BUNS AND BREAD
In January 2019, I visited the bakery Cum Pane
in Gothenburg, Sweden
Here I met Robin Edberg. He is one of the two founders of Sweden’s first organic bakery, established in 2008.
As we talked, Robin served coffee and a very tasty sweet bun with lemon, orange and almonds. ‘This is our “season’s bun”, which we sell from New Year until the bakery, soon, begins to make our prize-winning “semlor”,’ he told me (‘semlor’ are traditional Swedish Shrovetide buns).
Robin has been a baker for thirty years. After completing his apprenticeship, he initially worked in a bakery and later went on to train future bakers at the vocational school. Eventually, he resigned from his teaching job because he could not vouch for the quality of the products they taught the students to make.
This inspired him to establish a proper bakery based on the traditions of the craft. Robin and his business partner, Christiane, began to look for a location as early as 2004. It was an uphill struggle. No one had any faith in the viability of a traditional bakery, and no one wanted to rent to someone who was new to the business.
The secret chef
In 2004, there were hardly any traditional craft-based bakers in Sweden. Now, there are quite a few, around 5,000. Nevertheless, more than 95% of all the bread consumed in Sweden is made in three large industrial bakeries.
It took the duo until 2008 to find a location – and that proved to be good timing.
By 2008, I had been living in Sweden for two years and thus a first-hand witness to the event that made the difference: the publication of journalist Mats-Eric Nilsson’s book Den Hemliga Kocken (The Secret Cook). The book is a well-documented and searing take-down of the food industry’s use of chemicals and additives, exposing food products that are a far cry from what they claim to be. It describes the targeted campaigns that have gradually made us forget not just how to prepare healthy food ourselves but how real food, prepared from honest ingredients, even tastes. The book’s message spread like wildfire.
Robin explains that in the former (now hip) working-class district of Majrona where Cum Pane opened its first bakery, Den Hemliga Kocken made all the difference. People were both positive and curious and flocked to the new, organic baker.
The second shop was opened a couple of years ago in Olskrogen, another traditional working-class district that is slowly but surely undergoing a generational transformation to a middle-class area.
Social responsibility
Robin has strong opinions about the role of the bakery in the local community, about raw ingredients and product quality and about how to operate a healthy business.
A craft-based company has to be run by equal parts head, heart and hand, he says, adding that today, he spends less time working hands-on with the products, happy to take a supervisory role and make sure the employees have the challenges they need to develop. Robin points out that one of the reasons Cum Pane is able not just to produce quality bread but also to be a workplace with hardly any staff turnover is that all 19 employees are involved in the decision-making processes and take responsibility for their own work, the company and the customer’s interests.
Both Cum Pane locations have a bakery on the premises. ‘We don’t want them just to be shops; the customers should be able to see what is going on, and bread shouldn’t be transported clear across the city, it should be sold where it’s made,’ says Robin.
He also says that although the locations are primarily bakery workshops, as he puts it, it is also possible to sit down with a cup of coffee and a slice of bread or a sweet bun – cinnamon buns, cardamom twisties or other variants. The bakeries even welcome people who bring their own packed lunch. Robin is appalled that our shared urban space is gradually being carved up and sold to private enterprises that put up buildings and prevent non-commercial street life from flourishing. Hence, Cum Pane’s tables and chairs are available to everyone. In practice, most people buy their coffee and baked goods from Cum Pane when they sit down, but his statement has sparked attention and debate.
Sourdough bakery?
I ask about how Cum Pane is presented; not as a sourdough bakery or a stone-oven bakery, like so many others, but as a craft-based bakery, a baker’s workshop or an organic bakery. Robin explains that sourdough is simply one of the methods they use. ‘The main factors for success are good ingredients and time. Good ingredients are not up for debate at Cum Pane. If you accept to spend time baking, the cost of ingredients is of no consequence. As I like to say, we could bake with gold leaf, and it wouldn’t have any impact on the price. Time is our costliest ingredient. We always use organic flour, source our ingredients as locally as possible, and for our healthy loaves, we use sourdough. The buns are not supposed to be healthy, they are a treat, which means they’re fluffy, sweet and made with white flour – still organic, of course.’
They certainly are a treat, both the cinnamon and cardamum buns and the seasonal citrus ones!
I have yet to taste the bread, but it looks tempting. Is it expensive? Certainly not, and there is always at least one type that anyone can afford. I ask whether that is because it is made from cheaper ingredients. ‘No,’ Robin replies, ‘and I could probably charge more, but I don’t need to.’
I januar 2019 besøgte jeg bageriet Cum Pane i Göteborg.
Her mødte jeg Robin Edberg. Han er den ene af de to, som i 2008 startede Sveriges første økologiske bageri.
Robin bød på snak, kaffe og en meget velsmagende bolle med citron, appelsin og mandler. ”Den er ”sæsonbollen” fra Nytår, indtil bageriet inden længe begynder at bage vores prisvindende semlor”, fortalte han.
Robin har været bager i 30 år. Først bagersvend, senere også underviser på fagskolen. Han endte med at opsige sin stilling, fordi han ikke kunne stå inde for kvaliteten af det produkt, de lærte bagerne at bage.
