Freshly baked sourdough bread by Eduardo Morrell of Morrell’s Bread
One Saturday morning last summer, my husband and I stopped by the Berkeley Farmers’ Market to buy some seasonal produce. After filling our bags with fresh vegetables, we decided to try a loaf of bread from Morrell’s Bread. I can’t recall what type of bread we ended up choosing, but we both remember that it was the best loaf of bread we’d ever had. So as I began to research this story, I tracked down Eduardo to learn more about his wonderful bread – and eventually profiled him in Science on the SPOT: Secrets of Sourdough.
“It all really started when I received my master’s degree in filmmaking at the San Francisco Art Institute,” says Eduardo. “And through the Art Institute, I knew plenty of artists and stuff that were doing residencies at the Headlands Center for the Arts. I would go up to visit them every now and then to check out their studios…I had worked in restaurants to make money even while I was at the school…And at one point, the Headlands ended up hiring a new chef, Jessica Prentice, a very good friend of mine who now [helps to run] Three Stone Hearth…And I went and volunteered one day at their open studios. And lo and behold, there’s the brick oven and there was a French baker there who was using the brick oven: Laurent, who was leasing the space and baking bread. Both [were] really kind of were my first two culinary inspirations.”
Eduardo observed Laurent as he worked and began to develop an understanding and appreciation for how to mix and ferment doughs. He then left California for a year to work as an assistant for former Duke University professor and author Reynolds Price and baked bread for Mr. Reynolds on a weekly basis.