Five Global Flavours: Locally baked breads from around the world

One Two Culinary Stew blogger Pina Broccoli Anaia has been making the Cambridge food scene a tastier place for 10 years. In her regular column for Velvet, she takes us on a world food tour. . . right on our doorstep. On the menu this month: our daily bread

We’ve all heard the expression ‘breaking bread’ as the act of sharing a meal to create a sense of unity. It’s no wonder that bread is the food used for this metaphor. The emotional connection evokes feelings of warmth, comfort, joy and satisfaction.

Bread is a sensory delight – the aroma of a freshly baked loaf brings instant happiness and creates an inviting atmosphere. It can have a contrast of textures with a crispy crust and a pillowy crumb or be a soft-all-over bun that practically melts in the mouth. Loaves, buns, rolls, flatbreads and other bakes have their own taste: sweet, nutty, sour, eggy, rich – the list is as endless as the types of bread worldwide.

Bread is versatile too. Whether it’s for making a sandwich, absorbing the flavours of soups and sauces, mopping up dips, or serving as the base for spreads and cheeses, there’s a host of possibilities for enjoying its goodness.

Bread is universal, existing in culinary traditions around the world. There are countless types of bread with their own ingredients, techniques and cultural significance. Here are five bakeries bringing the global flavours of their beautiful breads to our region – perfect autumn comfort food.

Sourdough Hub
International concert pianist turned baker Jennifer Marshall, owner of Sourdough Hub, hails from Malta where she ran her first successful micro bakery. Among the sourdough loaves, focaccia, savoury pastries, babkas, Sicilian soft brioche, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, brownies and more in her Newmarket bakery, Jennifer also bakes her version of ftira – a ring-shaped Maltese bread dating back to the 16th century. Ftira’s importance in Malta’s history is so noteworthy, it made it to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2020. For the full taste of Malta – the beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea – stuff the sandwich with the traditional (and refreshing) fillings of tuna, tomatoes, olives, capers, basil and olive oil. Keep an eye out for market stall dates as well as open bakery days at Sourdough Hub’s industrial unit.
sourdoughhub.co.uk / @sourdough.hub

Kanto Cafe and Bakery
At Kanto, the small but perfectly formed café and bakery in Cambridge, the bakers turn out traditional Filipino breads and a few Korean ones too, as the owners share both their cultures from the Philippines and Korea through their baked creations. Their wonderful selection of soft and fluffy Filipino bakes, many with the signature combination of sweet and savoury, include ensaymada (rounded brioche with cheddar and buttercream, dusted with sugar and grated edam cheese), ube pandesal (purple yam-infused bread with purple yam jam) and Spanish bread (oblong roll covered in breadcrumbs with a sweet and buttery filling). Their Korean garlic cheese bread is a beautifully-cut soft brioche stuffed with slightly sweet cream cheese and dipped in garlic chive butter. The six slits at the top of the bun make it a perfect tear ‘n’ share, although the temptation to skip the sharing part is real!
@kantocafebakery

Pastim Bakehouse
Pastim Bakehouse in Waterbeach is an artisan bakery and coffee shop owned by Jose Rios and Reme Puchades (a third-generation baker) who both moved to the UK from the province of Valencia 10 years ago – five of those making Cambridgeshire a more delicious place. The bakery’s counter is laden with freshly baked breads, buns, pastries, doughnuts, cakes and other bakes, including their Jurasiennebrioche/tarte au sucre – a round ‘sugar brioche’ named after France’s eastern Jura region and baked extensively in Spain. This aromatic cross between bread and pastry has a slightly caramelised sugar topping and a fluffy doughnut-like texture, but its beauty lies in the dimples filled with small cubes of butter that have melted into pockets of creaminess during baking.
@pastimbakery_remepuchades

Maison Clément
France boasts a wide variety of breads but the ubiquitous baguette inevitably springs to mind. This long, slender loaf with a crispy, crackly crust and an airy, slightly chewy crumb is a French culinary staple and an essential part of daily life. Securing its place on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2022 and protected under France’s Décret Pain (Bread Decree) since 1993, the baguette is made with only four ingredients: wheat flour, water, salt and yeast. Authentic baguettes can be hard to come by outside of France so the long queues at Maison Clément, the charming French bakery in Cambridge and Newnham, are no surprise. Two types of baguettes are baked daily: the Artisan with its classic thick crust and large alveoli inside, as well as the less crusty, less airy Regular one that’s ideal for sandwiches. Find these beauties among Maison Clément’s other breads, viennoiseries, pâtisseries and savoury pastries.
maisonclement.co.uk / @maison_clement_cambridge

Dulcedo
Challah, the traditional braided bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, is baked every week at Dulcedo’s bakery. It’s available on Thursdays at Dulcedo Social in Eddington, northwest of Cambridge city centre and sometimes at their sister bakery Eclipse on Mill Road. Challah’s golden-brown, chewy crust yields to a soft, pillowy interior bursting with rich, eggy and slightly sweet flavours. The final sprinkle of sesame seeds imparts a bit of nuttiness. Whether it’s part of a Shabbat meal, made into French toast or slathered with butter and jam, challah is meant to be shared, savoured and enjoyed. The “c” in challah (pronounced “hallah”) may be silent but everything else about this tasty, enriched bread is worth shouting about!
@dulcedo.social / @dulcedocambridge

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