Apr
20
Meet Cliff Leir….
(image from Darren Stone, Times Colonist)
He is the wonder-baker (and owner) at Fol Epi in Victoria. Locally, he’s famous for his dense flavourful baguettes and buttery-crisp flaky pain au chocolate that would put any Parisian to shame. He learned and perfected his craft through the trial and error school that only someone with and a deeply passionate and curious mind can do. Cliff is so hands-on that he even constructed his own brick oven in his driveway when first learning. But his claim to fame is more widespread than that. He’s the slow food poster boy for heritage grain Red Fife wheat.
To read more about Red Fife wheat check out this article by Don Genova. He wrote it a few years ago, when Cliff was at another bakery, but it’s still an informative read. A Venerable Variety Of Wheat Runs Against The Industry\’s Genetically Modified Grain. Or read Eric Akis’s take on Cliff’s success story in \’F\’ is for Fol Epi: Cliff Leir\’s brick and bread empire
