Words by Della Vreeland Images Supplied
If there’s one thing John Downes can’t stand, it’s the fact that everyone these days has become so precious about their carbohydrate intake.
‘It’s stupid how paranoid everyone is about carbs,’ the legendary Australian baker exclaims.
Speaking to John, he’s swiftly able to reel off the countless nutritional and even spiritual benefits a homemade loaf can bestow upon any individual, particularly if it’s baked with love and using traditional methods. Benefits that far outweigh any supposed caloric detriments.
‘(As a baker), I’m involved in something worthwhile and whole in every way. The Buddhists would say it’s a Right Livelihood – a beneficial livelihood to everybody including me and not ugly in any way. That’s what I’ve loved – pre-setting a product that benefits people in many ways and that’s a beautiful thing.’
John Downes is known around Australia for starting the sourdough movement in the 1970s. Now, he has taken the helm as one of the lead bakers at the newly-restored Maldon Bakery along with his 50-year-old leaven which he aptly calls, “the leaven”.
The bakery is the oldest continuously running bakery in Australia, and makes use of a 19th-century scotch oven which John says makes for some of the ‘best bread imaginable’.
‘Using the scotch oven is like deja vu for me. It’s second nature,’ John says. ‘Nothing can replicate the type of alchemy that happens in a wood-fired oven. That’s the original way bread was baked and there is a certain je ne sais quoi to it.
I’ve never been happy with anything I’ve done with electric ovens and I’m not going to waste my time doing it. It’s about quality and you can’t get that quality from any other oven.
Bakery owner and Castlemaine resident Rebecca Barnett says she couldn’t resist restoring the bakery to its former glory, particularly since it housed the original scotch oven.
‘It seemed like such a terrific opportunity to do authentic traditional baking,’ she says. ‘It’s the oldest continuously running bakery in Australia, but the scotch oven hadn’t been used for nearly 20 years.’
The restoration process took six weeks and included re-opening the original bakery quarters to the public, fixing the scotch oven to make it fully operational, and rejuvenating the facade.
‘It was a real diamond in the rough and I wanted to bring it back to accentuate all its wonderful attributes and do proper baking again.’
The bakery is currently staffed with a team of four, including another two experienced bakers who are benefitting from the wisdom of Australia’s sourdough extraordinaire.
Rebecca says she hopes to expand the offering currently available, which already serves up gourmet meat pies comprised of local chunky beef, as well as cakes, tarts, biscuits, cheesecakes and a selection of locally-made pantry items.
With five generations of bakers in her family and a background in hospitality, Rebecca says she’s thrilled to finally have her own piece of the bakery pie. The Maldon Bakery logo is even based on her grandparents’ bakery and has been designed by her mother.
‘I was always in and around bakeries growing up, and my first memories were from my Grandpa’s bakery with the bread coming out of the scotch oven, so it’s no wonder I’ve come back around to it.’
THE DETAILS
WHAT: Maldon Bakery
WHERE: 51 Main Street, Maldon VIC
FIND OUT MORE: Maldon Bakery
We wish to acknowledge the Dja Dja Wurrung people as traditional owners of this land and to pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
