HOW IT STARTS...
Bread came into my life around 13 years ago.
Freshly out of college, with a degree that did not inspire me, I was looking for my place in the world, my passion. I knew I had to create. I knew I had to do something tangible and real. But what? I went abroad hoping life would tell me. And it did!
For one year I volunteered in an organic and vegetarian kitchen in a school/community of 100 people. We made everything from scratch. For the first time I was working with different ferments, and the combination of science and art involved in those fascinated me. Soon I became responsible for all bread production. I went on to stay two more years there, and ended up becoming the head chef.
I fell in love with food. More precisely, I fell in love with the gentle power that food has to get people together, to bring up a smile, and make you feel safe. Food is home, family, community.
Personally, bread gave me the meaning and purpose I was searching for. As an introvert, it is sometimes difficult to integrate, express and belong. Bread making allowed to express my creativity, and love for others and to feel like I was a valuable part of my community.
BECOMING A BAKER...
My journey to become a professional artisan bread baker involved obsessive reading and home baking, courses, and volunteering, until I was good enough to start getting payed.
Drinking knowledge from different bakers and bakeries was the best learning experience possible. I got to understand processes and techniques, and I learned how to read the dough. Working in a professional environment also thought me about early hour rises, method, multitasking, speed, repetitiveness.
A baked bread is like reaching the top of a mountain. You look forward to it although that is but a short moment in the life of a baker. You gotta enjoy the process!
I worked in three different bakeries in three different countries. I met millers and farmers along the way too. Something all these bakeries had in common was: respect for the art, use of organic and local as much as possible, slow and artisan processes, and having fun along the way.
These became my standards too.
A DIFFERENT KITCHEN...
After working for a few years in restaurants and bakeries, adventure called November 2019. The opportunity to sail across the ocean came and I did not shy away from it. I was going to be the cook on board of Tres Hombres, an engineless cargo ship, powered only by sail and human skill. For the next 9 months my purpose was to feed and nurture a crew of 15 hungry sailors!
On a galley with no fridges, freezers, nor any electrical appliances, and with stretches of not seeing land as long as 6 weeks, I had to fundamentally rethink food and cooking. I lot of planning was involved but also creativity in doing the best with the least. I learned appreciation and gratitude for the food that was possible. I witnessed the healing powers of a humble warm meal.
And healing and humble too was the bread we baked on board every day for, although not the most perfect or beautiful, it fed our bellies and souls in the cold, wet nights.
This change was not unexpected. This was a calling to go back to my roots, to what food really meant to me: community. I want personally to know everyone I cook for, their life stories. I want to see their faces when they take that first bite. I want to hear their feedback. And I want to share my stories too. Food without connection is empty of its best taste.
BREAD & BOATS...
The Trade Winds took me West and here I would end up spending the last three years of my life.
Still burning with sailing fever, I joined AstilleroVerde, a very special shipyard in the mangroves of Costa Rica. Here, Ceiba, a 45m wooden sailing cargo ship is being built by hand, and an associated non profit is giving back to the local community, by providing education and other forms of social empowerment.
I was honoured to, not only become the in house baker for the shipyard folks, but also to engage in teaching the local women's association and other members of the community how to bake real bread. This was specially meaningful since a skill like this, in a low income community, could open many doors for these women, from food security to an extra source of income.
Motivated and confident I decided it was time to fly solo, and in 2022 I have started my own project in Monteverde, a village in the cloud forest of Costa Rica. WildCultures was born.
WILDCULTURES
By now I had baked in various settings, with different conditions, purposes and goals: from bakeries to sailing ships; from cities to remote villages, from traditional wood fired to modern deck ovens, from production to teaching. I baked in different continents and for wildly different societies.
Enriched and empowered by all my experiences and desire to share, WildCultures is born. It organically defined itself, first as a small scale sourdough bakery, after as a consultancy and educational platform. And though WildCultures can have various expressions, one thing is certain: it doesn't steer away from its fundamentals and what I have learned to be important:
-
close proximity to the community
-
quality and honesty of the product and service given
-
desire to improve, welcome and share