An Artisan Baker on Arran – An Interview with George Grassie
If you’ve tasted any of George Grassie’s breads, made in the old Bakery next to the Kinloch Hotel, you’ll understand why I wanted to hear from him how he learned these ancient artisan skills and why we’re so lucky that he came to be baking here on Arran.
That second question is easy to answer as George is an Arran man who grew up in Shiskine, although he travelled the world for twenty years before returning with a growing family. Always passionate about cooking – every aspect from street food to fine dining – he came to realise that there was a gaping hole in conventional tuition and thinking in Britain – and that was about bread. In Spain, he began to see how bread could be an intrinsic part of any simple meal, say of just oil and fish. In Bath, he learned with French baker Richard Bertinet, who inspired him with his understated approach and simple strict recipes. George recommends Bertinet’s book Crust: From Sourdough, Spelt and Rye Bread to Ciabatta, Bagels and Brioche, very warmly for anyone keen to learn, as he feels it is the only book to show the joy, and the techniques on its accompanying DVD.
George’s true baking career began in Norway, where he ran a small bakery, Lund Brod in a remote rural spot. He was attracted by the availability of special wheats and rare rye, and was involved in every part of the process, from sourcing the farms where the rare wheats were still grown, having the miller try new types of grinding and learning how to deal with extreme temperatures during fermentation. Then, as now, sourdough was his baseline and is superior, but he is not a stickler and can use added yeast in limited quantities.
