{"id":3961,"date":"2022-07-30T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-30T04:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/?p=3961"},"modified":"2022-08-02T08:45:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T04:15:08","slug":"manifesting-croissants-in-india-auroville-bakery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventure.auroville.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/30\/manifesting-croissants-in-india-auroville-bakery\/","title":{"rendered":"Manifesting Croissants in India: Auroville Bakery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Co-written by Ashwini<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Auroville Bakery is well-known for its traditional French pastries, and a visit is a highlight in many people\u2019s stay in Auroville. Beyond the large sign at the entrance \u2013 \u201cAuroville bakery, Rotikashala, Boulangerie<\/em>\u201d \u2013 is the baker shop, with its delightful array of breads, cakes and cookies. Walk a bit further through the narrow garden path, and you\u2019ll find a large seating area surrounded by greenery. Over the years, many Aurovilians came and went, helping to make the bakery what it is today. Tracing the origins of this Kuilapalayam gem means going back in time a full half-century, to Auroville\u2019s early days\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beginnings<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Roy came to Auroville from Boston in 1971, and remembers the hardship of those days. \u201cThe first couple of years we were living with very little money\u201d, he says. \u201cWe were hungry a lot of the time\u201d. Early Aurovilians\u2019 meals often consisted of a few slices of bread with a spread of Dalda (vegetable ghee) and rock salt. As a result, producing bread from the rationed wheat was vital. Roy made bagels for a while at a bakery set up in Aspiration and run by Chris, but his dream was to make whole wheat bread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Huts in Aspiration, 1971<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As Auroville continued to develop, some Aurovilians asked The Mother if they could start a new community in Kottakarai to bridge Auroville and the village, and she gave her blessing. It was there, in Kottakarai\u2019s Palmyra grove, that Larry and Roy started their first bakery sometime in 1972-73.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel, a founding member of that community, had showed them how to make a sourdough starter, and the design for an oven made from an oil drum came from a visiting New Zealand man named Tim. They hired the young Sundaram, and were soon making 200 whole grain loaves a day for the nearby people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But having no roof made baking during the monsoon impossible. With funding from John Walker, a permanent bakery was built in 1975 in a keet shed, where Celebration community is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe wheat and local millet came from government rations\u201d, Sundaram recalls of that time, when Auroville was struggling. \u201cIt was not at all of good quality \u2013 yet the bread was received with all love from the community.\u201d. As would happen many times during the Auroville Bakery\u2019s history, the staff changed, and responsibility for the shop soon passed to Otto and Jean-Denis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a kind of an open space, where animals could come in and go anytime.\u201d, Otto remembers. \u201cApart from Sundaram, none of us were professionals. He used to bake the whole day\u2026 And we too learned with him. There were the normal wheat bread and sourdough bread, as well as buns and muffins for the various communities of Auroville. We did everything. Besides baking we had to do all the washing and cleaning ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of our customers were the villagers. They would come on weekends to purchase bread and muffins, after they received their sambalam<\/em>! (salary)\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe situation was challenging, and we faced constant drama. There were two old ovens, and the heat was very unequal. So the bread dough had to be shuffled around two or three times till it baked. Without constant attention, it could either get burned or stay half cooked. We had this aloe-vera pot outside, since we would often get burned by the steam.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFire wood came in different qualities, which affected the time of baking, especially during monsoon when the wood was wet. We used to have several power cuts a day. Customers had to wait till noon to get bread for the next day. No professional bakers would have worked under those conditions!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With money saved up from baking cookies, and a loan from some Aurovilians, it was finally possible to move the bakery to another place. The current site near Douceur in Kuilapalayam was agreed upon out of three options in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n