Loving the sourdough baking with Lovingly Artisan - a workshop to change your life

Aidan Monks of Lovingly Artisan – cutting his own bread for our lunch.

The greatest thing since sliced bread is discovering what real bread tastes and feels like – then learning how to make it with the passion of an artisan baker. And in Cumbria, we have the best baker in the UK here sharing his magic.

After a day with Aidan Monks, you will never again want to pick up a plastic bag of industrially produced slices which can leave you bloated when you can make your own sourdough that satisfies the taste buds and digestion.

Aidan and Catherine kindly invited us to join their last sourdough workshop of 2019 at their bakery on the outskirts of Kendal – in the amazing hamlet of artisan food makers, producers, farm shop and cafe just off the A591. You can read Katie May’s experience of the day on her blog now.

The Lakelands Food Park at Plumgarth is a food lovers heaven, and somewhere we will definitely be returning to.

We were greeted with a warm welcome, hot croissants fresh from the baker’s oven and the enthusiasm of a couple that are passionate about great food.

Our band of 10 students eager to learn how to create Sourdough, the bread which doesn’t use yeast, but a ‘mother’ sourdough starter of good bacteria you keep alive in a glass jar, freed and nurture.

Most bread was made this way before the invention of commercial bakers yeast at the start of the first world war – to speed up the breadmaking process.

However, sourdough bread has lower phytate levels, which make it more nutritious and easier to digest. And when each person on the day course explained why they were there, the overriding reason was to eat healthier.

Sourdough has become a very ‘trendy’ bread option, and for good reason, as it is so much easier to digest and tastes amazing. However, not everything that has a sourdough tag is real, traditional, artisan sourdough. Aidan showed us how to test your sourdough – place a slice in water, then squeeze out the water. If you slice remains whole it’s good sourdough, if it falls apart and turns into duck feed, it’s not.

Aidan guiding us through our dough stretching

Being in the Lovingly Artisan’s bakery, where thousands of loaves are hand made around the clock, you learn the true skills of the baker. From starting off your mother starter to how to stretch and work the dough.

The difference between attending a workshop and reading a recipe book or watching a YouTube video is being able to feel, smell and taste what the dough should feel like at different stages. It is knowing you should have sticky hands, the dough should be that wet and that is how it should feel when properly cooked. These are the things you can only get with this real-life experience – and also you have the amazing aroma to enjoy.

We stopped for lunch and enjoyed some of Aidan and Cathrine’s handcrafted food. I don’t think bread and soup have ever tasted so good – and their flapjack and coffee amazing.

People had travelled from Blackpool, Liverpool and Yorkshire to attend this course, and they all went away full of enthusiasm and ready to get stuck into their bread baking.

Lovingly Artisan also has a bakery at the famous foodie destination Altringham Market near Manchester, and several of the people on our day session had been inspired to come after visiting their market stall. Another couple had seen their bread demonstration at the Westmorland County Show, another it was her birthday gift.

Making bread is pure magic – how ingredients shape shift and morph into new textures with the lightest of touches, a little patience and time. The chemistry and alchemy that is traditional, artisan baking is mesmerising. And Aidan gives you the confidence and is so generous with the sharing of his knowledge. And you not only leave with a lovely warm loaf fresh from the oven, your own dough to bake at home and two ‘mother’ sourdough starters (white and wholemeal) to continue your journey of great bread bakings.

This is a gift we will be giving someone special to enjoy in 2020 – the skills to eat well for life.