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Artisanal Sourdough: The Craft of a Bidayuh Baker
4/6/2024
TV script edited for article.
Writers: Eugene Chin, Cheryl Choo
We flew to Kuala Lumpur to meet a woman making her mark as an emerging sourdough baker, and whose goal is to share the joy and comforts she found in a home away from home. Meet Molly, also known as the Bidayuh Baker. Molly grew up in Serian Town, Sarawak, where she spent her childhood and teenage life before moving to Germany in her later years.
After almost a decade in Europe, she moved back to the capital of Malaysia. It took her a few years to adjust to the chaotic concrete jungle and occasional remarks on her lineage her Peninsula counterparts. Much like John, Molly did not have an easy start at life, but that did not get in the way of her love for baking.
After almost a decade in Europe, she moved back to the capital of Malaysia. It took her a few years to adjust to the chaotic concrete jungle and occasional remarks on her lineage by her Malayan counterparts.
Much like John, Molly did not have an easy start in life, but that did not get in the way of her love for baking.
Bidayuh Baker located at Panorama Condominium.
A decade in Germany found Molly falling in love with sourdough bread, especially as she had been looking for a healthier alternative to white rice. Molly had yet to find any good European-styled bread since moving back to Malaysia. Little did she know that it’s absence created an opportunity that would change her life.
Sourdough bread is a type of bread made using natural fermentation and relies on wild yeast instead of the commercial yeast in normal bread. The two key ingredients are merely flour and water. Making your own sourdough was a popular activity in Malaysia during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The nutritional benefits of sourdoughs also appeals to health-conscious consumers.
Molly launched her small business during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, from her kitchen at home. Now she bakes at her wholesale bakery at the commercial lot of Panorama Condominium, Bangsar.
Today, Molly demonstrates several key processes of sourdough making. There is special care given to stretching and folding the dough to create gluten that makes it firm. The process is repeated every 40 to 60 minutes for an average of 4 times, depending on the humidity, temperature, the hydration of the dough, and the type of flour used. Being an artisanal baker is a highly-regarded profession in most European countries, but locally, there is little understanding and appreciation for it.
Sourdough bread gets its name from the slightly tangy taste that comes from the fermentation process where yeast interacts with water. However, locals were unaccustomed to the sourness and rough texture of European breads. So to accommodate to local taste buds while still maintaining the integrity of the sourdough-making process, Molly learned to control the level of acidity by cutting short the fermentation time.
The stretched and folded doughs are put into a banneton rattan basket, where they will rest overnight in a fridge before baking the next day.
Seeded oats sourdough bread ready for baking.
Operating a small business during the pandemic is no easy feat. Molly’s tenacity and perseverance has brought here from her home kitchen to one fully equipped to commercial standards. It’s an attitude, according to Molly, shared by Bidayuh women, who are known for their strong will and hunger to explore new things. Which is why this Bidayuh baker hopes to give the community back home more opportunity to do so.
Sarawak boasts a rich gastronomic culture, abundant in both wild and indigenous agricultural produce. For a bread connoisseur like Molly, she aspires to incorporate local ingredients into her baking, inspired by the region's unique flavours and culinary traditions.
Two different entrepreneurs of two different scales, but they share the same heart and mind; John and Molly are among the many Sarawakians who found something that brought them comfort abroad and hoped that it may do the same to home as well.
Watch the episode we produced on YouTube: