[imagesource: Gentl and Hyers]

Remember when, last year, shortly after the pandemic went global, everyone started baking?

People who formerly needed a YouTube tutorial to turn the oven on were mastering banana bread and filling Instagram with images of baked goods.

Suddenly cursed with more time than places to go or things to do, plus the imminent threat just beyond our front doors, we needed a distraction.

I say ‘we’ in the general sense, as I baked nothing.

Then there was the great yeast shortage of June, which put a dent in those activities, and with it came the turn to sourdough.

Sourdough is made using a fermented mixture of flour and water to give the bread its rise.

Swedish designer Linda Ring clearly knew something that we didn’t because she discovered the joys of baking sourdough bread long before any of us caught on. It all started five years ago when she needed a release after experiencing total burnout.

Per The Guardian:

“I started baking sourdough, but as it’s my nature to try to make everything beautiful, I began experimenting.”

Her loaves became canvases for portraits by carving them into the dough.

“You never know how the bread or the pattern will turn out, it’s enormously satisfying when I take it out of the oven and see.”

Take a look:

Image: Linda Ring

Image: Linda Ring

Image: Linda Ring

Image: Linda Ring

Image: Linda Ring

Image: Linda Ring

Cape Town certainly enjoys a spot of artisanal bread, so who knows? Maybe this is the future of baking here in the city.

We’ll be keeping an eye on Knead – they seem to be ahead of the game when it comes to baked goods.

If they’re looking for some inspiration, why not start with a face that we all know and love – the Butler’s smile logo? It’s a short step up to modern art from there.

We’ll be keeping an eye on these baking endeavours, with the best sure to feature at the new Café du Cap in Newlands Village, which is opening its doors on March 1.

You can have your art and eat it too?

I’m game.

[source:guardian]