Solar-baked bread? Recycled loaves? Bakers try something new in France.
A collection of wispy clouds floats over Arnaud Crétot’s backyard, and in a flash, a blazing midmorning sun breaks through. For Montville, this 70-degree day is practically balmy.
More importantly for Mr. Crétot, France’s – and Europe’s – first solar baker, it’s weather he needs to make bread.
Every Thursday, he takes a break from his small business NeoLoco, roasting local grains for snacks and aperitifs, to make bread using solar panels. For the next few hours, he will scuttle back and forth between the makeshift, cabinlike kitchen he’s built in his yard where he hand kneads gluey, grain-filled dough, to his wall of 57 concave mirrors.
At 10-minute intervals, the 5-square-meter contraption needs to be manually rotated ever so
A culinary cornerstone“There’s room for all types”
