An interview with Karel Goudsblom, Bakkerij MAMA
Tell us more about you
Bakkerij MAMA is a bakery where we sell artisan bread and pastry for regular consumers and companies as The Dylan Amsterdam. The bakery was set up in December 2011 and started from the kitchen of my house. After working as a cook for a long time where I actually always baked bread, I started supplying bread to the catering industry. Good and healthy bread is my starting point, made from stone ground organic flour without additives. From the start, the telephone was ringing all the time and I was approached from all sorts of angles. This was unbelievable because I wasn’t really a baker, I didn’t have any training for this. I learned everything from YouTube.
At Bakkerij Mama they don’t just bake bread like a bakery expects, Mama is more. We make beautiful and healthy products in which every ingredient and every talent comes into its own. The bread is made from locally grown organic wheat, spelt and rye. Artificial additives or bread improvers will therefore not be found in Mama’s bread. The bakery also has an educational programme where students receive training in setting up a traditional bakery. Of course with Mama’s starting points: honest, simple and clear.
How did the cooperation start?
The cooperation with The Dylan Amsterdam started in 2014 and has been very good from the start. I like to make things especially for a dish or restaurant and together with chef Dennis Kuipers a good cooperation was established. I like it when there a lot of opportunities and changes and this is the case with Dennis and that resulted in special products.
Bakkerij Mama currently supplies about ninety restaurants and The Dylan is one of them. We also prefer not to enter into many more collaborations because Mama likes to enter into real and long-term partnerships.
In restaurant Vinkeles, we serve a ryebread made by Bakkerij Mama. Why does this bread fit so well with Vinkeles?
Dennis Kuipers is looking for a taste sensation that, on one hand, gives you an old feeling (of eating together and dipping bread in your sauce, nice and soft) and, on the other hand, a feeling that allows you to experience a higher culinary sensation. So I had to look for a soft taste but not the average sticky bread. In the end I mixed rye flour with two kinds of wheat flour and a dough and this is where the rye ball originated from. A good crust and very soft inside. This process is very difficult because there are no additives in the bread. Palm fat, for example, is often used to keep bread soft and long-lasting, but we do not use this.
What is your own favourite bread?
I like a typical French bread with pain de seigle, nice light brown bread and not too sour but with a lot of depth in the taste. I don’t like neutral bread. I know it’s important to have a certain neutrality in your bread as an accompaniment to the meal, but I myself like a fuller flavour.