Hi Sadie! I absolutely love your gluten-free sourdough FODMAP bread. Not only is the bread amazing, but it’s also gluten-free! I think the biggest compliment is to have trouble believing a product is gluten-free because it’s THAT good and that’s how I feel about Bread SRSLY!
Tell us the story of how Srsly Bread got created?
I learned how to bake without gluten in order to impress my college crush – a gluten-intolerant San Franciscan. I had followed him to SF in 2009, only to learn that he didn’t want to date me. I proceeded to invite him over for gluten-free cookies, cakes, breads, and any other thing I made, every day, hoping to win him over. In the process, I became totally addicted to gluten-free baking and recipe creation.
After about 2 years, I discovered my own gluten-intolerance and decided to become even better at my craft. I really wanted to try making sourdough bread without wheat, so I made a sourdough starter by leaving teff flour and water in a bowl and waiting for it to ferment. It worked! Dozens of test recipes and 3 sourdough starters later, I decided to start selling my bread to friends under the name Bread SRSLY.
And the boy? It took 10 difficult months of baking and waiting, but he finally caved. We got married in 2016, and he is now a manager at Bread SRSLY to boot.
Even after so many new gluten-free breads come out in the market, yours stands out from the crowd. Why do you think that is?
Wild fermentation is what sets our bread apart. Good bread takes time to make, and our bread ferments for more than 12 hours, making it seriously delicious, and seriously expensive to make! Very few large bread manufacturers would dare to make such a time-consuming product, so sourdough is left to the artisan bakers.
Your bread rises for more than 12 hours, allowing for the breakdown of hard to digest grains. Specifically for people with stomach issues, this breakdown is so important! From my own personal research, I discovered the difference of sourdough bread from all other bread when I made the switch to the FODMAP diet. When did you first hear about the FODMAP diet?
I first heard about it when the press went crazy about it. I remember reading articles basically making fun of people claiming gluten-intolerance on the grounds that gluten wasn’t the issue – FODMAPs were. They went on to say that all a “gluten-intolerant” person needed to do was avoid wheat, barley and rye, and a zillion other things. I remember rolling my eyes at that. I’ve learned more about the complexities of the diet, and truly admire folks who can stick to it, as I can’t even remember what foods are on the watch-list!
I can imagine there are hundreds of stories of customers being elated about finding your bread! I know firsthand how exciting it is to actually find something that just makes you feel “normal” when it comes to food options. What is one of your favorite customer stories?
My favorite stories tend to be the emotional ones. I love hearing about someone’s first ever taste of sourdough since they’ve had Celiac disease since childhood. I’ve heard several stories of people crying when they first taste our products, and I’ve even gotten to see a few people first-hand when they taste a sample at an event. It’s so inspiring and heartwarming, and it’s the real reason we do what we do.
What’s your favorite recipe to make with your sourdough bread? Mine is classic French toast!
Well, I would be devastated without my buttered toast every day, but as for more complicated recipes, it’s a tie between this Panzanella salad and an improvisational chestnut stuffing.
Do you have a favorite quote or motto?
Not really, but if I could summarize my general attitude at work, it would be, “Why not?”
If you could pick 3 dinner guests, dead or alive, who would they be?
Nancy Silverton, Gilda Radner, and Bernadette Peters.
P.S. check out one of my favorite french toast recipes using Bread Srsly!
Want to order your own loaf?! Check our their website here!
