Bread Ahead launches intimate sourdough starter workshops at Borough Market

A series of Sourdough Starter School workshops has launched this September at Bread Ahead’s Borough Market location The 90-minute sessions, currently running on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and scheduled at intervals throughout the day, aim to teach attendees the fundamentals of sourdough baking, including how to create and maintain a sourdough starter.

To ensure an interactive and personalised experience, participants are limited to ten per session. The format centres around Bread Ahead’s long-standing sourdough culture, affectionately named Brucey. The starter, which is now 12 years old, was reportedly blessed in 2013 by Canon Bruce Saunders at Borough Market and continues to be used in the bakery’s daily bread production. During the session, bakery school teacher Lucy will offer hands-on instruction on how participants can create their own sourdough starter. They will also be given a kit to take home, which includes flour, a dough scraper and step-by-step instructions for maintaining their starter, with the aim of equipping them with the skills to begin baking the bread independently.

Beside its artisan bread and doughnuts, Borough Market fixture Bread Ahead is also known for its school, which offers a range of educational opportunities in response to increased interest in home baking in recent years. Among them, the Sourdough Starter School workshop is described as “a blend of baking science, some practical skills and of course plenty of tastings”.

Food Desk

The Sourdough Starter School  at Bread Ahead, Borough Market runs at various times throughout the week. For further information or to book, visit here.