Max Nordau had formed a “Pan y Tora” (Bread and Torah) committee and wanted to continue the project after the initial session, but needed to find a better location.
Meanwhile we moved to Valparaíso and Jonathan made the acquaintance of Soledad Lara, who operates a small bakery in our neighborhood called Pan de Magia (Magic Bread - it’s description in Footprint Chile reads “Cakes, cookies, and by far the best wholemeal bread in town.”), and soon started baking there once or twice a week. It is a small, homey place, with a good work table and a decent commercial oven; Sole and Jonathan bake together, exchanging recipes and techniques. And we soon arranged for the Max Nordau group to hold its challah baking workshops at Pan de Magia.
The bakery is in a charming location in Cerro Alegre, near a few other shops and a church where an outdoor fruit and vegetable market operates four days a week (see photo in 3/16 posting, "Beguiled in Valparaíso"). Having the customers come in to meet “the new baker” and sample the wares, standing in the doorway watching the shops open up, chatting with the regulars in Spanish – it’s like living in an exotic foreign country! Being a part of the daily street life of this lovely neighborhood and seeing some “Slice of Heaven” products – like coffee cakes and sticky buns – appearing on the display racks (even when Jonathan isn’t baking), is an unexpectedly delightful aspect of our adventure in Chile.