Tanken om at starte et rigtigt håndværkerbageri var derfor nærliggende. Robin og hans forretningspartner Christiane begyndte at lede efter lokale allerede i 2004. Det var op ad bakke. Ingen troede på ideen om et håndværksbageri, og ingen ville leje ud til nogen, som ikke allerede var etablerede.
Den Hemliga Kocken
I 2004 gang var der stort set ingen gamle håndværksbagerier tilbage i Sverige. Nu er der igen en del, omkring 5000, dem til trods produceres mere end 95% af al det brød, som spises i Sverige, på tre store industribagerier.
Det blev 2008, inden det lykkedes parret at finde lokale. 2008 skulle vise sig at være rigtig god timing.
Selv havde jeg boet i Sverige i to år i 2008 og var vidne til det, som gjorde forskellen: journalisten Mats-Eric Nilsson udkom med sin bog ”Den Hemliga Kocken” (oversat til dansk og udgivet på Politikens forlag). Bogen er en veldokumenteret og barsk kritik af fødevareindustriens brug af kemikalier og tilsætningsstoffer. Den handler om mad, som absolut ikke er, hvad den giver sig ud for at være. Den beskriver de veltilrettelagte kampagner, som umærkeligt og over tid har fået os til at glemme, både hvordan man laver hjemmelavet sund mad, og glemme hvordan rigtig mad fremstillet af reelle råvarer smager. Bogens budskab bredte sig som en steppebrand.
Robin fortæller, at i den gamle (hippe) arbejderbydel Majrona, hvor Cum Pane åbnede deres første bageri, gjorde ”Den Hemliga Kocken” hele forskellen. Folk var både positive og nysgerrige og ville gerne handle hos den nye økologiske håndværksbager.
Butik nummer to kom til for et par år siden i bydelen Olskrogen, også en gammel arbejderbydel som langsomt men sikkert i takt med generationsskiftet forvandledes til en middelklassebydel.
Samfundsansvar
Robin har stærke meninger både om bageriets rolle i lokalsamfundet, om råvarer og produkt, og om måden hvorpå en sund virksomhed skal drives.
En håndværksvirksomhed skal man altid drive med lige dele hoved, hjerte og hånd siger han og fortæller samtidigt, at han selv efterhånden ikke har hænderne i bolledejen så ofte. Det passer ham godt at svæve over vandene, og at sørge for at medarbejderne udvikler sig. Robin pointerer, at en af grundene til at Cum Pane lykkes ikke bare med at bage godt brød, men med at være en arbejdsplads som ingen forlader, i al fald ikke for at søge job i et andet bageri, er, at alle 19 medarbejdere er involveret i beslutningsprocesserne og tager ansvar både for deres eget arbejde, for virksomheden og for kundernes bedste.
På begge Cum Panes adresser bages der. ”Vi vil ikke være brødudsalg, kunderne skal kunne se, hvad der foregår, og brød skal ikke transporteres byen rundt, det skal sælges, hvor det skal spises,” fforklarer Robin.
Han fortæller også, at de primært er bageri eller bagerværksted, som de kalder sig, men at man kan slå sig ned for at drikke kaffe og spise et stykke brød eller en bolle (boller er i Sverige det søde: kanelbullarne, kardemummesnurrerne og andre varianter). Man kan også slå sig ned for at spise sin medbragte madpakke. Robin er oprørt over, at de fælles udearealer i byen efterhånden sælges til private aktører, som bebygger og forhindrer det ikke-kommercielle folkeliv. Derfor stiller Cum Pane sine borde og stole til rådighed. I praksis køber de fleste kaffe og brød hos Cum Pane, når de slår sig ned, men hans statement har givet opmærksomhed og debat!
Surdejsbageri?
Jeg spørger til den måde, de beskriver sig selv på. Ikke som surdejsbageri eller stenovnsbageri som så mange af de andre nye, men som håndværksbager, bagerværksted og økologisk bageri. Robin siger forklarende, at surdej jo bare er en af metoderne. ”Den vigtigste faktor for at lykkes er gode råvarer og god tid. Gode råvarer er ikke til diskussion hos Cum Pane. Hvis man accepterer at bruge god tid på at bage, spiller råvarepriserne ingen rolle. Jeg plejer at sige, at vi kunne bage med bladguld, uden at det ville påvirke prisen”, siger Robin. ”Tiden er den dyreste ingrediens. Vi bager altid med økologisk så vidt muligt nærproduceret mel og med surdej, når vi laver madbrød, dvs. de sunde brød. Bollerne bager vi ikke, fordi de skal være sunde, men fordi de skal være gode, og det vil sige, at de er lette, lyse og søde, men selvfølgelig også økologiske.
Gode det er de, både med kanel, kardemomme eller som nu for tiden også med citrus!
Brødet har jeg til gode, men det ser indbydende ud. Om det er dyrt? Nej bestemt ikke, og der er altid mindst et brød som alle har råd til. Jeg spørger, om det er fordi, det er lavet af billigere råvarer? ”Nej”, svarer Robin ”og jeg kunne sikkert sagtens få mere for det, men det behøver jeg ikke”.
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