​History of International School of Baking - How We Got Started!

Torrington Wyoming a town that loves "The Bread Doctor”.

Torrington Wyoming has a population of 6,700. with the nearest small town 1 hour away. People drive 2 to 4 hours to come to the bakery, with a list of what 2 to 3 of their friends want as well. The Bread Doctor is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They have a selection of over 60 fresh items to choose from every day they are open.

I tell people do not look at this bakery as a model to design one by.  It is so unique
and the consistency of product is perfection. Ezdan Fluckiger MD works at the local hospital 48 hours a week and a French baker 4 days a week, and the town loves him as do I.

I have never worked in such a happy place where the employees are singing most of
the day. I still return to the Bread Doctor to help him with his bakery for about a month each year.
​​
Artisan breads are his number one seller then comes the Chicken Pot pies.
I am so fortunate to work as a consultant for him about a month a year, usually over
holiday times, developing new products and training staff. I try every time I go, to
bring new and different items that I know will be good selling items that their casual
market will love.

Opening and running a bakery in Honduras is only for the most dedicated person.
One such person is the owner of "Mesa Artesanal Bakery". Her dedication is a
marvel. I helped her open a bakery 13 years ago which was short lived when the
hillside gave way and the bakery slid with it and all was lost. She pondered for 9
years what to do, as she desperately wanted a bakery. 3 years ago she came to me
for two more courses to refine her cakes and Chocolates. 2 years ago she opened a
beautiful bakery with the feel and taste of Paris.

We talk on "FaceTime or WhatsApp" almost daily, usually discussing baking issues. I
go to Honduras 1 to 2 times a year to run her bakery while the family goes on
vacation for a month or so. I am so delighted to take on the job. Not speaking
Spanish is no longer an issue, as the "App" "Translate" even though not always
perfect has proven to be a real help. The employees and I laugh a lot but we really
get things done. We try new thing and they learn new products and it is a great time
for all of us.

This blog is about My recent trip May 10 to June 20 2018 to Honduras

Headed by Marda Stoliar, the International School of Baking is a school designed to meet the needs of every student regardless of experience. Isabella Bueso Flefil talks us through Marda’s drive and determination and how these have played a key part in making the school the leader it is today.

Established in 1985, the culinary school has been training beginners and professional chefs in the culinary art of baking. Founder Marda Stoliar is a lady of the world, and has been all around the globe, experiencing different cultures and tastes. These diverse cultures have given her the opportunity to be able to adjust to any situation and to adapt to the culture of her students.
 
Her teaching method is one in which she connects with her students and culture, permitting her to experiment with her recipes due to the different environments her students are living in. Marda also knows her equipment very well, and some situations have made her have to think outside the box to solve the issue presented to her. She was in China trying to teach her students how to make lemon curd, working above a place with pork rendering plants, when she noticed her copper cauldron had a significant hole in the bottom. To solve this prominent issue Marda placed very hot fire underneath the hole, which prevented the liquid from spilling out of the cauldron. To top it all off she did not have something to stir the curd with, so she went out to the streets and paid a women twenty US dollars for her broom handle. 

After flaming the handle to make it clean, Marda was able to stir the curd and finish teaching her students how to make a fantastic lemon curd. In some cases, Marda has not been able to speak the language of her students, yet she manages to teach them by hand movements and gestures. She knows this method works as she learned how to make a ton of different types of bread in Venice, Italy speaking little to no Italian. Marda has also taught in situations in where people’s personalities and culture are a mix, in these circumstances.
​ 
Ultimately, Marda makes sure her students thrive by inspiring competence and confidence in them. Inspiring her students is something pivotal in Marda’s way of teaching; this is because she feels her success should be measured by her student’s success. To this day Marda continues to teach around the world and inspire people to become a better version of themselves.

Many times bakeries become the meeting place for communities; a mecca for conversation and comfort. It was at one of these bakeries in a small town in Louisiana that I was invited to visit. The owner, a former student, asked me to stay with her family in their home and to help her ‘fine-tune’ her one-year old bakery. This was a real venture into a new culture for me—with the occasional foreign language "and all’.
I arrived during the chili-roasting season. I was greeted by large cement mixers of charred chilies slow roasting over open fires that dotted the land. The aroma was as brilliant as the visual and as powerful a memory producing experience as a great perfume. Many of the homes appear to float on-top of the landscape. They are built a foot or so off the ground in the old Cajun style; being placed near the road with large fields of rice surrounding them on three sides. I noticed that they had little-to-no outdoor plantings of trees, grass or anything decorative to anchor the buildings to the land visually. Large turtles frequently crisscrossed roads, meandering to and from rice fields at their leisure. All this painted an un-usual American scene.
Bakeries in that area are as “unique” as their King Cakes. These cakes are very brightly decorated square cakes and are the only ones sold. Biscuits and pies are the breakfast norm and the typical greeting from the counter is one of two questions: “hoosier mama” or “Howsse your Mama?”. If she knows you, “howsse” your mama, is in order. If mama is good, the world is good. If by some obscure chance she does not know you, she knows that if she finds out who your mother is, she will immediately know who YOU are and the rhythm of the life goes on.

Mama’s daughters’ routinely come by the baker after aerobics, dressed in denim and diamonds and perfectly put together. Food is small, conversations warm, considerate, proper and so up beat. “Papa”, on the other had, was rarely mentioned except to talk about him “feelen poorly”. When the husbands showed up mid afternoon sporting wide, red spenders or well “broken in” denim overalls a healthy girth and, without fail, a gimmy cap. He ate well and was the real customer. Typically taking home snacks for “later” and something for dinner—if he had been instructed to do so.
Graciously they asked about my stay and offered all kinds of true Southern hospitality. I worked for a week and ate nonstop. I have never been served such buttery rich, full flavored seafood in such abundance offered with such love in all my life. I came home lugging the heaviest carry-on bag filled with two lifetime supplies of Louisiana Hot Sauces and great memories. Southern Hospitality is a subject the people of Louisiana have well defined and their bakeries are microcosms of everything good about the South.
​