The crispy, blistered outer crust and porous, holey inner of a slightly more vinegary, ‘sour’ tasting loaf of bread was certainly not desired by vast majority of Aussies when compared to your soft, perfectly square, easy to chew, smooth tasting standard loaf of white bread that never lets your spreads leak through the middle. In more recent years though, The beautifully imperfect shaped, air bubble filled, crispy, chewy boutique style Sourdough loaf has taken over - becoming a household favourite as well as a stock standard base ingredient on savoury breaky/brunch menu’s in any trendy café you find here in AUS - and I am not complaining one. little. bit! It’s sooo worth the extra chewing and the awkward screeching noise squealing down the walls of the café you’re sitting in while you try to get your insufficient butter knife through the toasted crust (tell me someone is familiar with this situation?!) because, well, who doesn’t love a bit of crispiness in their thickly sliced, lightly toasted bed for their smashed-av and poached eggs to balance out the textures on the plate?!
The benefits aren’t just flavour oriented though – ever noticed that your gut doesn’t feel as heavy and bloated post sourdough consumption as opposed to traditional breads? (unless of course you’re guaranteed to over indulge, as am I – guilty!). This is because of the way sourdough is made in that there is far more time taken to prepare the dough as opposed to traditional breads as well as the presence of Lactobacillus - a bacteria that propagates in the culture of the sourdough that, in combination with yeast, predigests the starches in the grains, breaking it down prior to your consumption meaning less digestion for your gut to have to work hard to achieve. The lengthy preparation before actually baking the sourdough also allows the protein gluten to break down into amino acids, aiding digestion further and allows even those who are mildy gluten intolerant to enjoy a bite! Or 5..
To simplify this; The non-artificial, ‘wild yeast’ - the hero element and foundation to an authentic sourdough - opposes the commercial, ‘instant yeast’ used in regular breads today. To cultivate this wild yeast and achieve the ideal base for sourdough, the preparation process differs from normal breads. Before we had this artificial yeast that is so commonly used as a result of its ability to proof breads quickly and therefore make it easier for bakeries to mass-produce, bakers relied on wild yeast - many, like Flourish Sourdough Bakery, still do!
This is not a liquid nor powder substance that you can add to dough, it actually lives everywhere! – wild yeast lives in the air we breathe, in our hair, in the bag of flour, on the surfaces of fruits etc. Isn’t that crazy?!
The wild yeast is accumulated in the very first stage of the bread making process, when the ‘starter’ or ‘culture’ is developing. The starter only consists of flour and water - so simple! Yet the development of a successful, usable culture is not so simple at all - it takes days for it to thrive to perfection and actually needs to be fed! You have to let the culture sit in a sealed container somewhere where it can stay at room temperature and feed it each day with more flour and water for as long as it takes for it to cultivate the wild yeast. As a result of the yeast eventually becoming active in the culture, the release of carbon dioxide takes place, making it rise and turn quite bubbly and sticky, also putting out a sour, vinegary scent that is obtained from the good bacteria (Lactobacillus) growing alongside the yeast - this is where that distinctive ‘sour’ taste comes from!
It can take up to a weeks for the culture to mature! and that doesn’t even include the process of creating the full base of the loaf called the ‘leaven’ which involves blending more flour and water with a small scoop of the culture, letting that sit for long enough for the yeast to multiply and create the honeycombed bubbly texture throughout that new mixture, then adding the bulk of the ingredients to make the type of loaf that it is basing (seed loaf for example), letting that dough sit for a several hours, folding it and then shaping and garnishing it ready for baking. It is certainly a long, delicate process that requires a lot of time, commitment and patience! so I’ve learned after having the amazing opportunity to go and spend a few hours in Flourish Sourdough Bakery to witness a fraction of the process with Kylie Ferguson and her husband Troy - the cleaver brains and hard working hands behind this delectable product. It was so enlightening and interesting getting to watch and learn as they smashed out the folding, shaping and baking of many delicious varieties of sourdough that are absolute staple items in my own pantry - it's nice to know where the foods you're consuming are being prepared and what exactly goes in to them!
