You won’t find a shed filled with shovels, trowels and rakes in Anne Keenan’s back garden in Insch.
Instead, you’ll find a microbakery, housing commercial ovens, huge mixers and a whole lot of flour.
Anne has come a long way from working in the subsea industry in Australia to owning The Culinary Kiwi Bird from her very own garden.
You may have spotted her at market appearances around the north-east, where she tests out award-winning different flavours on local palates.
Anne can also be found at her weekly Friday pop-up at Stewarts Hall in Huntly, and has been heavily involved with The Real Bread Campaign.
We headed to Insch to find out why one woman is on a mission, complete with some Kiwi inspiration.
How did you end up in the business?
I worked in the subsea industry in Australia for over 25 years and it was full on, I enjoyed what I did but I always had this love of food.
In 2016 I quit and moved to Woking to train as a chef then moved north a couple of years later.
What happened next?
I worked in a few places to get real life experience after my training, but I was made redundant during Covid.
I started doing posh restaurant quality afternoon teas from home to keep myself going but it wasn’t a sustainable business model.
I saw a vacancy for a baker in a sourdough microbakery in Huntly so I went and spoke to the two girls who owned it. It turned out they were both leaving and they asked if I wanted to take over the business.
Why did you start The Culinary Kiwi Bird?
I carried on the business for six months, starting to grow it, it was quite challenging. Then, the landlord decided the space was to be repurposed.
I decided – because I had invested in a proper bread oven and things by then and enjoyed what I did – to set up at home. I saw an opportunity during a really weird time and went for it.
What is the bakery like?
My husband is a joiner and we live in an old house in Insch. We had knocked down an old shed the year before, in its place we built what was supposed to be an outdoor guest room but it became my micro-bakery.
It’s only small, but I have a few commercial ovens, a big commercial mixer, everything I need to operate, I just needed to change how I did business.
What do you make?
I am really big on real bread, I do sourdough predominantly but sometimes yeasted breads too. They’re all additive free, just salt, flour, water and maybe a couple of inclusions if you’re doing a flavoured bread.
I also do baguettes, croissants and almond croissants, Danish pastries, both savoury and sweet, focaccia, individual tarts.
You’re pretty passionate about sourdough aren’t you?
Definitely, there’s a project called The Real Bread Campaign which is pushing the government to get a legal definition attached to the word sourdough.
Sourdough in its truest form is only salt, flour and water but any retailer can add things to it and call it sourdough. It’s misleading, so this campaign aims to educate people.
At the recent Scottish Bread Championships, my beremeal sourdough boule was awarded gold and subsequently reserve champion. My dark Danish rye and spelt sourdough with pumpkin seeds was also awarded bronze.
Where does your love of baking come from?
Probably because my mum was such a bad cook.
I grew up in New Zealand and it’s pretty similar to here. I’m from a farming community, it was meat and three veg growing up.
When I started travelling in my mid 20s I just discovered there was a whole world of food out there I had never heard of. I started recreating things I had tried, I was fascinated by all these different things.
Was it difficult to go from a consistent shopfront to working for yourself?
Every cloud has a silver lining: I sell more now than I ever did with the shopfront. Now I go to all these different areas, I have regular customers even at markets, it has worked out better.
What makes your bakery unique?
There’s no one around here who does what I do. There’s a need for it, getting back to the basics of bread and handcrafted pastries.
Are you experimental with your flavours?
I have quite different flavour profiles to your more traditional bakes, that comes from travelling all over the world.
I find that a lot of people like that, they’re always interested to find out where ideas came from. I just take flavours I like and turn them into a pastry.
Have you tried anything new recently?
I did a strawberry coconut croissant which was a throwback to a favourite bun we used to get at school with strawberry icing and coconut on top.
I also love truffle and mushroom, so I did a savoury truffle cheese bechamel and mushroom pastry. It was really polarising actually, people thought it was a regular apricot Danish.
How have north-east palates reacted to the wilder flavours?
Whilst it is quite traditional up here, the customers I’ve got are always game to try things.
I’ve never had negative feedback, I think it’s part of my USP that I do different things all the time.
Do you think people in the area support small businesses?
I definitely do, especially around Huntly, I think there’s a real draw back towards supporting local businesses.
There are so many additives in mass produced food now, I think knowing where your food comes from and what’s in it is a big thing.
My customers really are just interested in eating decent food, even if they’re paying that little bit more for it.
Do you buy your produce locally?
I was really disappointed when I started working in restaurants because I am all about being creative and using local produce, but there was none of that.
I got a bit disillusioned with it, but now I’m working for myself I choose to buy local and support local wherever I can. I might not make as much money as I could, but its not about that, I didn’t get into baking to become a millionaire.
What are your plans for the future?
I don’t know that I necessarily want to grow the business, but I do like the idea of getting a small premises to sell sourdough and pastries.
It’s probably a way off, but for now I am happy to keep doing what I’m doing.
You can find out more about Anne and The Culinary Kiwi Bird on Facebook, Instagram and at theculinarykiwibird.co.uk.
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