The Sourdough Podcast

On this Season Two Finale of The Sourdough Podcast, baker Betsy Gonzalez joins me to talk about her sourdough journey and the bakers from around the world that shaped her vision for her own bakery @osonobread which she opened in 2018. We talk about her decision to highlight and support her Local Grain Economy through her business practices and some of the challenges she’s faced baking during a pandemic. And Betsy leads an importatant discussion about race in the hospitality industry and how the cottage bakery can be most effective in the fight for racial equality. s5rncf7c

On this episode of The Sourdough Podcast, baker and author Michael James joins me from Melbourne, Australia to talk about his journey from Chef to Baker and his internationally acclaimed cook book The Tivoli Road Baker. He shares his thoughts and tips on sourdough and answers listener questions about starter health and viennoiserie, and even tells us about his 2nd book to be released later next year. You won’t want to miss this one.

On this episode of the podcast, I share my conversation with Claudia Carter, the Executive Director of the California Wheat Commission. She describes the CWC’s mission to support California wheat producers as well as some of her favorite California grown wheat varieties. We talk about the unique challenges and advantages facing California wheat growers and how growing wheat in CA can lead to more sustainable and regenerative farming practices.

On this episode of The Sourdough Podcast, Josh Berger of Josh Fox Bread joins me to talk about his cottage bakery journey. Josh talks about the importance of maintaining a healthy starter and shares tips for new sourdough bakers as well as aspiring cottage bakers. He tells us about his biggest personal influences, and describes his vision for the future of Josh Fox Bread.

On this episode of The Sourdough Podcast, Karl de Smedt joins me to talk about the THE PURATOS WORLD HERITAGE SOURDOUGH LIBRARY. We discuss the history and science behind sourdough bread as well as some of the unique stories behind the library’s sourdough collection. Karl tells us how the concept for the world’s only sourdough library came to fruition and how you can add your own sourdough starter to the growing worldwide database and help preserve sourdough biodiversity and our shared sourdough heritage.

On this episode Jeff McCarthy, owner and baker behind Bread Service, joins me from his home in Greensboro, NC. Jeff tells us how his former career as a professional pastry chef and restaurant consultant uniquely prepared him for his role as cottage baker.  He shares his original sourdough inspiration and his ultimate vision to change bread in his city and empower cottage bakers around the country.  

On this episode of The Sourdough Podcast micro-bakery owners Jon Przybyl and Amanda Abou-Eid join me to talk about their journey from customers to owners of Proof Bakery in Mesa, Arizona. Jon and Amanda retell their life changing decision to leave their office jobs to become bakers - transplanting Proof to their own garage. They describe their array of 30, all naturally leavened products, a typical week in their not-so-micro bakery, and the relationships they’ve build with their customers and community that continue to motivate them grow their business. 

On this episode of the Sourdough Podcast Arturo and Ana of Gusto Bread join to me share their sourdough journey, from the wood-fired oven that started it all, to their plans to open a brick and mortar bakery this year in their home of Long Beach, California. They tell us about the people and places that inspired them along the way and share their experiences and advice for growing a successful cottage bakery.

On this episode I spoke with my cottage baker friend Noel Deeb. Noel is a baker, mother, and owner of El Bread Shop in Louisville, KY. Noel is part of our Instagram sourdough community who I’ve been following for years. She is someone I’ve commented back and forth with, solicited bread advice from, and although we’ve never met in person, I’ve admired her as a stay at home mother, self taught sourdough baker, and even more now, as she has shared her journey to becoming a cottage bakery operator.

On this episode of the Sourdough Podcast, Adam Pagor shares his “hard and fast” journey into sourdough. Starting in 2013 with a baking class, he eventually made the leap to a ROFCO oven and started a micro-bakery in his London home. Adam shares how his family and growing baking community inspired him to work toward his dream of becoming a baker and the experiences that encouraged him to open his own bakery, Grain and Hearth, in April of 2019.

On this episode, Apollonia Poilâne joins me share some secrets from her world-famous Parisian bakery and to talk about her first English language cookbook. She tells us how she was prepared for the role she found herself taking on, unexpectedly at the age of 18, and the personal mark she’s made on her family’s business in her 17 years as CEO.

On this episode we return to our theme of the Cottage Baker with my guest Justin Gomez. Justin talks about his career journey and early bread influences that encouraged him to pursue baking full time. He explains the family ties and values behind the name Humble Bakehouse and shares his valuable experiences and insights on starting and growing a cottage bakery in his community of Martinez, California.

On this episode baker and author Daniel Leader joins me to talk about his new book Living Bread. We discuss his early bread education through the “backdoor school of baking” and the founding of his bakery, Bread Alone, in 1983. He shares his thoughts and experiences gained from nearly 40 years of baking and through his friendships with bakers from around the world and he tells us why he thinks we are just at the beginning of the local grain economy movement, here in America, and what it means for the future of artisan bread.

To kick off this season’s special focus on the Cottage Baker I’m very excited to have Lisa Clayton the baker behind the Instagram sensation Sourdough Nouveau and owner of the Beach Cottage Bakery. Lisa shares what inspired her to discover sourdough and the background of her wildly popular sourdough art. She tells us about the challenges and triumphs she’s experienced in opening her own cottage bakery and gives advice and inspiration to those considering pursuing their own sourdough dreams.

As a special prelude to the next season of the Podcast, I wanted to introduce the musician responsible to giving The Sourdough Podcast it's soundtrack as he prepares to release his first EP on Sept 18th. I think you’ll really enjoy hearing how he imagined the sound of the Podcast, his recent move to California, and his inspiration for writing his music.