GAIL's Potato and Rosemary Sourdough Loaf, 650g

Product Information

To avoid a not so pleasant crust from developing, cover the dough with a damp towel, beeswax wrap, a lid or plastic wrap. A heady but pleasant whiff of freshly baked bread wafts enticingly from the clutch of units on an industrial estate in north London. Minimum life based on 'use-by' date of product. Average life based on last week's deliveries. Life guarantee shown based on delivery tomorrow with the Life guarantee starting the following day. On Thursday the first 100 loaves of”waste bread” – baked in the early hours – will go on sale in 10 selected branches of Gail’s Bakery, before being rolled out across the rest of its 43-strong chain in London and the south-east. Roughly one-third of each baked 750g loaf consists of leftover bread and the chain calculates that the 100 loaves being baked daily will save approximately 10kg of bread being wasted per day.

I hope we continue to grow up and learn. We have almost one million transactions a month now. That’s a level of responsibility I never thought I would have. I have a glimpse from talking to world class bakers on what the next 10 to 15 years in baking could look like and it’s exciting. There’s some smart people wanting to make better bread. Potato and rosemary are a classic pairing but you could substitute the rosemary for another spice such as thyme (which is what I tried for my first few attempts seen below), or omit it entirely for a cleaner, more potato forward flavor. Speaking of rosemary, I find not all rosemary plants produce the samelevel of potency in their leaves. Some plants, like mine, are quite pungent and strong while others are simply not. Start with the recommended 1% rosemary and scale up/down to suit your taste after youtry thefirst bake. As with my previous polenta sourdough with rosemary, I like to keep the spice light so it doesn’t obscurethe other flavors throughout.Bake the loaves at 450°F (232°C) for 20 minutes with steam, then remove the steaming pans from inside the oven. Then, bake for an additional 30-35 minutes or until done.

Transfer to floured banneton or a bowl lined with a tea towel (I like to use rice flour). Another option is an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic and proof for 12-15 hours in the refrigerator. Split the dough in half down the middle with a bench scraper. Try to be careful not to break any of the bubbles.With Johnson’s help Gail’s may have reached 60 cafes, but Molnar deliberately resisted the turbo-charged growth seen by other brands in the sector. “I actually slowed down when people were speeding up. I said the money had to go on food not rent. You were seeing incredible competition for prime spaces that would have meant I’d have had to cut corners.”

Arriving in the UK in the late 1990s, it was a struggle to find a good London sourdough that led him to finally quit the world of business and take up baking. Imbued with umami herbs and seeds, the GAIL’s Potato & Rosemary Sourdough can be topped with torn mozzarella and roast vegetables, or simply served alongside soup. Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the bread, ensuring it is active and bubbly. The active starter should be able to pass the float test. Take a small dollop of starter and place it in room temperature water. If it floats it is ready to make flour.The interior of this bread stays superbly moist and tender for days after baking. I enjoy this type of bread heavily toasted as the entire interior becomes crispyin a way that you'll only find in highly hydrated loaves or porridge bread—fantastic. The crumb does become softer, creamier, and slightly tighter as the percentage of potato increases,butthanks to thisstarchy addition,thetender texture of the crumb is what makes this bread stand out. Taste In a large mixing bowl, combine warm water, flour, sourdough starter, and salt with your hands, a wooden spoon, or dough whisk. Baked fresh and never with any preservatives, we recommend storing GAIL’s sourdough in a cool, dry place. To keep the bread for longer, slice immediately and store in an airtight container in the freezer, taking out slices and toasting, as desired. At 78-82°F (25-27°C) ambient temperature, bulk fermentation should go for about 3 hours. Perform a total of 2 sets of stretch and folds during bulk, spaced out by 30 minutes. Tom Molnar jokes that he is turning into a ‘bread philosopher’. It was a personal quest to bring Londoners a good loaf that led the affable American to co-found the Gail’s bakery chain in 2005 and he, and many of the brand’s original bakers, are still on that mission.