Ever found yourself wondering how on earth the crunchy, toasted sourdough slathered in butter you’re eating got to taste so amazing? We went straight to one of the exemplary sources of sourdough in Dublin and spoke to Peter Flynn about the bakery and his partner in baking, Vlad Rainis.
Tell us about how Arún Bakery started – how did you meet and discover a shared passion for bread?
Vlad is a Master Baker and has worked as a baker in Ireland since 2003 having travelled here from his home in the Prague to explore the world. He planned to stay for a couple of months but stayed for love. I’m from Waterford and had been reared in my parents’ catering business & moonlighting as a chef occasionally over the years while studying. It was my Mum who gave Vlad the ‘Blaa’ Recipe which was reinvented into a traditional sourdough that we call a ‘Vlaa’ (named after Vlad & a couple of pints of Guinness). I met Vlad in 2003 and, after working as a public servant in the Fraud Squad, I left to start working in the bakery.
On many a winter’s night at home by the fire we discussed food and its provenance. We dreamed of opening a traditional Sourdough Bakery and making it an everyday local bread. We didn’t like how it was being pitched as a high end high cost product. An opportunity arose following redundancy to put our ideas to the test and we haven’t looked back since December 2011.
Tell us about the products at Arún Bakery. What makes your bread so special?
Arún Bakery’s first loaf of sourdough was baked on the 14th of December 2011 and was ordered by Lilliput Stores in Stoneybatter. Over 12 months later we have exceeded our three year production target plan already, while employing two other full-time bakers and looking for a bigger premises to get the Real Sourdough Story to more people.
Our sourdough is handmade and shaped while proving naturally to develop flavour and texture. We source all our flours – strong white, rye, spelt & malt – directly from Shipton Mills who mill their own flour, giving us confidence in creating a sustainable bread. Our product is made from a four year old Starter, which we call The Animal. It was originally started by Vlad himself using his own secret Starter recipe. The Starter is simply flour, salt and water grown and fed daily while nature does the rest – extracting natural bacteria and natural yeasts from the air to make a unique raising agent for sourdough.
All our sourdoughs are yeast free and are range in flavour from classic, Jalepeno, Rosemary, Walnut or Bohemian. Our Bohemian loaf is actually one of the most popular at the moment. It’s a sourdough with flavour and attitude, consisting of 20% rye, wholemeal, spelt and strong flour.
We make our bread high in flavour and light in crumb and crust. We bake with skill and passion and we respect the traceability of flour and ingredients. We use our own creativity in adapting our sourdough to the needs of our clients, whether they be at Market or in high-end restaurants. That’s what makes our bread special.
Talk us through a day at Arún Bakery – what goes into producing a loaf of bread?
The Baker’s Day is your day in reverse. Our baking process starts in the early evening. We start mixing and proving our doughs from 5pm onwards. At 11pm our night shift bakers commence shaping the dough and return for the second proving. The dough needs 9 to 12 hours of proving before the baking begins in the early hours of the morning. We make our early morning deliveries and look after any sales or admin jobs. And then it’s time for bed!
There has been a bit of a bread revolution happening in the last few years with more people making ‘real’ bread at home and taking an interest in what they’re buying. Why do you think that is?
Our ethos is to make people aware of the great taste of sourdough. We want to begin a cycle of passion, respect and creativity for sourdough in people’s homes and help people to see it as a healthy artisan alternative to the sliced pan. This can only be achieved by working along with home bread makers. In the future we hope to assist by providing classes and making our Starter commercially available. That phase has already begun as we search for new bigger premises where we can give sourdough a real home in inner City Dublin.
You can find Arún Bakery’s outstanding sourdough loaves on the shelves of Nolan’s Food Fare in Terenure, Ennis Butchers in Rialto, Fresh stores around the city, Evergreen on Camden Street, Lilliput Stores in Dublin 7, Honest2Goodness Market on Saturdays in Glasnevin, in Avoca sandwiches and Clodagh McKenna’s Arnott’s restaurant.
Spade Centre, North King Street, Smithfield, Dublin 7
Find them on Facebook or on Twitter @ArunBakery
The Toast Test
This is what Peter and Vlad call The Toast Test..
Ingredients
1 slice of Arún Bakery’s Bohemian sourdough
Butter
Mug of well-brewed tea or coffee
Method
Toast your slice of sourdough and slather it with butter. Take a bite out of the crunchy, crusty bread and a wash it down with a slurp of your hot drink. Feel exponentially happier? Then your loaf has passed The Toast Test.
