DeGustibus: Artisan Bread Makers.

It’s a tough life this blogging lark. I mean, travelling around greater London, visiting lovely food producing people, spending time chatting to them and sneaking the odd sample here and there. I’m positively exhausted with pleasure. This week I want to tell you about the talented artisan bread makers DeGustibus, who now sell their breads in three different London locations and supply many of the city’s top restaurants to boot. Using traditional methods, they create a wide variety of loaves such as honey and lavender, spelt, savoury potato and mozzarella and dill – to name just a few of my favourites. Last weekend, I caught up with the super-friendly Jim O’Brien at Borough Market. Seriously, this man is like a tonic - if you’re feeling a bit down, swing by the stall and his cheeky banter will cheer you up in no time. He happily chatted away in between serving many hungry customers in the busy market and if I was cramping his style in any way, he certainly didn’t show it. Jim is the chief bread seller at DeGustibus, and very proud of his role he is too. His eyes lit up when I asked him about his favourite products – the Pane di Puglia coming top of the list, ‘it’s an Italian wholemeal, no yeast, a bit of soda to raise it and just a drop of virgin olive oil.’ He cuts the bread in half (perfectly in half I might add – years of experience apparently) and invites me to squeeze it – it is soft, yet springy and I basically want to rip a chunk off right there and then and eat it! The customer’s favourite though is apparently the 6-day sourdough – Jim tells me they have used the same starter (the first stage of making sourdough) ever since they began selling it – now that is a winning recipe. And the most popular cakes? Well the customers love their wheat free blueberry slices and I have to say, I agree with them. Made with ground almonds, they are beautifully soft, sweet and moreish - stained bright blue by those fantastic berries. He tells me how DeGustibus staff make every one of these loaves and cakes themselves, ‘you can’t trust other people to make your products….they will cut corners to make more profit.’ It is clear from chatting to Jim that attention to detail and a genuine love for the products is key to the success of DeGustibus. In fact, this passion came across from many producers at last year’s RFF. I remember most of them being up for a good chat and Jim reports the same from his perspective – there was a ‘real camaraderie among the producers, a great friendly relationship.’ He also enjoyed meeting the visitors, people from many different backgrounds – including lots of families and children. I ask Jim what customers can expect to find at the RFF stall and he spreads his arms wide to indicate the many loaves and cakes on display – that’ll be a bit of everything, then. He does tell me though, that there is one cake in particular worth looking out for and bestows upon me a parting gift - a devilish chocolate brownie. One half of which is dipped in chocolate. For some reason, I have the silly idea to carry it all the way home, in order to share it with my partner. One bite and I wish I hadn’t. This was the most squidgy, naughty and deeply chocolatey brownie I have had the pleasure of devouring in ages. I won’t be making such a foolish mistake next time… If you can’t wait to get your hands on a sinful chocolate brownie or a heavenly sourdough loaf, check out the DeGustibus website for store locations. You can also learn how to make your very own in one of their bread classes! Helen Graves also writes her own London-based food blog, Food Stories.