Joe Fitzmaurice

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Baking breeds gurus, and bakers are rare in the food world in always generously acknowledging the guru who first pushed their button.

For Joe Fitzmaurice, the guru was the legendary Alan Scott, perhaps the foremost oven builder and sourdough bread baker in America and a guy who, amongst the bread fraternity, was a genuine legend in his own lifetime.

It was reading about Scott’s ovens and breads that cemented the desire in Mr Fitzmaurice to not only bake, but to bake in a wood-fired Black Oven, designed by Scott. Of course, Mr Fitzmaurice already had a fine reputation as a baker – his breads were a cornerstone of the Blazing Salads shop and bakery he ran in Dublin with his sisters, Lorraine and Pamela, and he hauled in awards for his breads on a more-or-less annual basis.

But when the chance came to move to the country – to the eco-village of Cloughjordan in County Tipperary – the chance also arose to build a Black Oven from scratch, and start a brand new bakery: Cloughjordan Wood-Fired Bakery.

With Black Oven baking, everything plays its role in fashioning that perfect loaf of bread – the oven itself, of course, with its massive temperatures from ambient heart. The quality of the fuel – Mr Fitzmaurice uses 4-year-old beech wood from Knocknacree Woods. The quality of the flour – organic, of course. And, then, the patience of the baker, perhaps the most pivotal element, as the baker waits for the bread to come into its own – waiting maybe 18 hours as the sourdough works its magic.

And the consumer needs a little patience, also: Mr Fitzmaurice advises that his 100% sourdough rye bread is at its best a full two days after baking.

Gurus. Patience. Purity. Bakers know all about Zen. One of Alan Scott’s collaborators, Daniel Wing, once wrote that Mr Scott “has made a life that is congruent with his spiritual knowledge”. That’s something Joe Fitzmaurice and sourdough bread bakers know all about.

Cloughjordan, County Tipperary