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| Hedone London Sourdough Bread |
There are sourdoughs and there are sourdoughs. There's the one that has a good crumb texture; the one that has great flavour depth; and the one that has the perfect chewy crust. Rarely do all three come together - unless you're making it yourself, of course. I'm not one of that happy band. For some of us, the search for the perfect sourdough is almost as obsessive as the search for the perfect baguette in London - you feel it must be out there but doubt it will ever surface.
For a while, Mikael Jonsson has been producing sourdough for his restaurant, Hedone, and I knew it already had its own fan base. It was a fantasy sourdough for me. One I knew, sometime, I'd have to try - but Hedone is located in Chiswick so I was never going to be a regular. It surely wasn't going to turn up in Bermondsey, where I do my Saturday shop, was it? Well, it just did. Amongst the many excellent traders at Spa Terminus is Dynamic Vines, which just happens to supply wines to Hedone and many other good restaurants. Three weeks ago I spotted the fabled sourdough amongst the wine bottles. A nice bit of cross-border cooperation is going on and right now it's making this shopper very happy.
The flours used are declared free of additives and chemicals and natural slow fermentation techniques are used. The process is a high absorption one which means a wet dough which is more difficult to form so loaves vary a bit in shape. The complex flavours range through nutty and dark treacle to an almost liquorice one reminiscent of some of the best Parisian sourdoughs. Truthfully, in London now there are some pretty good sourdoughs but I think this one from Hedone is exceptional. Now, how about that elusive baguette?
Nb. Spa Terminus is open for retail sales Saturdays only. Check the Producers List for individual trader hours.
