The bread and its ingredients are entirely from the North
Translated by Thomas Ansell
Herman van Vliet, who runs LekkereTrek (Tasty Hunger) has spent the last several years trying to promote food grown or made as short a distance as possible from where it is sold and eaten. He has previously developed an all-Northern sourced version of the traditional Frisian Pompebledbroodje, and Kneppelbrood, but today Van Vliet will present his first Frisian wheat-bread, as reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
“It is true that organic wheat was not grown in the North until now. The borders of the North are a little too close to large rivers, and you do not get good-quality wheat from that area- that comes from the work of the farmer. When growing stuff organically, you cannot use any nitrogen-based fertilisers, and the farmer that grew this wheat, Piet Sipma from Engwierum, also grows white clover. That releases nitrogen itself as soon as the ears grow- and this gives good levels of protein, which is needed for good-quality baking flour”, said van Vliet.
The all-local bread is actually a partnership project between various groups: “the idea for this sort of bread was mine, but the workmanship of others including the farmer Piet, the miller Cees Noteboom from the ‘t Lam mill in Woudsend, and others. We have spent about 2 years developing this, first growing and then checking quality. On Tuesday we will symbolically present the first bread from this process to the King’s Commissioner at the Provinciehuis, and Deputy Poepjes will also be present. She is also crazy about bread, so we offered it to her”, said van Vliet.
So, how does this new bread taste? “It’s delicious, the flavour is really something else. There is some sweetness from the wheat, and this permeates. It’s also really nutritious; after two slices you’ll be full”, van Vliet added.
For more information about LekkereTrek’s mission to bring about various types of all-Northern bread, their food-truck, workshops, and story, just head to their website.
Image via Pexels user Alexas_photos
