Lewes-based The Hearth Pizzeria & Bakehouse is harvesting its first crop of heritage wheats to produce its own breads and pizza doughs.
The approach ‘field to fork’ has seen the wheat cropped in a way that makes it more resilient to variations in weather patterns. It has worked with renowned archaeo-botanist John Letts to plant and harvest the heritage wheat in 10 acres in East Sussex.
The ‘field to fork’ movement seeks to change the sector’s industrialised approach to flour and grain, which focuses on crop yield, growth speed and shelf-life to one that focuses on nutrition and taste.
“We are really excited to be harvesting our first crop, and can’t wait to get it milled and into our breads and pizza doughs. The great thing about the project, apart from the fact that the wheat was grown just 10minutes along the road in Southease, is that the heirloom grains add both nutrition and flavour to bread - especially in conjunction with the long proofing times we use for our sourdoughs,” said Michael Hanson, master baker and owner of The Hearth.
There is only one other pizzeria to take such a field to fork approach: The Pepe in Grani, Italy, run by a famous pizzaiolo Franco Pepe.
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