A Sourdough Shout out to Adam...

The Sankey’s name might be emblazoned across the front of the Fishmongers, Old Fishmarket and Mount Ephraim bar, but things certainly wouldn’t be the same without our amazing team working front of house or cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

In particular this week we’re shining the spotlight on Head Chef Adam who’s been a breath of fresh air recently and has revolutionised the approach we take to all the dishes on our menu.  By whittling them down to their most basic elements, we’ve been able to truly hone the flavours and textures our guests know and love to take them to that next level.

If there’s anything that represents a process born from the kitchen though, it’s that which makes our sourdough starter.

In fact ‘born’ is certainly a fitting term as the mix is alive with a combination of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria giving the sourdough its distinct characteristics. On one hand the yeast provides the much-needed CO2 to produce a light and airy dough, while the bacteria give off a slight acidity transforming its taste as well as its overall digestibility and nutritional value.

Enough of the science lesson though, let’s get back to the kitchen.

Once made it’s then meticulously checked and ‘fed’ for up to month with a blend of dark and white rye flour to establish a gorgeous flavour. Even then, what we take of the starter is left to prove for a further 12 hours before being baked into beautiful loaves - but the wait is absolutely worth it.

Things don’t stop there with this this distinct ‘homemade’ process however, as even our aioli is true to its roots and reflects the pride our chefs place in all that flies off the pass.

It’s easy to jazz any old garlic mayonnaise up by describing it as aioli, but ours is a cut above the rest with garlic being infused into the milk for a heavenly emulsion we can’t help but dip and dive into on a far too frequent basis.

We never like to give too many secrets and tricks of trade away though, so we’d recommend simply sitting back at your table to enjoy the fruits of our labour instead...

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