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Our Bavarian artisan producers supply us daily with high-quality, regional products.
Passionate Artisans of Culinary Delight: Local Millers and Bakers – As you know, for me, pretty much everything revolves around food, culinary delights, and enjoyment. Of course, I'm always interested in the "people behind it," meaning those professional groups and individuals who have learned their respective crafts and practice them daily to provide us with wonderful regional products. When we shop, we often don't give enough thought to the fact that good, healthy food isn't produced industrially, but rather made fresh daily through traditional craftsmanship combined with high-quality, regional ingredients. The artisans themselves – Bavarian bakers, confectioners, butchers, brewers, maltsters, and millers – are, of course, convinced of this.
All these professional groups have now established themselves as Initiative („This is how it should be done“) They have joined forces and, with the support of the State Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Forestry, are working together in the "Your Regional Culinary Crafts" campaign to promote the appreciation of their professions and the resulting Bavarian products.
Freshly baked breads, pastries, cakes and the like are only possible thanks to trained millers and bakers.
Culinary crafts in Bavaria: "Your regional culinary crafts"„
Bavarian artisans of fine food have long known that truly excellent products can only be created when they are made with extensive expertise, a passion for the product, the associated work, and the corresponding craftsmanship, using high-quality, regional ingredients. And so, Bavarian bakers, confectioners, butchers, brewers, maltsters, and millers stand together under the banner of... „Culinary crafts in Bavaria“ for everyday food items that definitely stand out from mass-produced goods in terms of quality and taste. The Bavarian artisan food producers are not only engaged daily in baking bread and cakes, milling grain, and brewing beer, but also work closely with local agriculture and are increasingly involved in communities and cities, as well as at festivals and events, through their craft.
Especially in challenging times like the ones we are all currently experiencing, it becomes clear how important local artisanal producers are for maintaining a consistently high-quality supply of the finest regional products and how much they strengthen social cohesion. Those who learn such a craft not only become a link between Bavarian artisans but are also often taught centuries-old knowledge and traditions, which they can then apply and implement in conjunction with state-of-the-art technology. To gain firsthand insight into this fascinating topic, I visited a Munich miller and baker – the Hofbräuhaus art mill Jakob Blum – visited and learned a little about the profession, the craft and everyday life.
Genuine Bavarian craftsmanship: Fresh breads, baked daily with a lot of "know-how" and in collaboration between miller and baker.
My visit to the mill and bakery „Hofbräuhaus-Kunstmühle“
First, I wanted to know what characterizes the professions of miller and baker. A Müller She always works in a mill, responsible for getting the best out of the grain and producing flour for us – one of our most valuable staple foods. Without flour, there's no bread, no cakes, no pasta, pizza, spaetzle, or noodles. A real nightmare, isn't it? 😉
The Hofbräuhaus art mill, including flour shop and bakery
The miller must have a good feel for the quality of the grain and controls, directs, and monitors the processes within the mill: What makes good grain, and what steps are necessary to produce flour of varying fineness for a wide range of products? – The miller learns and masters this and much more during or after his apprenticeship.
The Hofbräuhaus Art Mill, for example, which I visited, produces between 20 and 30 different types of flour in a mill first documented in 1703 – for every need and baking purpose. Today, the mill includes a small adjoining flour shop and a bakery where the mill's own flour is used to bake fresh goods daily. In the shop, you'll find flour in various sizes for cakes, bread, rolls, spaetzle, pizza, and more, as well as some regional delicacies and other products. The bakery offers approximately 30 to 40 different baked goods, primarily breads, and also sells seasonal items.
I have often had the opportunity to observe production and shape pretzels in various bakeries.
Anyone wanting to become a miller today learns the profession of "Process Technologist for Milling and Grain Processing" with a specialization in "Milling" or "Agricultural Storage". In the third year of the apprenticeship, they learn what requirements processors, mills, or the animal feed industry have for raw materials.
The Baker In contrast, millers—who have their own separate vocational training—process the flour produced by the miller further in their daily creative work. Bakers bake fresh bread, creative pastries, delicious cakes, rolls, and pretzels every day. "The best thing for our bakers," says Martina Blum, co-owner of the mill and bakery, "is working with dough and producing daily successes in the form of fresh bread and baked goods. Being able to process high-quality flour into delicious baked goods with their own hands every day and being creative is particularly exciting for bakers." She continues: "In our small bakery, we bake fresh every day. Our bakers have to have a good sense of the required quantity of baked goods, as we don't store anything and sell everything we bake fresh for our customers that morning."„
A baker must be creative and have a good feel for raw materials and high-quality ingredients; a love of recipes and trying new things is also essential. Baker training always takes place in a bakery – naturally combined with vocational school – and apprentices are actively involved right from the first year.
Here, grain is processed into flour daily in historic machines in a very energy-efficient manner.
The professions of baker and miller are often combined and always work hand in hand. In Bavaria, there are more than 2,500 different bakeries. Those who complete their bakery apprenticeship can subsequently train to become a master baker, deepening their expertise and potentially becoming trainers or business owners themselves. Further qualifications as a technical specialist/business administrator or food technologist are also possible after completing a bakery apprenticeship.
Additional information worth knowing
You can also find information on all culinary craft professions and career opportunities on the Website of the "Genusshandwerke Bayern" (Bavarian Culinary Crafts)„ Check it out. Be sure to also take a look at the Hofbräuhaus-Kunstmühle website and visit it in person. It's also... the last mill in MunichIt is run by Stefan and Martina Blum and their team.
Come and try the lovingly handcrafted baked goods, buy some flour, and see for yourself the craftsmanship of our Bavarian artisan bakers. You can also find more about the history of the mill on the website. Website of the Hofbräuhaus Art Mill. Also a fairly new one online shop, where you can buy and have delivered various types of flour, semolina, baking ingredients, spices, etc., belongs to the Hofbräuhaus-Kunstmühle.
I'll be telling you about the artisanal brewers and maltsters in a second part soon. Stay tuned! 🙂
+++ This article was produced in cooperation with the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry. Thank you! +++
Passionate artisans: Focus on local millers and bakers
Details: The culinary craft professions of baker, confectioner, butcher, miller, brewer and maltster
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