomenal success in the big data and data science worlds with his DevOps consulting company (check it out here), he ultimately felt unsatisfied until he discovered the very non-data world of bread making. "Coding as a developer is very rewarding financially, but I needed more than money to keep me there."
Today he run Bumble Bee Breadline which he calls an experimental bakery focused on non-traditional breads and other baked goods. His multi-grain concoctions are sold worldwide and served in the finest restaurants and tasting venues. He's been written up in Foody, Travel & Leisure, and many local papers due to his quirky personality and humorous quotes. "I'd rather break bread than necks," & "Loafer in Chief," are messages on his calling card.
He's been a featured guest on the Food Network many times and regularly appears on cooking shows, and in festivals celebrating the joy of bread making.
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Manuel Monade
"At Flour Power City, the flour we use comes from Shipton Mill. Flour has been stoneground there since the time of the Doomsday Book, so they know a thing or two about creating the finest quality ingredients. We never compromise on taste, so all our other ingredients are also of the highest quality, from the finest butter in our croissants to the richest chocolate in our cakes."
After studying archaeology in Paris, Manuel moved to London in 1987 and found his true vocation: food. He gained a wealth of experience working at a variety of West End eateries, but it wasn’t until he joined the staff of the acclaimed St John Restaurant in Clerkenwell that he had the opportunity to experiment with bread.
It was a revelation to him, and from producing loaves just for the restaurant, soon the small bakery was supplying bread to the whole neighbourhood. Determined to broaden his baking experience, Manuel moved on to other bakeries, and found himself specialising in flavoursome sourdough-based crusty loaves.
Manuel eventually joined Flour Power City Bakery in 2005, creating the night shift and introducing a whole range of new and innovative breads.
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Rachel de Thample
Rachel de Thample’s passion is for people to be connected to the source of their food, which is the key philosophy behind her critically-acclaimed book Less Meat More Veg: The eco-friendly way to eat (Kyle Cathie; £16.99).
Her food career started in the kitchens of Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Peter Gordon. Since, she has worked as Commissioning Editor of Waitrose Food Illustrated and contributed to two books on Borough Market.
Rachel is currently the Food Editor for Abel & Cole, where she writes seasonal recipes. She also runs various urban food and gardening projects near her home in South London.
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Yann Legallais
"Flour Power City has always believed that you can create the finest quality products without selling out your ethical principles. We’re dedicated to doing things the right way. Things like using organic ingredients, cutting back on food miles wherever possible, supporting small businesses and producers, and reducing our environmental impact. The result? Our principles are as wholesome as our food."
Born in Normandy, France, Yann was bewitched at the age of four by the smell of crusty bread fresh out of the oven. From that moment he knew that he was destined to become a chef. At 14 he enrolled at Iform Bakery School, and five years later he qualified as a professional baker, pastry, chocolatier and master confectioner.
He began his working life as a baker, and over the next 14 years worked his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming Executive Chef of luxury restaurants and bakeries in upmarket places such as Deauville, Miami, St Tropez, Paris and London. During this period he developed many different techniques, and became an expert in working with the time consuming techniques of natural sourdough.
Yann was appointed the new Head of Production at Flour Power City Bakery in July 2011. His passion and creativity has brought a fresh new spirit to the team, and he’s dedicated to creating new and innovative breads and pastries, as well as continuing to perfect the traditional methods.