Baking BReD

The Tattons, who have embraced the vegan lifestyle for 10 years, are passionate advocates who believe that “Living a vegan life means considering your footprint on the earth and its resources.” They embody this philosophy personally and professionally. “We eat with the seasons as much as we can; we source locally, for ourselves and the bakery, and we believe in supporting the local economy as much as we can,” she says.

When they opened their bakery café in 2019, the Tattons intentionally decided that not only would they use and serve 100 per cent plant-based ingredients and products but they would also minimize their environmental footprint by adopting zerowaste business practices that promote sustainability. Because of their efforts, BReD bakery was one of the first small businesses in B.C. to receive B Corp Certification, which measures a company’s entire social and environmental impact. Ed is extremely proud of this designation.

“As a community-based business, we love seeing locals and knowing people’s names and their orders,” he says.

The bakery became a place at which the Tattons could give back to their community, but they wanted to do more. The cookbook would become another way to expand their reach. However, when Penguin Canada initially contacted them with the idea to write their own cookbook, they weren’t sure about the timing. Especially since they were in the process of re-opening the bakery after the pandemic and were busy rebuilding their team after losing all of their staff.

“I didn’t want to tell Ed at first as he was working from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m., covering two people’s shifts,” Natasha says. “I thought it would be too stressful.”

Yet, when she told him, he was completely on board and ready to dive in. “There was never a doubt in my mind,” Ed says. “If anything, it pushed my creative juices because I wasn’t confined to what we could do in the bakery.” As someone who had been working in kitchens since he was 13, Ed, like many other chefs, always dreamed of having his own restaurant and his own cookbook.

“The bakery and the book tie into one another,” he says. “We realized that having the cookbook is a way to bring our bakery into everyone’s home and to allow our ethos of plant-based baking to be more accessible.”

“We wrote this book to show people that there is an alternative, that we can still eat in the same way, but we don’t need to exploit animals or the land in the same way,” Natasha adds.

BReD is also the perfect platform for Ed to share his love of sourdough, which he learned to make while working in a French Bistro in Bristol, England, in 2008. “It instantly caught my imagination of having a starter and culture [of] only three ingredients — water, flour and salt. [It’s] so complex and each day you learn something new, and I still do, even today.”

Avid travellers, Ed and Natasha went to Whistler in 2013 to ski and snowboard. While there, they both worked in hospitality with Ed at Alta Bistro as the sous chef and Natasha as a cook at the Whistler Ski School though she later returned to her career as an English teacher. During the summer of 2014, they took time off to explore and work on Vancouver Island. There, Ed continued to hone his sourdough baking skills.

“I have happy memories of going from farm to farm carrying a large canvas bag containing the starter, a small digital scale and various flours and seeds.” On rusty bikes, they would deliver loaves of bread to the local farmers’ families.

“This is my love of bread,” Ed says. “That we can break bread and share it with people — it brings people together.”

They returned to Whistler for the winter and with them brought that same sourdough starter, affectionately named Boris. Ed implemented a bread program for the Alta Bistro and on his mornings off, he rented the kitchen to make his own bread. He started with about 30 loaves for friends and family, but then it quickly grew to 150. “And from there the community was asking us to open a sourdough bakery. It was all very organic.”

The Tattons sold their home in the U.K., which helped finance about 50 per cent of the bakery. They raised the rest through community grants and loans. Unfortunately, Boris didn’t join them at the new bakery, but they did create a new starter, called Mother Teresa or M-T for short, which they still use today. There is also a 100 per cent rye starter, named Stan Rye. “We named it after a very famous Whistler skier named Stan Rey,” Natasha says. “His dad was a very famous Swiss baker, and his sister comes into the bakery every day.”

There is an entire section in the book devoted to successfully creating and maintaining sourdough starters, proofing and shaping loaves. The detailed step-by-step guide, with instructional photos beautifully photographed by Janis Nicolay, is both comprehensive and easy to follow. “The trick to keeping a starter alive,” according to Ed, “is being consistent — with the temperature, the time that you feed your starter and the quantity you use.” He suggests that the best way to ensure bread-making success is to make bread often while experimenting with all of the variables and learning to master the fermentation process.

It is also important to read BReD’s introduction thoroughly before attempting any recipes. The information and details go beyond the basic tips, techniques and tools by offering a deep dive into everything you need to know before creating your own starter or baking. And these details matter — such as how you might need to adjust the temperature and cooking time depending on the type of oven you use or how you can’t rush through steps. Sourcing proper ingredients is also essential. For example, not all sugars are vegan. Some sugar is processed with bone char from livestock to whiten it, although it does not remain in the sugar itself after the refining process.

This thoughtful attention to detail weaves its way throughout the book and each recipe. Like the drive to Whistler, the journey to becoming an accomplished plant-based baker will have its challenges and there are no shortcuts. However, if you take your time and follow Ed and Natasha Tatton’s carefully crafted instructions and recipes in BReD: Sourdough Loaves, Small Breads, and Other Plant-Based Baking, it will be well worth the effort.

BReD Made by Ed.
206-2067 Lake Placid Rd, Whistler
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