Howdy,
I am brand-new to the forum but having been reading (and of course baking) for a while. I'm into the Dan Lepard book The Handmade Loaf, as well as Maggie Glezer, Daniel Leader, and others.
The reason I am posting is: my company here in San Francisco may be merging with a company that has a Brisbane office, and I may have the opportunity to move to Queensland for a while, possibly two years. Hoping someone can give me an idea what it's like, particularly helpful if you are able to relate equivalency to similar places in the States (ok if you can't or don't know!) I'd like to understand especially what I could expect on the culinary front, and if anyone has a favorite bakery or two, please do recommend/describe.
Many thanks!
- SanFranBaker
Replies
Hi,
I live on the Sunshine Coast of QLD, which is about 1.5 hours drive north of Brisbane. I have not spent time in the States, but this part of (coastal) Queensland has warm to hot humid weather for 4 or 5 months around Summer, so I imagine that it would feel like San Fran during its hotter part of the year. The climate has an influence on the bakeries in the area. I know a French baker who worked for one of the larger Artisan focused bakeries in Brisbane up until early this year. He did not like the way a beautiful crispy crust would turn soggy so rapidly in the high humidity months. Also, a large part of the population in this part of Australia are not as familiar with artisan breads as in the southern states (such as NSW and Victoria). But sourdough breads are still very popular in and around Brisbane/Sunshine Coast/Gold Coast and even up in Cairns.
When you get to OZ, please phone and I will be happy to meet you on the Sunshine Coast and show you around. The beach at Noosa Heads is beautiful first thing in the morning. And I would also recommend the Hinterland area, the higher country behind the coast (that's where I live). As far as actual bakeries go, the artisan genre ranges from holistic sourdough (such as [url=http://www.sourdough.com.au/bakery/crystalwaters]Crystal Waters[/url]) to wholesale yeast/ferment hybrid style bakeries in Brisbane. Brisbane also has a niche bakery or two, which I do not have much contact with and hear conflicting reports so can not comment. As well as Crystal Waters, I can also recommend [i]flour[/i],a new bakery on the Gold Coast (Ferry Road, Southport).
See You, Graham
[url]http://www.artisanbaker.com.au[/url]
Graham,
Many thanks for your response! I will certainly get in touch should all of this come to pass and I end up in Queensland. Nice to hear there is bread to be had; sounds like perhaps there are some things to adjust to in terms of climate (definitely sounds like more humid than here in California, which definitely tends toward the dry side of things).
The Crystal Waters project sounds fascinating, have read the material elsewhere on the site on it.
Looking forward to exploring Brisbane and QLD.
Brett
"Sanfranbaker"
Hey man.
I'm a baker that currently works in bakers delight. and have worked in brumbies. They are the main 2 bakery companies. and artisan baking isnt really done. and i have to say it shits me. basically they either back mix bas light into a white dough or add a powdered "sour dough culture" which is just dried bas light basically. there are a few places around though that do that sort of thing. But the guy above me is absoultly correct with the humidity. It shits me to tears to rest a dough for a few hours to make it crustier and it goes soggy before I leave.