Baking Satisfaction

It was a very cold Sunday morning late in January, with snow dusting many of the mountains near Alora, when we arrived at the Panadería Los Caballos to see how they made their traditional speciality bread in wood (leña) fired ovens. The entrance to the work area was a metal door leading through to a warehouse with huge piles of wooden planks and boxes stacked roof-high on one side and massive tangles of tinder-dry olive wood on the other.

A beaming Antonio Vera Zambrana, the owner, who runs the family business with his brothers Manuel and Paco, showed us through to the oven room and the mixing and proofing room beside it. It was lovely and warm beside the ovens and Antonio rubbed his hands, although he quickly pointed out that in the hot summer months the temperature was incredible and it was definitely a case of having to wear pantalones cortes (shorts). Fortunately, one of the other specialities of the establishment is home-made ice cream!

The business, which had been started by their grandfather and had originally been run on the Campo (in the countryside), had moved to its current location beside the Los Caballos Restaurant near Alora twenty-five years ago, although the traditional methods prevail. Antonio, who begins his working day with his brother and their assistant Pepe at 2.00am, explained that most of the wooden slats and boxes for the fires is gathered locally, but that the olive wood, which is the best fuel, comes from the Campo. The dough is made of flour, salt, yeast and water and takes about an hour to proof. We saw dozens of loaves on three bunk-bed type racks, covered with blankets to keep them warm. The fires take about half an hour to reach the right temperature and then the bread takes about an hour to bake. Each loaf is taken individually from the fire on a long-handled shovel, is dusted down and then stacked in boxes, ready for the long journey to the shop about three doors down the street, a daily total of about 100 loaves being their average, depending on the day of the week and the season.
And the bread is popular too. Despite being early on a Sunday morning and despite being cold enough to put icicles on the end of your nose, the little street was bustling with customers eager to get their hands on their daily loaf.
In a world of constant and far-reaching change, it was fascinating and enjoyable to see an old method surviving so well. And the constant smiles on the brother´s faces, the continual jesting from Pepe, who was, after much cajoling persuaded to face the camera, displayed a joy and complete satisfaction on the part of the bakers.
Viva leña!