When life gave Bianca Saracini and Danny Perez lemons, they didn’t make lemonade. Instead they made sourdough bread. The husband and wife team had both been placed on the injured list and needed to find new careers. Danny, a builder for 25 years, had broken his back in 2014 and, after two spinal infusions, was unable to return to his profession. During the same time frame, Bianca tore her rotator cuff from the wear and tear of being a hairdresser and thought it best not to return to her profession. Both were in their mid-40s. While rehabbing, they wrestled with ideas of how they were going to change careers. And what to do.
“Both of us really enjoy cooking,” Bianca says. Though neither Bianca nor Danny had experience in baking bread, Bianca started making some while she was healing from her shoulder injury. For a recipe, she reached out to her cousin in Sweden who owns one of the five top bakeries there. She remembered having his sourdough bread years before when she had visited. Though she was gluten-sensitive and had been gluten-free for many year, she says, she was able to eat—and enjoy—his sourdough bread without a problem.
“I wanted to share this knowledge with others,” she says, in the hope it would help them. It’s important to note, she says, that Nörd breads are not gluten-free. “Because the fermentation process that the dough goes through as it’s proofing [they use a very long, cold-proofing process], the dough produces a large amount of lactic acid which helps to break down the bread, making it much easier to digest.” Bianca cautions anyone who is gluten-intolerant not to eat their bread. But those who are gluten-sensitive usually do very well, she says.
She and Danny started experimenting with her cousin’s recipe. After turning out their share of “hockey pucks,” she says, they hit on the right recipe. In 2017 Nörd sourdough breads was launched. If you haven’t guessed, Nörd is the Swedish word for north.
Bianca was born in Sweden but moved when still an infant with her family to Delaware County, eventually moving to Warrington. Danny was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Hunting Park, then when a teenager, moved with his family to Warminster. Today the couple lives in Doylestown.
At first Bianca sold their sourdough breads to the owners and clients at the hair salons she had worked in. She also started making weekly home deliveries in Doylestown (which she still does. More on that later). The good news spread fast. Soon Jamie Hollander Gourmet Foods & Catering in New Hope started carrying Nörd bread in his store as well as using it for his catering. Wasn’t long before Bianca and Danny started selling at local farmers’ markets. Which is where their breads and I became first acquainted and have remained delicious close friends.
It was last year at the Doylestown Farmers Market. One of my go-to stands is Offbeat Gourmet to see Allison Wright, co-owner with chef Scott Duncan, to catch-up, check out their latest products and replenish my cache of my favorites. Allison said that I had to check out the market’s newest vendor: Nörd Sourdough Bread. They were sampling their rye bread with Offbeat Gourmet’s Pickled Mustard Seeds, a savory spread that awakens every taste bud you’ve ever had.
And, indeed, they were. Their Rye Sourdough Batard is a mix of unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour and Castle Valley Mill’s stoneground rye flour, rye berries and caraway seeds. Thick slices of their bread were slathered with Offbeat’s mustard spread for tasting. Though only 10 a.m., I was ready to raise a glass of vodka and say “Skål!”
Still I skipped buying a loaf of their rye bread that day. Instead I did what I always do when trying a new artisan food maker. I go for their original, plain offering, unflavored with spices, fruits or other seasonings. In Nörd’s case, I bought a loaf of their original Plain Sourdough bread. One taste told me that whatever other breads they make, they would be worthy of any meal or occasion. And never have their breads disappointed.
There are many things that set Nörd bread apart from other sourdough breads—not the least is Bianca and Danny’s passion about creating breads the “old-fashioned” way. Translation: They use the best grown flours produced and local and organic products whenever they can. For example, they use rye flour, and rye and wheat berries from Castle Valley Mill, some dry goods from The Larder in Doylestown and products from fellow farmers market vendors.
And true to Bucks County’s farm tradition, they also bake breads reflective of the seasons, changing the sweet and savory breads monthly. Major alert! Look for their sourdough bread made with blueberries from their own garden this summer as well as other seasonal breads made with produce and fruit from local farmers.
In addition to their sourdough breads, Bianca and Danny also make sourdough focaccia topped with cherry tomatoes and olive oil, sourdough soft pretzels and sourdough cinnamon buns. These, as well as their breads, are sold at local farmers markets: Doylestown, Wrightstown, New Britain, Perkasie and Yardley. Nörd bread is also sold at Jamie Hollander’s in New Hope, Organnons’ in Newtown, The Carversville Kitchen in Carversville, Bunn’s Natural Foods in Southampton, McCaffrey’s in New Hope and Doylestown, Kimberton Whole Foods in Ottsville, GI Juice & Java in Buckingham Green Shopping Center and MORE Catering in Plumsteadville. Free home delivery is available every Wednesday in Doylestown.
Recently Bianca and Danny starting selling attractive, black reusable shopping bags with Nörd’s logo printed in gold. Ten percent of each sale goes towards their free bread fund which supplies bread to local healthcare workers and people in need.
To order your bag, see what breads are being baked this week or to place an order for pick up at a farmers market or delivery in Doylestown, visit www.nordbread.com.