I have been been increasingly preoccupied with bread for some time now; what makes a good loaf, the importance of a sourdough starter, slow fermentation and the quality of flour, why or how it ever became the case that most of loaves that much of the country eat can barely be classified as bread. It’s a complicated business, and to my mind highly political. Which is partly why e5 bakehouse was not only a very exiting addition to our neighbourhood when it opened in 2010 but it’s increasing popularity and the wide availability of its bread is having an impact on the lives of all who eat it. I have been so exited to be serving it Railroad for the past couple of months or so. Not only the ‘Hackney Wild’ sourdough that provoked the lovely Gizzi Erskine to describe her Railroad breakfast one Saturday morning as being a ‘bacon sarnie of dreams’, but also the beautiful knobbly baguettes that make our Vietnamese baguettes more chewy, give them a greater depth of flavour and are now generally more delicious than they were before. E5′s Hackney Wild is the best bread I have ever had the pleasure of eating or serving: it’s crumb is chewy, sour, open, it’s crust is crunchy and moreish and is altogether a perfectly balanced and ultimately sustaining loaf. We love it.
www.e5bakehouse.com
