‘Well-bread’ lady
One of the gems mined during the pandemic by Laura Maria Sion, wife of Mihail Sion, the Head of Mission of the Romanian Embassy in Manila, was her talent for baking.
Laura, who looks like a fashion model, had never baked a loaf of bread before May 2020.
“While trying to survive and stay sane through this time, my wife has discovered a great passion for baking sourdough bread,” Laura’s proud husband Ambassador Sion recalls.
Over 1,000 loaves later, Laura has truly proven herself to be a “well-bread” lady.
“I love food and really enjoy cooking but I always thought that baking bread was the hardest thing to do. So, I decided to give it a try during the first lockdown. I started reading and became very passionate about it. Now, I have over 1,000 loaves of bread baked.”
Laura’s sourdough masterpieces look to me like pieces of sculpture, but soft, crusty and tasty. She shapes them like a potter molds his clay, and even “embroiders” them with elastic threads of dough!
Where does she get her designs?
“I get inspired by the art of other sourdough bakers but most of the art just comes to mind on the spot,” she shares.
This is one form of art that requires patience, because the finished product emerges after a long process. According to Laura, the process of making sourdough takes from six to seven hours, “the rest is cold fermentation.”
Laura loves the Philippines, her second home now.
“I think God created this place with so much love! I love everything about the Philippines: the people, the weather, the food, the sea and the beach,” she gushes.
She describes her country, Romania, as a “melting pot.”
“Romania is a very beautiful country. A melting pot of culture, art and traditions, it is equally distributed among mountains, hills and plains, with almost 245 kilometers of coastline by the Black Sea. This makes it interesting to visit all year round,” she says.
“Romanian people are very warm and nice. Life-loving, joyful souls, as are the many Filipinos I got the chance to meet. I think this is also one of the reasons I was able to adjust so easily to living in the Philippines.”
After all, it is in the Philippines that one of her talents rose to the fore — like freshly baked sourdough.
(You may e-mail me at [email protected]. Follow me on Instagram @joanneraeramirez.)
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