MENU dorset issue 16 MENU16..dorset pdf issue 16 | Page 23

Dorset Bakers
T
here’s a battle raging in Britain. On one
side, more than a thousand years of history
revealed through our relationship with baking,
from the medieval baker guilds and apprentices
turning out community loaves, to the explosion of
cake-making in the 18th century as sugar became
available. On the other side, the Chorleywood
Process, pioneered in 1961 to produce soft, cheap
loaves using low protein wheats without the need
for overnight fermentation.
Roughly 80 percent of the bread we produce
in the UK is from this process. It’s cheap, it’s soft,
and it lasts for days. But it doesn’t taste of bread.
Worse still, it relies on a cocktail of additives and
enzymes of vague origin.
We discovered the Dorset artisanal bakers
putting the authentic back in baking, from
sourdough loaves to traditional pies and exquisite
cakes.
www.menu-dorset.co.uk
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