Make it, bake it
BEAUTIFUL bread that is even more rewarding because of how simple it is to make at home: that is what Melbourne baker Mike Russell wants to achieve with his book Baker Bleu — bake it till you make it.
‘‘I want people who read this book to believe in themselves the way we did. I want you to trust you can bake amazing bread at home and maybe even turn it into a business, like we did.’’
Russell and partner Mia opened Baker Blue in Melbourne in 2016 with no employees and Mia still working to support them.
‘‘It was just the two of us. Literally, I’d bake, Mia would serve, we’d clean everything down and do it again the next day. We had our life savings, three bread recipes and nothing else. But we were hungry to do something of our own.’’
Russell did not have a straightforward journey to baking, spending most of his 20s in search of the thing that ‘‘made me tick’’ and trying to avoid a 9 to 5 job.
‘‘I wanted to do something that lit me up.’’
He found it when he discovered baking. It began visiting Spain and Argentina and their food cultures where great bread was the vehicle for many different things. Then while working for Rockpool Bar and Grill he learned to make everything from brioche to cookies and cold desserts and it emphasised that all he wanted to do was bake bread.
‘‘I loved baking bread because it was making something from start to end. It was a craft that had been practised for centuries using the same basic elements: flour, water, heat, time. And yet every time you did it, you were back at square one, no matter how many years you’d been baking. A baker is only as good as his last loaf.’’
He baked at home following a 24hour loaf recipe and was blown away by the fact such good results could come from such a simple method that could easily slot into a person’s routine.
His new obsession grew into a vocation and he took jobs in several top bakeries in Sydney and Melbourne.
‘‘Making sourdough bread or yeasted Italian doughs, handshaping and crafting croissants and working at a much larger scale pushed me. But I couldn’t stop thinking and talking about bread.’’
Despite his chequered employment past — writing advertising, washing dishes and waiting tables, looked into pig farming and cider brewing, studied pastry — he felt bread making was going to stick.
Five years later the pair opened their first bakery three days a week, selling three things — bagels, baguettes and a 2kg country loaf. Four years after that, Mia left her parttime job and they have moved into much bigger premises.
They have also opened a bakery in Sydney right next door to Nigel Perry’s Margaret and now they employ more than 80 people.
The book includes plenty of advice on tools and ingredients as well as recipes for making a sourdough starter, country loaves, ciabatta, bagels, challah, brioche and pies and cookies. He also includes recipes for ways to serve the bread — in tapas and sandwiches.