Berry Woodfired Sourdough Bakery

Illawarra Mercury

Wednesday July 23, 2008

Wandering through Berry it is hard to avoid the sweet aromas of freshly baked sourdough loaves wafting from the woodfire sourdough bakery.

Since being restored in 2001 by artisan baking enthusiasts Jelle and Joost Hilkemeijer, the old woodfire bakery has become a prime foodie destination for visitors to the region.

Dozens of thick, hot loaves of freshly baked sourdough bread are snapped up each day by queuing customers, often before the lunchtime peak. The Brumerskyjs of Flavours Shoalhaven were regulars among this crowd.

Jelle says that the business partnership with them was natural because John and Linley shared the same devotion to good-tasting food.

"They are into Slow Food as well and are passionate about good-quality, simple foods," Jelle says.

"What we make here is an authentic, hand-crafted, traditional, European-style bread.

"Our sourdough bread production is not about mass production, it's about a village baker, a woodfired oven and about people, time, love, energy and using simple, quality ingredients.

"All of our breads are made from three ingredients - the organic stone-milled flour, filtered water and sea salt - so it's returning to a simple, nourishing food instead of a heavily processed fast food."

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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