Baking Bread on Sunday’s with Andra from Romania

Sourdough Explained is passionate for sourdough baking at home. Which is about patience, perseverance and commitment. About joy and satisfaction. About life.

Can you introduce yourself and where are you located.

I’m Andra, originally from Romania, but living in London for more than 4 years now, a city I absolutely love and would never leave. In my day to day life I’m a marketeer, working for a paint company. Couple of things I love besides baking: traveling, food and cats. 

How did your love for baking start?

I’ve been baking bread for 6 years now, but i’ve been using commercial dry yeast for most of this time, until last year, October time when I’ve met my starter, Hector. The moment of truth was when a friend invited me over to taste the sourdough she has baked at home, after attending a sourdough class. I was amazed by sourdough you can m(b)ake at home, so close to the loaves you could get in a bakery, so I accepted right away her offer to share with me some of her starter. Have been baking every week since then, and probably every second day (if not more often) since the lock down. It’s delicious and baking it is addictive.

What emotions provoke you when you bake?

Joy and accomplishment.

What are your favorite things to bake?

Chocolate & dry cranberries sourdough, if only you could imagine the smell in my kitchen. And of course, the sourdough pancakes on almost every Sunday morning

What’s been inspiring you lately? 

A strong desire of improvement, there’s no such thing as the perfect loaf, it’s all about continuous learning. The power of the home-bakers community and how much can be achieved with so little.

Advice for someone who would like to get into bread baking? 

It’s all about patience, perseverance and commitment. Failure is inevitable when baking, that’s why you need to keep your confidence and enthusiasm. Also, if you can get a starter from a bakery or another home baker, I would encourage you to do so, as sometimes this is the critical step in getting you started.

What does bread symbolize to you?

Childhood memories - my grandma used to sell sourdough when I was little, so basically I grew up with it and the smell of a good bread

What is the most challenging part of baking bread?

Getting to know the texture of your dough and what a good dough should feel like. But also learning to know when the dough is perfectly proofed.

What’s the most important thing to you when baking? 

The crumb, but also getting a crispy crust.

What are some things you’ve learned about bread?

That baking sourdough can quickly become addictive. The good kind of drug I’d say.

How do you like to eat your bread? 

I always save the last bite of bread to end a meal, this is how much I love bread.