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NEWCOMERS TO THE HASTINGS MIGHT BE FORGIVEN FOR BEING UNFAMILIAR WITH ONE OF THE LONGEST ESTABLISHED INSTITUTIONS ON THE LOCAL CULINARY SCENES. YET FOR MANY, THE BURKHARDT’S ORGANIC BAKERY IS THE GO-TO PLACE FOR CELEBRATORY CAKES, LUNCHTIME FARE AND, OF COURSE, THEIR DAILY BREAD.
Michael and Kate
BURKHARDT
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perating from modest premises on Short St, owner/operator Michael Burkhardt maintains a relatively low public profile that belies his deserved reputation as a purveyor of fine quality food. Having moved to the area in the mid-2000s with a clear vision to open an organic bakery, his latest ‘project’ has been four years in the making, and has elevated him to the new role of primary producer. Michael, along with his wife Kate and their girls Ashleigh and Toscana, have undertaken the challenge of raising a distinctive breed of cattle – not found commonly in this part of the world. Not content with his typically 60-hour-long working week in the bakery, the Germanborn and raised maestro devotes much of his precious spare time attending to the needs of his herd. Michael recently took delivery of the first beast from that herd to be slaughtered. The meat, aged subsequently for five weeks, has undergone thorough ‘quality control’ by Michael and his family, plus a lucky few. The premium beef will be the main ingredient in the bakery’s popular meat pies, in keeping with Michael’s ethos of offering customers the healthiest and highest quality ingredients he is able to use. Here, Michael shares with readers the story of his latest venture and an insight into his 36year career as a baker and pastry chef.
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Michael Burkhardt reached a major completed a second apprenticeship as a pastry milestone at his Short St business earlier this chef.” year. The former German national has been Such was Michael’s calibre, having worked producing his ever-popular breads, cakes, in Michelin-starred restaurants and hotels in pies, flans and other sumptuous items in Port Germany, he was excused briefly from his Macquarie for a decade now. military duties to join the catering team of a Michael is a proudly naturalised Australian, former colleague for the lavish birthday party who has embraced not just the of an aristocrat in the family castle. The way of life in his adoptive guests included Queen Elizabeth II country, but who also and the Duke of Edinburgh, as of has adapted his flair well as the Spanish monarch. t After a lo e w , to take advantage Michael explored ch resear ith w go of the vast array of employment opportunities decided to ’s It . rs de an hl ingredients grown – in England and South the Hig ur fo sy bu a or raised – here. en Africa, before opting to be mily, years for our fa “Australia is quite head Down Under. k a lot of hard wor ng unique, certainly A stint in Sydney ni with a lot of le ar compared to the included several years along the way.” other countries where running his first bakery I’ve worked, in that all business In a shopping centre, the essential ingredients I but demanding trading conditions use are grown here,” he says. forced him to seek alternative “Many of them are available locally employment. too.” Prior to moving to the Hastings, he worked It’s a far cry from his experiences for seven years at a big bakery in Braidwood, in the Arctic extremes of Canada, Iceland until the opportunity to take over his current and Norway, where he lived and worked Short St premises came knocking in 2005. collectively for about three years during the “In my head, I knew what I wanted from the 1980s. And even in his native land the climate outset,” he says. and environment limited the extent of produce “It had to be an organic bakery. There’s available. always a worry that anything new won’t be “I spent a year in Iceland after I had well received, but I was confident in what I completed my national service in the German was doing.” army,” Michael explains. The longevity of Burkhardt’s Organic is “I’d qualified first as a chef, and then testament to Michael’s determination, skill,
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passion and dedication as a baker. The range of customers – young and old; the wealthy and the not so well-off; from individuals, to families, to cafes and restaurants – also bears out his success as a businessman. “What sets my bakery apart from most these days, is that everything is done from scratch,” he explains. “It takes longer to use raw ingredients and is less convenient and foolproof than preprepared ingredients, but I don’t see the point of sacrificing quality. “My basic philosophy is: everything I produce should be as healthy as it can be and affordable.” Why are you passionate about fresh farm produce and ingredients? Our bakery uses organic stoneground flour only, so sourcing high quality ingredients is an essential part of the operation. This also means going back to basics, and opting for fresh fruit and veggies, eggs, meat, nuts and seeds, wherever possible. Put simply, I believe the better your ingredients, the better the end result. The emphasis at the bakery is on retaining the nutrition and natural flavour of fresh ingredients, rather than compromising them with pre-packaged and processed items. There’s no doubt pre-prepared ingredients offer convenience and are cheaper usually, but you have little or no idea of how old they are, or the lack of nutritional benefit. Tell us about your farm: for how long have you been raising Scottish Highland cattle?