Based in the city of Santa Ana, Orange County, California, Moses – Bread is a company that is dedicated to baking bread in the traditional way, with just 4 ingredients. It celebrates the health benefits of such bread, which is fermented using wild yeast. Its evocative name reminds us that its creator, Moses, always appreciates the greatest virtue for bakers, which is patience.
The 4 simple ingredients of flour, sea-salt, water, and wild yeast are combined in Moses-Bread, just as the ancient Egyptians did 5000 years ago. It is then refrigerated for 3 day, to fully ferment. This process is called retard fermentation, and results in a bread suitable for gluten-sensitive people to eat without digestive problems.
The background to Moses Kwon’s award-winning bread is a shocking health scare. On November 24th, 2012, he was rushed by ambulance to hospital at 5.30am. Here it was discovered that 2 coronary arteries in his heart had become blocked, caused by more than 30 years of long-term diabetes. Moses had 8 stents put in his heart, enduring angioplasty twice (in 2014). After surviving this ordeal, Moses began to question why it had happened to him. This led to him concluding that processed food was the culprit.
At this point, he remembered a phrase that has saved him, and encouraged a vital new business; “Let food be thy medicine”. Moses began to study food, and discovered a book called Bread Baker’s Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart (Barnes & Noble). He took note of the author’s comment in the book that, “a good baker knows how to extract inherent sugar trapped in flour”. Moses thought to himself “flour is starch, starch, sugar, what is that? It is fermentation”. Fermentation is a familiar concept to Korean people, like him, through consumption of foods such as kimchi and soy-sauce.
That is when Moses first began to make sourdough bread. Then, a few weeks after making and consuming his bread, he found out that his blood sugar was becoming much lower and more stable. There were also no bloating feelings, and no over-eating distress. Quite simply, the sourdough bread had imparted its own magic.
Moses established his bread making business in 2017, but initially struggled to make it a success. Some days he didn’t have any customers, and began to regularly donate left-over bread to a homeless shelter. He often had to explain what fermentation was, its benefits, and the history of bread to be able to sell a loaf. He remembers a customer once asking if fermentation was a good or bad thing, even though she was eating yogurt at the time. Moses explained the difference between sourdough bread and sour-tasting bread (with ascorbic acid instead of fermentation).
During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, Moses noticed more people began to show an interest in healthy foodstuffs, especially sourdough bread. 2023 was his 6th year of business, but also the year many customers came to recognise the value of fermented sourdough bread, and the business began to flourish. Just a few days ago, a medical doctor interested in alternative medicine visited. She bought many loaves, intending to introduce the bread to her patients suffering from conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and heart-disease. It made Moses feel proud and happy that finally he was able to share his healthy bread with his fellow neighbours, just as he’d always wanted to.
Moses never compromises on the fermentation process, the time period, or the ingredients. He has made a firm decision never to sacrifice the quality of his bread to make more money. Instead, he is always faithful to the original recipe in the Peter Reinhart book. He sincerely hopes that more people are gaining interest in baking the best sourdough bread, and is delighted to be able to share the secrets he’s learned from baking it over 3,000 times. The ingredients might be simple, but the 12-stage baking process Moses follows requires patience and accurate time-management skills. We are certainly delighted he has persevered with his business, and is open to sharing the secrets that can benefit so many people with a healthy and extended life.
For business enquiries, contact Moses Kwon from Moses – Bread on their website – www.moses-bread.com
