Bread basics

In the race to make the perfect bánh mì, the bread must not be left behind.

It was almost over. By 3:15pm we had an order for three bánh mì, to be followed by one for seven with jumbo fillings and we were sold out. As quickly as the market turned bustling around 11am, activities ground to a halt by 4pm and the only people left are the large groups engrossed in their own conversations until closing time.

We called this Saturday the relaunch of Bánhmì11. Our focus was on the bread, finding the perfect baguette to encase our hand-crafted fillings, to accentuate, not attenuate, the flavors and textures. We wanted to work with an independent small local business. With big industrial suppliers, bread is never made from scratch on the premises. Pre-packaged, frozen dough is hardly thawed before it is shoved into the oven by a different employee everyday.

So we cycled around our area. Initially looking for a Turkish bakery on the vast stretch of Turkish businesses along Kingsland Road. Turkish are famous for their bread and they do mid-size rolls that reminds us of bánh mì Nhu Lan. Perhaps the only bánh mì in Vietnam that have established a brand, bánh mì Nhu Lan lacks the authentic goodness of a street grub but compensates by the fact that you can count on hygiene and make-me-twenty-bánh-mì-while-I-wait-on-my-motorbike-with-the-engine-on efficiency. So perhaps Turkish bread could work.

But then again, it is not an industralized bánh mì that we want to make at Bánhmì11. So instead we found The Spence Bakery. Next to the greenery of Clissold Park and tucked in the village of Stoke Newington Church Street, The Spence are composed of two instantly recognizable orange store fronts, a bakery and a sister cafe across the street. Katherine and Alex bake all their bread daily on the premises. When we entered the bakery, Anh’s mom almost jumped up with joy. She said without even tasting, just looking at the color of the bread she knew it was good enough. The smaller demi-baguettes have been kneaded so beautifully that the deep diagonal slits expanded vigoriously revealing a light golden brown crust that arose from the inside. Breaking the bread, the crust cracks into small pieces that fall onto the ground instead of sticking onto your hand. Inside the baguette is milky white with a holey crumb structure. When you taste the bread, it is mild without a hint of sourness. The baguette is made with French wheat and baked on the premises daily, no wonder they taste so wholesome!

So now we are back to basics, starting with a demi-baguette that looks and tastes gorgeous. The way it is made reflects the heritage of bánh mì and the way its owners operate the business converges with Bánhmì11‘s values. By every measure, our bánh mì is fabulous, we think. But its consistency will need to stand the test of time and the scepter of bad bread, bad business is never really very far away.

Posted on: 20.07.2009