Chef Pedro Hernández, at the helm of the restaurant El Duende del Fuego in Los Llanos de Aridane (La Palma), has been recognised as the second best baker in the Ruta del Buen Pan de Canarias in 2022.
The artisanal sourdough bread made with ancient grains by Pedro Hernández, chef of the restaurant El Duende del Fuego in Los Llanos de Aridane, has been distinguished as the second best in the Canary Islands in the Ruta del Buen Pan 2022. This recognition positions the establishment as a benchmark in the recovery of traditional baking.
The making of this bread begins with a live ferment. In a clean jar, one hundred grams of wholemeal flour are mixed with one hundred grams of room temperature water, stirring until there are no lumps. It is covered loosely and left to rest for twenty-four hours in a warm place, during which time the mixture begins to activate naturally. The next day, part of the mixture is discarded and another one hundred grams of strong flour and one hundred grams of water are added, repeating this refreshment for several consecutive days until the sourdough gains strength and stability.
For the loaf, the solid sourdough —with fifty percent hydration, that is, one part flour to half a part water— is combined with flour, water, and salt. The formula that Hernández follows in his own artisanal bakery is based on 450 grams of bread flour or strong flour, 300 grams of water, 10 grams of salt, and 100 grams of active solid sourdough.
The kneading incorporates the sourdough with the water and salt, adjusting with the remaining water, and may be preceded by an optional autolyse —flour with ninety percent of the water, resting for thirty to sixty minutes— to improve the extensibility of the dough. Then comes the bulk fermentation, between twenty-six and twenty-eight degrees, until the volume increases by forty to fifty percent, reinforced with two or three gentle folds during the first half of the process to give tension without tearing the structure.
Once the loaf is shaped, the final fermentation can be retarded in the cold, between six and eight degrees, for several hours: a key step to develop flavour and better control the baking point, as below five degrees the activity slows considerably. The classic finger test indicates the exact point: if the dough quickly regains its shape, it still needs fermentation; if it does so slowly, it is ready. Baking, with initial steam and a final drying of the crust, is carried out between 180 and 200 degrees in a preheated oven.
What distinguishes this bread is not only the technique but the purpose that underpins it. El Duende del Fuego is the only restaurant with Kilómetro Cero certification in the Canary Islands, and its commitment to organic and local raw materials —which has increased from forty to ninety-five percent of what is served at the table— makes each loaf an extension of that philosophy.
For locals and visitors, this recognition serves as an incentive to visit Los Llanos de Aridane and taste a bread that, according to its creator, "is the result of respecting the times of nature and the ingredients of our land."
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