Simple recipe: flour, salt, water and… love

A baker from Smolevichi District shared how she makes sourdough bread

Having moved to the village, Yelena Kokhanovskaya decided to bake her own bread and became so passionate about it that she now prepares more than 30 types of baked goods, and her day is literally scheduled to the hour: the sourdough won’t prepare itself. The idea to bake her own bread came to Yelena after the birth of her second child, who turned out to be allergic. Through a long process of trial and error under the supervision of doctors, it was established that the allergy was to bakery products sold in shops.
“Then I decided to try baking bread myself. My husband and I bought a bread maker, and, you know, after the child started eating exclusively homemade baked goods, the allergy disappeared,” the protagonist shared. “One day I came across an article about sourdough bread. It turned out that this kind of baking is very suitable for people with stomach problems.” 

  


















Yelena Kokhanovskaya preparing bread                                                                                  Son Vladislav with homemade bread

Yelena, before baking her first loaf of bread, immersed herself deeply in the subject: she studied the chemical processes that occur during its preparation, the effect of yeast on different types of flour, and how this affects our bodies. “Then I decided that we would have sourdough bread in our house and finally started experimenting. It took a lot of effort: long experiments with dough and sourdough starter, attending masterclasses, reading books by famous bakers, and trying out numerous recipes. I remember when I made my first loaf of bread — it was as hard as a rock… I did not understand what was wrong, why it did not work; there was the recipe, right in front of my eyes. Of course, if it had not been for the support of my husband and children, I probably would have given up. By the way, this kind of homemade bread is actively gaining popularity among people now, which makes me incredibly happy. It is wonderful that such a healthy product is spreading. It is not only about sourdough bread, but the whole sourdough theme in general: sauerkraut, fermented products,” Yelena noted. “For over ten years, our family has not bought bakery products in shops. Believe me, if you taste real bread even once, you will never want shop-bought bread again.”
It would seem that after so many years of experience, one could consider oneself a baking professional. However, our protagonist disagrees and continues to improve her products every day. “I believe that homemade bread, made with love, should not only be delicious and healthy, but also pleasing to the eye. My baking does not spoil or get mouldy, and it stays in excellent condition for about a month, unlike shop-bought bread,” the baker emphasised. “No matter how many baking masters I have met, they all said the same thing: the first 100kg of flour is just the initial experience, and that is true. In order to understand the nuances, to feel the bread, you need to process a lot of flour. Both the hand placement and the shaping itself are important in this process.”
At first, the woman baked bread only for herself and her family, but soon she decided to try baking for sale as well. She equipped a room for baking at home. It contains equipment, a separate refrigerator, two dough mixers and two ovens.
As is usually the case, the first customers were friends, neighbours and relatives, but today it is a multitude of local residents from Zhodino and Smolevichi. According to the baker, people always order with pleasure, but buying it every day is far from cheap. Not everyone is willing to pay Br5–10 for a loaf. “Where does this price come from?” I enquired. “Good flax meal is expensive. Also, for different varieties, you have to buy spices, cheeses, nuts, dried fruits,” our protagonist replied.
Currently, Yelena Kokhanovskaya bakes her products over two days once a week. The base is very simple, as they say, ancient: flour, salt and water. “I make a sourdough starter from these ingredients, bulk it up to make it beautiful, fluffy, tasty, and meet all my requirements: smell, texture, appearance. It is important to be patient and find time every day to observe the sourdough starter and feed it. Next, I knead the dough for bread, it ferments for quite a long time (about 5–6 hours), and then ages in the refrigerator overnight. The next day at the same time, after 24 hours, I bake it,” the woman shared her recipe. “How much baking do you have to do at a time?” I asked. “It depends on orders — up to 50 pieces. My record is about 100 loaves of bread a night. That, of course, was not easy,” said the baker.  

   

















Interestingly, many of Yelena’s customers, like herself, came to homemade products through health problems. Some people order bread exclusively for children if they suffer from metabolic disorders. Nursing mothers also order. “There is even a category of people living abroad who remotely buy bread from our area. I am pleased that my bread is appreciated not only in our country, but also in Türkiye, Pakistan, Mongolia, Poland, France, Italy, Spain and — believe it or not — even in Latin America,” the baker admitted. 
Our protagonist did not stop at the classic preparation of pastries, but went further, creating her own unique author’s recipes, capable of surprising even the most sophisticated gourmet. The baker’s assortment includes blackcurrant with bright berry sourness, as well as pumpkin, pumpkin-orange and spicy carrot-orange flavours. “Each bread loaf has a piece of my soul and endless love for my work. There is nothing complicated in this when there is interest, understanding and the necessary knowledge,” Yelena summarised with a smile.

By Yekaterina Kvachenok

Photos from the protagonist’s archive