Few things reflect your dedication to your art like making bread. It’s easy to knock out a simple loaf, but to create a real bread that’s chewy on the inside, crunchy on the outside, with a sweet/nutty flavour that is impossible to put down, that takes practice, patience and passion. Namely, the kind of dedication that our head baker Sok Pichdara knows all about.
Dara has been creating bread for almost ten years since his first training in Versailles where he also started working for the globally-famous, luxury bakery, Paul. After a couple of years of learning with them, he took off for the promises of Sydney where he swiftly found work with another luxury group, Sonoma, honing his skills on their speciality sourdough breads. But it was while baking at a 5-star resort in Bali that Dara was invited by Khéma to pack his skills and passion and come to Cambodia.
Since early this year he has been working all through the nights to make sure that Khéma’s breads get the attention they deserve, especially the sourdoughs and traditions whose dough requires a long fermentation period in cool temperatures in order to create that unique nutty flavour and deliciously crusty crust. His work “day” starts at 9pm, and finishes as the city is awakening at 6am.
He has a lot to do. The range of breads and Viennoiseries on offer at Khéma is wide, from a simple baguette to the super-sweet kouign-amann, which often sells out long before everything else. Dara’s experience with sourdough makes us proud to offer the best in Phnom Penh, including the traditions, a style of baguette that we consider our specialty. Dara adds a little honey to the traditions to temper the slightly sour flavour. But he leaves that distinctive flavour untouched in his sourdough breads.
Every loaf is made with artisanal old style flour imported from France, a terroir product steeped in history and knowledge. He cuts it with a little white flour, also imported from France to soften the flavour of the rye.
Every slice of bread at Khéma is made with the highest quality ingredients imported from France, but the most important ingredients of all are the passion and dedication of Dara and all of the Khéma team.
