As many people discovered during the COVID-19 boom in home baking, if you want a challenge, try baking with a sourdough starter. Iryna Teslia embraced this challenge, and sourdough became the basis for everything she produces in her micro-bakery, The Bread Anatomy — from traditional Ukrainian holiday breads like paska and kolach to all-American chocolate chip cookies.
Before Teslia moved to Northeast Philadelphia from her village in western Ukraine in 2009, her grandmother taught her to bake. Although Teslia’s grandmother used commercial yeast instead of sourdough starter, she produced rich, crusty breads and delicious cookies and sweets using a communal, wood-fired oven in her village. Teslia fondly recalls helping her grandmother mix and bake all kinds of satisfying foods. She carried a memory of those tastes with her to America.
It took several years in the United States, though, before Teslia found the time to resume baking. “When we started a family and I stayed home to raise my kids, I started baking again,” she recalls. Facebook posts about sourdough caught her attention, and she gave it a shot. “When I tried it the first time, I thought the bread was so-so, but everyone told me it was delicious,” she says. One experiment led to another, and after moving with her family to Quakertown, Bucks County, in 2016, Teslia converted a room in her house into a “micro-bakery” equipped with a commercial mixer and oven.
Before I didn’t open a bakery because I was worried it would not be good enough. You have to work at it. Don’t be scared to try new things.”
— Iryna Teslia, The Bread Anatomy
Baking with sourdough may seem simple enough. To make a starter, a would-be baker adds water to flour and “feeds” it for several days in a warm environment. The starter becomes a living thing, requiring regular attention to keep it viable. “It’s like caring for a child,” Teslia says. “If you forget about it, things turn out different.”
Teslia kept experimenting, giving her products away to friends and family who finally convinced her to start selling her baked goods. She named her small business The Bread Anatomy because in baking every ingredient works together in balance, just like the various parts of the human body. Teslia still uses her grandmother’s recipes but has greatly expanded her product line. Her children, ages 10, seven and three, serve as a sort of focus group, asking for new items such as green bagels for Eagles games or a Pokémon-themed birthday cake.
Until she is able to afford her dream of a retail bakery and café, Teslia sells her products online. She takes preorders and offers porch pickups from her home. This May through December, The Bread Anatomy will table at the Coopersburg Farmers Market on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Retailing directly to the public is another experiment 39-year-old Teslia is willing to try. Launching The Bread Anatomy has taught her a thing or two. “You have to try not to be scared about learning to bake. Before I didn’t open a bakery because I was worried it would not be good enough. You have to work at it. Don’t be scared to try new things.”
Grandmother’s Ukrainian Rye Bread
by Iryna Teslia
Grandma’s traditional sourdough rye bread from West Ukraine is a beloved, dark and hearty loaf with a wonderfully sour flavor. Baked in her wood-fired clay oven, it was a symbol of love and tradition. Kneading the dough by hand was a way to connect with the past, honoring generations while creating a nourishing gift for the future. Here’s her authentic recipe to recreate this timeless bread at home.
For the starter
100 grams rye flour
100 grams water
10 grams sourdough rye starter
In the evening, mix the rye flour, water and starter. Cover and leave it to ferment overnight.
For the bread
200 grams sourdough starter
250 grams whole wheat flour
150 grams rye whole grain flour
250 milliliters water
20 grams honey
10 grams salt
- Mixing the dough: Combine all ingredients and knead the dough until it becomes elastic.
- Bulk fermentation: Place the dough in a transparent oiled container, cover it and let it rise for 2 to 2.5 hours at 77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. The dough should grow in size, becoming a fluffy structure.
- Shaping the dough: Shape the dough into an oval or round loaf on a floured surface. Seal the seam by rolling it in flour. Let it rise in a proofing basket for about 60 to 90 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheating the oven: While the dough is proofing, preheat your oven to 480 degrees with a baking stone and a large, flat pan of water.
- Baking the bread: Bake with steam for 10 to 15 minutes, then open the oven door, reduce the temperature to 390-430 degrees, and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes.
We have been spoiled with Iryna’s baked goods for 2+ years now. We eat nothing else, forget ANYTHING store bought. Hand made sourdough bread made with love, how can you resist? We could not. Order now! Do not forget to ask for her Divine Sourdough Deep Chocolate Brownies with your bread order. Her Papa’s honey is also the best! Iryna rocks!