Anyone who has ever been a guest at my Thanksgiving table, can tell you bread baking is not my forte. In fact I fail. Which really blows since I love artisan breads. I get pretty excited when I visit the bakeries in Europe, there nothing quite like the smell and the crust of fresh baked breads.
Hillside Bakery to the rescue! Patra affectionately known as “the bread lady” by John and I offers the most amazing breads at the local farmers markets. Her rustic bread came to the rescue this Thanksgiving.
When I contacted Patra about doing an interview she graciously accepted and invited me to her bakery, on baking day. During the off-season she announces a bread delivery date and location, via email, and takes orders. This particular week she had orders for 60+ loaves to be picked up at the Laurel Church of Christ in west Knoxville.
Parking my little stick shift on the side of the steep hill where her bakery is located, I was wondering how I was gonna get back down. The bakery sits on a beautiful 12 acres, surrounded by woods and overlooking the lake. A glorious dogwood shining in the sun, variegated hosta peeking from the earth, and a smiling Patra greeted me when I arrived.
By the time I got there, the wood burning oven had been fired up and burning down for hours. The grain milled. The dough had been mixed and proofing in large bins. Copious notes had been kept as to times and temperatures. Now it was time to shape the loaves. With hands like a sculptor Patra began shaping olive bread as we talked. I was struck by how interested in me she seemed, when I was here to interview her.
Immediately it was obvious she cared about others and their success and well being. Our conversation was much like that of old friends, jumping from the subject at hand to the backstory and back again, without skipping a beat.
When she decided to leave the education field, her passion for baking grew stronger. Husband, Ken encouraged her to further explore that passion. In 2000 she attended a week long course at the San Francisco Baking Institute and then an apprenticeship at the Berkshire Mountain Bakery in Massachusetts. An artisan baker was born. In 2002 she converted their three car garage into a bakery. And the rest, as they say is history.
It is important to Patra to eat what she makes, and eating a healthy SOLE food diet is important to her. “in my own way I am trying to promote good health.” 90 to 95% of the breads she offers, contain no oil, dairy or sweeteners. A high hydration, whole grain sourdough. Hillside Bakery breads are unique to most available in this area. “When older gentleman taste the bread, they often say that they have tasted something like it before, but it was many years ago in Europe during the war years” she says. Not only does she use only certified organic ingredients, she grinds all her flour in a stone mill, located in her bakery. When I asked how she learned all how to grind grain into flour, she said, “I have a neighbor who has a mill, and he helped get me started.” How fortuitous for us all.
The time, science and math involved in baking bread more or less blew me away! Everything from temperature and humidity of the room, the ingredients and the outdoors affect the rising times as well as the ultimate outcome. Patra has the process which take 12- 16 hours down to a science. She keeps notes on all of the times and temperatures and adjusts accordingly. The dough is weighed to the exact measure, allowing for shrinkage from evaporation, more math. I am beginning to see why I fail.
She finds baking rewarding and invigorating, her favorite aspect is the connection between her bread and her costumers.
Hillside Bakery: An edible creative expression of connection to the land and one another.
As far as the Farmers Markets goes she feels like “Farmers Markets are the new courthouse square or general store,” where neighbors will connect, like they did not so long ago. This analogy got my blood pumping!
If you are in or near Knoxville look for Hillside Bakery at our local farmers market.
