Crunchy, with a golden crust, a soft and airy core with small, medium or large pores depending on the mood of the bread shaped by the magic of the leaven – this is one way to describe the bread that comes out of the hands of Stefan Sarastanev. In old times, this method was used to make sourdough bread, also called live bread. For the young baker everything started by chance. “One day I woke up jobless, and I decided to become a craft baker”, Stefan goes back in time. He however is keen on being defined as an artisan.

“At university I read cultural studies, and while a student worked in various restaurants and bars. I have always been interested in the development of the catering business; how a product is created and produced to be made commercially available. In the beginning I tried to make pastry at home. I remember how I made my first quiche – a kind of French pie with bacon, pears and thyme. Later on, I met with Victoria Alexieva and we discussed plans to open a pastry shop together. One morning however, I decided I wanted to make bread and learn everything about artisan bread. This meant I would train in a way to find out about all secrets in the trade.”

At first, he trained with the best bakers and started to learn about the philosophy of healthy diet until he discovered his niche – making sour bread. Stefan contends that superb bread is the result of three key ingredients: practice, reading and love. Hard work is not a challenge for him, because when aged just 17, Stefan had to learn how to take care of himself. The reason: his mother had gone to live and work in Germany. Gradually bread making became a most enjoyable occupation for the young man:

„Bread is made with desire, flour, water and salt”, he argues. “I use an ancient technology involving leaven, and I rely on natural fermentation. Leaven bread is very good for the human system because it is processed more easily by it. Also, this bread has a better taste than bread made with yeast due to longer fermentation. Good quality flour is also important – it should be clean, without additives, and should have been ground in a stone mill. Such flour does not last long, but its taste is better.”

It is interesting to know how Stefan’s bread is specific.

„First, I stick to the French method including energetic beating of the dough on the board aimed to develop the gluten. Further, to make sure bread becomes fluffy, I have become a follower of Yohan Ferrant, a Frenchman based in Barcelona. He makes incredible things with leaven and uses a special technology developed jointly with specialists in the area of healthy food from across Europe. His bread is popular with the brand Do Nothing Bread, because there is no need to knead the dough and shape it – and is made with very simple movements.”

Stefan Sarastanev does not keep the secrets of good bread to himself: he shares a lot of information on the social networks. What is his view about the latest trends in healthy living and eating?

„In principle, I oppose the idea of closing small-scale producers in a circle of organic crafts, because we end up exchanging products between ourselves and no one outside this circle is aware of our work. There is a fallacy that healthy food is generally tasteless stuff. This is wrong. I think it is not important to consume organic food every day. Food should be diverse and tasty, above all, and as such a source of pleasure”, concludes artisan baker Stefan Sarastanev.

English Daniela Konstantinova