Address: 214 Banbury Rd, Oxford OX2 7BY
I am no baker - I don’t have the patience nor precison to excell at such a task. Thankfully Oxford’s latest artisan installment, Modern Baker, are the masters of sourdough baking and kindly invited The Ocelot to go and check it out. I may not be able to bake bread, but eating it is a completely different story. Modern Baker have essentially created the bread bible - no chemicals, no preservatives, just delicious sourdough bread, cakes, and biscuits.
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Melissa and Lindsay - Photography credit Laura Edwards[/caption] Having been diagnosed with cancer a few years back one of the founders, Melissa Sharp, decided to take further action alongside chemotherapy with a solely plant-based diet. After being cleared from cancer Melissa and her partner Leo, also a founder, became fixated on healthy eating and healthy baking. Fast forward three years of around-the-world research and a lot of hard work, their artisan café-bakery became a reality in 2014: Modern Baker. When arriving at their bakery - tucked away in Station Field Industrial Estate - there’s an instant cleanliness and yes modern vibe to the place. It’s definitely easy to locate amongst the other warehouses. Everything from the architechture to the recipes has been crafted with precision and transparency. Whilst indulging myself with a variety of breads, cakes, biscuits, - all sourdough-based - crispy kale, and fermented cabbage shots, not only did I feel extremely cleansed but became a lot more in the know about gut health. [caption id=“attachment_36508” align=“aligncenter” width=“675”]
Photography credit Laura Edwards[/caption] Going above and beyond the normal commercial aspects of starting and running a business, Modern Baker have recieved a government grant to lead a project which has a team of farmers, academics, and scientists working together to spread the word about healthy eating, baking, and cooking - and how what we are digesting really effects us. After all things scientific we got down to some starter making with expert dough maker, Lindsay Stark - and not as in ‘first course’, as in the starter sourdough to create our own delicous recipes. All you need is white flour and water - no added anything else. [caption id=“attachment_36511” align=“aligncenter” width=“770”]
Sourdough Starter - Photography credit Laura Edwards[/caption] I really appreciate what these guys at Modern Baker are doing, especially with regards to transparency - from letting the customer know what’s in their food, to the strategic architecture and design of the bakery and café itself. Both spaces are openplan and the bakery has a stunning window which seperates the front and back of the bakery, finished off with a scandi-chic interior. Melissa and Leo are also very aware of their market, because unfortunately sourdough is not cheap - a loaf can cost as much as £7. It could work out cheaper if they mass produced, but then they would lose the validity of the ethos that inspired them to create Modern Baker in the first place. It felt nice to know that a company actually cares about consumers’ health, as opposed to running a fad food campaign or just trying to turn a profit. Again I am no baker but by proving that healthy can taste this good, I’m game for giving it a go. [caption id=“attachment_36510” align=“aligncenter” width=“713”]
Photo credit Claire Dukes[/caption] ‘Modern Baker: A New Way To Bake’ by Melissa Sharp with Lindsay Stark is out now (Ebury Press, RRP £26) and Modern Baker’s range of healthy baked goods are available in Selfridges (London, Birmingham, Manchester Trafford and Manchester Exchange), Planet Organic and their Oxford based cafe-bakery at 214 Banbury Road, OX2 7BY. www.modernbaker.com
