A taste of Taranaki: No time to loaf for South Taranaki’s sourdough king

Taranaki baker Andrew Blanche can tell by the “jiggliness” of his sourdough when it’s ready to shape into loaves.

Bubbles on the surface and the right amount of wobble indicate the dough is ready for the next stage.

How long that takes depends on the weather and temperature.

“Sourdough is ready when it’s ready.”

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The bread never sees a mixer, the entire process is done by hand, from mixing the dough to shaping and cutting it before it rises for about 12 hours, before being baked.

In contrast, modern factory-produced bread, which Blanche calls “white death” is created in about 3 1/2 hours.

Blanche bakes 500 loaves each week plus doughnuts and other goodies, in a converted shipping container in the front yard of his Hāwera home.

His sourdough starter is called Simon and is 21 years old.

Like a pet, it is cared for by a family member if they go away.

Blanche took up baking sourdough for a living in 2021, after 15 years as a funeral director.

He started selling loaves at Hāwera’s weekly market. They became so popular, he and his wife, Jo, a chef, have opened a shop.

The Good Score Food Store, in Hāwera, stocks the bread and a range of gourmet doughnuts (Jo creates the fillings) plus a range from other artisan food producers.

They have a stall at the New Plymouth Farmers Market on Sundays, and supply bread to various cafés and outlets around Taranaki.

On Saturdays, Blanche bakes all night, grabbing 20-minute catnaps while the dough rises.

He’s dropped 25kg since he left funeral directing.

Running a bakery is surprisingly physical, hefting sacks of flour about and working large batches of dough.

“I have good-sized guns and shoulders, but the middle is still a bit doughy,” he jokes.

“Over Saturday and Sunday I get to about 21,000 steps.”

As he talks, he’s cutting, weighing and shaping chunks of sourdough and dropping them into raising baskets, called “brotforms”.

“I call this my meditation… some days I go a little bit slower, some days, faster,” he said.

The loaves go into a cabinet to rise, and 12 hours later, into the oven heated to 300degreesC

A light rye loaf is his biggest seller, but the range includes purple grain, quinoa, caramelised onion, fruit, walnut and raisin, and occasionally, one with chocolate.

A loaf packed with chunks of fiery chilli and tasty cheese, is another bestseller.

“This one creates fanatics. They come in early, take their chilli and cheese loaf, and they go.”

He’s planning to make some with ghost peppers grown by a friend.

He uses Taranaki-produced ingredients wherever possible – Anchor milk, quinoa from Ararata, Mainland tasty cheese. His flour is New Zealand-grown, and he mills the rye himself.

Despite the runaway popularity of his bread, it’s been a tough year, and he’s had to close the door twice when the family got hit with Covid.

Flour costs have risen by 35%, and he’s had to start wearing medical gloves after developing dermatitis from handling the dough.

“It taught me a lot of resilience, how quite small losses can send you down the gurgler with your finances,” he said.

He and Jo plan to use the holiday period to plan their next steps – perhaps to expand the operation into a factory, although he’ll keep the handmade ethos.

“We’d all be working around a big table, talking to each other, talking it through. Different people have different techniques, but as long as you get the same outcome, it doesn’t matter.”