An interview with Kat
Mrs Sourdough was founded by Kat who gave up her successful career in property to bake the most delicious sourdough bread in Kent.
As we talk about her story she doesn’t stop for a minute. “The dough dictates. If you try to hurry it, it doesn’t work and you won’t have proper bread.” – she says while placing the next round of pre-shaped doughs in her special oven.
She started to bake for herself and her fiancé, Chris after they moved to Maidstone, Kent. “We used to buy sourdough bread when we lived in the city. I didn’t have access to it here, so I decided to do it myself.” – she explains.
Her financé took some loaves to his workplace and it was not long before Kat was the talk of the town and people asked her to bake more.
“Without any advertising I had 2-3 orders a day.”
This is when Kat decided to start a business out of it and make it available for more people. She studied several books, blogs, resources including the ones by Vanessa Kimbell, a specialist sourdough baker, award-winning author and contributor to BBC. She attended workshops of Ildiko Toth, who herself leads a micro bakery in Essex.
Micro bakeries are operated in the home of the owner who bakes artisan bread to supply the community. It’s a great alternative to large industrialised production. Mrs Sourdough started as a micro bakery in Maidstone, clients made their order by email, and then either came to pick up the fresh loaves at Kat’s place or she delivered them in Maidstone the same day.
Mrs Sourdough was very quickly discovered by the bakeries and grocery stores in the wider area. She supplies many artisan stores, cafes and restaurants across Kent.
“Look at that, how beautiful!”
Her face lights up as she opens the oven and takes out the fresh loaves. What an awesome smell! “I’m always so excited to see how they look. I would rather cut each of them to check inside.” – she laughs.
It would be great to have a slice, but she warns me that it has to cool properly, as the last phase of the baking process. When they are barely warm, Kat packs them in her Mrs Sourdough bags and it won’t be very long until the smell of fresh bread fills people’s homes.
In 2021 Kat achieved her ambition of opening a bakery, patisserie & coffee shop in Chatham. Her warm and welcoming shop in Chatham is filled with fresh baked sourdough loaves daily. Customers can enjoy incredible cakes, savoury treats, lunches, coffee and much more more.
Kat has stayed true to her love of sourdough and every loaf is carefully crafted in her bakery in Chatham. Customers are raving about her baked goods and are thrilled to have a local baker on the high street. Members of her Bread Club can pick up their loaves every Saturday from the store.
For Kat, who has so much passion and creativity, the sky is the limit and there are many more exciting plans in store for sourdough lovers!
