How geeky can you get about bread making? What about registering your sourdough starter with a sourdough library? (What about even knowing that such a thing exists?)
Alan Martin, a baker at the Kahala Hotel & Resort and a University of Hawaii student, is enough of a bread devotee to know and do just that.
“It’s a database for enthusiastic bread bakers,” said Martin — enthusiastically — about the Quest for Sourdough online library. “It has a program that breaks down the flavor profile of a culture.” The site is an offshoot of a physical library in Europe that houses starters from around the globe. It’s operated by the Puratos Group, which produces bread-related ingredients including starters. (Martin’s page: 808ne.ws/sirbedevere.)
Call him a bread geek and Martin would likely wear that label as a point of pride. He does know a lot more than most about fermentation and bacteria, fundamentals to bread baking. That’s because, if all goes as planned, in fall 2019 Martin will be the first University of Hawaii-Manoa student to graduate with a degree in culinology, a field of study that combines the culinary arts with food science.
Martin started on this academic path at Kapiolani Community College’s Culinary Arts Program, where he earned an associate’s degree in Institutional Food Service Management in 2014, then enrolled at UH-Manoa to pursue a bachelor of science degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition, with a specialization in culinology. The degree gears students toward careers dealing with commercial food products.
Coursework includes a number of science-related classes such as chemistry, a couple of microbiology classes and nutrition, as well as math.
Culinologists often work in research and development for large companies, such as Kraft and Frito Lay, creating new product flavors, implementing systems for production and preservation, and providing nutritional breakdowns for labeling.
“Culinologists work on products for retail rather than the dining consumer market, though their skills incorporate aspects of both,” said Martin. “The work is opposite of farm-to-table. It’s about increasing shelf life.”
That doesn’t always mean using chemicals.
“You can use natural things, as I learned in my food microbiology class. You can use lactic acid for bread, for example. This goes toward the trend of using ancient techniques.”
Martin cultivated extensive bread-making skills while at KCC and developed such an interest that after graduation he quit his restaurant jobs at Nobu Waikiki, the Hawaii Yacht Club and The Pig & The Lady to “stage” (work for free in exchange for training) in Europe. For six weeks in Sweden, he worked with a pastry chef in a small restaurant.
Martin made his way to the Kahala kitchen in late 2016, where he has developed a bread program for the resort. His sourdough culture — the one registered in the sourdough library — is used in some of the Kahala’s breads, and he has about two dozen products in rotation, from naan and pizza dough to breads for the buffet, such as rye, sourdough, cranberry, walnut, olive and garlic.
Kahala executive Chef Wayne Hirabayashi called him “very versatile,” able to help at various hot stations, and said when Martin took on a baking position he really took off.
Martin started out making hot dog and hamburger buns, but Hirabayashi said that after he started studying food science, his products improved.
“I could see the breads had better structure, flavor, consistency and texture.”
Martin is hoping to improve the shelf life of Kahala’s retail products, such as its popular chocolate macadamia nuts.
Hirabayashi said the nuts have a shelf life of about a week and a half, which he hopes can be extended so guests don’t have to rush to eat them.
But Hirabayashi values Martin for more than his expertise.
“He wants to keep learning. He works with his schedules to be able to go to school and work — sometimes he comes in at 4 a.m. or works the graveyard shift so he can go to class. He’s willing to do whatever it takes,” said the chef. “He’s passionate and it shows in his work.”