Kylie started baking sourdough as a result of her and her family being total bread lovers (aren’t we all?!). She wanted to provide them with a healthier alternative to avoid having to worry about the fact that there are artificial nasties in the breads they'd previously consumed so much of. So, after thorough observation and reading up on the ins and outs and the science behind Sourdough, numerous experimentations, a few miserable failures attempting to create something that was actually edible, persistence to keep trying and then finally having a small win that, little did she know at the time, would turn in to a huge win down the track! (roughly 3.5 years later) she had finally acquired her own methods, far more intrinsic knowledge around what worked for her as a result of her willingness to play trial and error and had developed a bread that although was inspired by other bakers, was completely her own ‘brand’.
"Eventually this evasive edible substance appeared and that was my undoing so to speak, I was hooked.
Totally addicted to the challenge and not willing to back down or give up, I began baking unfathomable amounts of bread."
Kylie has now found her true passion and niche in the sourdough game and lives and breathes her lovely little business –“ My passion for what I do comes from the want and need to share my gift and provide everyone with quality, nutritional, boutique style 100% authentic Sourdough - We have very limited exposure to this style of bread in our local region and it gives me such joy and delight to be able to provide our community and surrounds with our product.” She told me.
After 5 months of Kylies shipping container turned bakehouse in the rear end of her husbands Corowa Shearing Business being kitted out with all that was necessary to pursue her dream and start sharing her love for quality sourdough with the broader community, Flourish Sourdough has now gained a fantastic reputation - distributing bread to numerous cafés and markets around the region. Most importantly for us Yarrawonga/Mulwala residents, Kellie Robilliard snatched up the opportunity to sell Flourish product out of her rustic, trendy Yarrawonga coffee shop ‘Souleiado Sourdough Yarrawonga’ and man I’m glad she did!
I can’t get enough of this stuff, I was super excited to be able to work with Kylie and Kellie to briefly educate my readers on the reasons we LOVE Sourdough so much and share the story behind this quality, authentic, true blue Sourdough that is on offer in Belmore street Yarrawonga!
You can expect deliveries on Wednesdays and Fridays and can actually place your orders prior to delivery to secure your favourite flavours or request something in particular for your specific dietary requirements.
“We bake numerous flavours all of which are traditional sourdough. All are vegetarian friendly and all but our two cheese loaves are Vegan friendly.” - Kylie.
The house favourites and most popular sellers are the hearty Vitality Loaf and the sweet but not too naughty Fruit Loaf!
Souleiado is a wonderful little family owned business pumping out coffees to morning work goers on the run and offering both indoor and outdoor seating to kick back, smell the delicious roasted coffee beans and sip away until your heart is content – only recently taken on by the Robilliards, Souleiado is now predominantly a coffee and boutique style sourdough bread provider in town, but if you’re after a quick bite you can expect to find chia pudding to take away, fruit salads in the warmer months, yummy cakes and slices to accompany your cuppa and gormet toasties and fruit toast– made with Flourish Sourdough of course!
Kel and her family have only been running Souleiado since June 2017 with no previous experience running a cafe, it was rather a spontaneous little purchase that would present a fresh challenge and open new doors for the Robilliards - "It was something that I thought I would like try for quite a few years and then the opportunity presented itself - (when the business was put up for sale by its previous owners) - We also thought that a cafe would be a great way to expose our children and other local kids the skill set and work ethic that they can then take with them on their future endeavours." She shared. Kel has thoroughly enjoyed the journey so far, telling me she loves the wide range of interesting personalities that have come her way as well as the wonderful relationships she has gained with her regulars!
Next time you’re wandering down Belmore street, be sure to pop your head in the window, order a coffee and maybe even ask if you can have a sneaky taste of a slice of Flourish's finest product!
Kellie - "iT'S HARD TO PICK ONE FAVOURITE Flourish Sourdough loaf, they're all pretty good. I like the fruit loaf toasted with butter or the pumpkin loaf with a poached egg for breakfast. The kids like the olive loaf warmed with dinner. My husband Roger likes the Parmesan and cracked pepper sliced thinly and pan fried in a splash of Rich Glen Olive Oil to have with a platter."
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