bake - June 2017 - 36

breads

Seeds of Inspiration
Winner of the coveted James Beard Award for Outstanding

Furstenberg enjoys the thought process that goes into

Baker in 2017, Bread Furst's Mark Furstenberg remarkably did

producing the best possible whole grain bread. "Let's say I

not start baking until the age of 52.

want to make a very rich, dark rye bread with lots of seeds and
perhaps some spice. That's how I start - with a notion of what

Before starting his Washington, D.C.-based bakery Bread Furst

I want to achieve. Then I think: Rye. Coarse or ﬁne? Chopped

in 2014 at age 74, Furstenberg previously owned Marvelous

rye? Dark rye? Medium rye? What about whole grains? Do I

Market in D.C. He was the ﬁrst baker in the area to offer tradi-

want to put into the bread some hydrated berries? What about

tional European breads. Following that, he opened Bread Line,

seeds? What seeds? What spices? That's how I think about

a restaurant which won him nominations from the James Beard

bread. And then I make up a formula and go to work on it."

Foundation as best chef in the Mid-Atlantic.
He begins the arduous process by making a sponge, or ﬁrst
Other Outstanding Baker ﬁnalists this year were Ken Forkish of

dough. He will cook and grind spices to get a blend he likes and

Ken's Artisan Bakery in Portland, Zachary Golper of Bien Cuit in

then do a soaker. Finally, he makes the dough, lets it ferment,

Brooklyn, Greg Wade of Publican Quality Bread in Chicago, and

turns it into a form, proofs and bakes it. "I know from previous

Belinda Leong and Michel Suas of B. Patisserie in San Francisco.

experiences at what temperature I want to bake it. And I know
how to treat the loaf when it is baked. So when it has rested

Furstenberg says that he loves the neighborhood feel of his

long enough after baking, I taste it. I have in my head a notion

bakery: "There is literally no day in which someone doesn't say

of what I want it to taste like and I think, "Oh, it's bitter or there's

to me, "Thank you for doing this." Or, "You have done some-

too much coriander or I don't like the texture and so on." And so

thing wonderful for the neighborhood." Those sentiments make

I make adjustments in the formula and then I try again."

me feel as if I have made a real contribution. Finally, I love the
children, the streams of children who come to the bakery and

This is the daily ritual of Mark Furstenberg, who is regarded by

taste something. I think all the time that I have done something

many as a trailblazer in the bread business and yet someone

wonderful for these children, and this bakery will become a

who admits that he does not pay any attention one bit to food

part of their lives that will never entirely leave them."

trends. "I try to make the breads, foods, and pastries that I like.
I am a traditionalist and believe that tradition always triumphs

The mind of a bread baker can be described as equal parts

over trends. My job, as I see it, is to make the best things I can

artist and scientist. "I think you want me to talk about bread.

make and hope that my customers will like them."

Let's take whole grains," starts Furstenberg, the man who is
often credited with bringing great bread to our nation's capital.

The Heart of a Baker

Whole grain breads sell particularly well now at Bread Furst,

Furstenberg had no background in professional baking when

which is the third bakery he's opened in Washington, D.C.

he decided to become a full-time baker. "I had always done

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