Master Bread-baker
“I am besotted with the French artisan tradition of bread making,although it’s very time-consuming. Everything is done by hand, the mixing, the kneading, as well as the final shaping. I’m also fascinated by wild yeast. Today, there are only two bakeries in Paris making bread using predominantly wild yeast.”
Twelve years ago Graeme Taute realised his enthusiasm for writing and interest in bread making. Over time these hobbies gained momentum, resulting in his decision to close his clinical-psychology practice of 18 years, sell his home in Hilton, and rent a cottage in the Midlands. There he earns an income baking bread for weekend farmers’ markets (the Karkloof Market in particular). During the week he writes. He also runs a series of popular bread-making courses at a venue in Hilton. Students will have a head start when Graeme highlights the beauty of bread in a four-day course at the Jackie Cameron School of Food & Wine.
Graeme has presented courses for Taste magazine, Sprigs: The Food Shop in Kloof as well as the Christina Martin School of Food and Wine; and his work has been featured in many South African magazines, including Country Life, Food and Home Entertaining, SAA and British Airways in-flight magazines, and Taste. He was also featured in the popular East Coast Tables book by Erica Platter.
Growing up on a farm on the southern tip of the Kalahari, Graeme was educated in Kimberley and developed a love of music, which he studied throughout his schooling, and continued his studies at the Music College at UCT. Midstream he changed to a career in social work, and then clinical psychology. After completing a master’s degree in clinical psychology he opened a private practice in Pietermaritzburg. A few years later he embarked on his doctoral studies through Rhodes University, completing his PhD at the end of 2000.
