Motherdough was started by Lance Littlefield and his partner Willem van Schalkwyk during lockdown as a source of advice, equipment and a reliable starter for people caught up in the craze of baking sourdough bread. Lance's starter 'Alfonsina' is over a century old and comes from Piedmont in Italy. He's been her care-giver for over 25 years. When the world started returning to normal after Covid, and people were less focused on baking at home, Lance and Willem made the leap to open their own artisanal bakery with Alfonsina in Franschhoek. Their mission is to bake real bread and a host of other naturally leavened baked goods. I sat down with Lance to chat about Alfonsina, their travels together, and why we should all be eating real bread.
