Dan Lepard

Baker and food writer

The Australian oven crafter Alan Scott was one of the few who believed back then that an large woodfired oven could be central to a community, built using volunteer help over a weekend, becoming a shared resource to cook in. So though his book, The Bread Builders (1999) written with Daniel Wing, appears on the surface to be about oven building and sourdough baking, but it was their premise that the sourdough leaven could be a metaphor for social change and the way we approach food and cooking that enchanted many bakers around the world. Across the US, like a Johnny Appleseed of oven crafters, Scott built ovens during the 1970s onward and in turn, reconnected small communities with central oven baking. Still inspiring sourdough bakers today.