These three Sheffield bakers are celebrating an international Real Bread campaign

Bakers from across Sheffield rise early each morning to make fresh bread to sell in their cafes and restaurants.
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This week, there is a celebration of those bakers and the produce they make – Real Bread Week. The campaign, from Saturday to March 1, an annual, international event.

Forge Bakehouse will be using the occasion to share their bread-making process with their customers.

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Owner of the bakery, Matha Brown, said: “We are very much a bakery first, so bread has always been our focus. I set up the bakery because I loved working with my hands, and baking is such a creative and scientific process that you are always learning.

Freshly made bread from Forge Bakehouse, SheffieldFreshly made bread from Forge Bakehouse, Sheffield
Freshly made bread from Forge Bakehouse, Sheffield

“I chose to make bread the old fashioned way - without improvers or additives because you just don't need them. You need to give your dough enough time to rise, to ferment and to produce all the delicious flavours and textures that are synonymous with real bread. Our bread takes multiple days to make by hand. We've been part of the Real Bread campaign for years and it's a great national and international community.”

The bakery, on Abbeydale Road, specialise in sourdough bread which is made without baker's yeast. Instead, it is made using a culture of wild yeast and bacteria to rise loaves slowly. Yeasted breads including baguettes, rye loaves ciabatta are also available.

One of Sheffield’s newest cafes, Cassinelli’s, will be joining the campaign this year. Owner Alice Cassinelli gets up at 6.15am each morning to make bread to sell that day in her cafe, on Bank Street in the city centre.

She said: “We love the fact that we sell real bread.”

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Gluten-free and vegan specialist bakery The Suited Baker will also be showing their support. The bakery, based on Effingham Street, offers a variety of loaves including focaccia, ciabatta and pane rustica.

Owner Sarah Finneran said: “We decided to start the business to enable gluten-free Individuals to have the same access to artisan sourdough. We have been members of the Real Bread campaign since the start of our bakery last year. We like being part of a community of bakers who are proud to be producing artisan sourdough bread. In talking to others about our bread journey, it builds a sense of community.”

Find out more about Real Bread Week online at www.sustainweb.org/realbread/national_real_breadmaker_week.