Photos by Michael Piazza

Growing up in Germany, Johanna Hartzheim was used to hearty whole-wheat bread and grains. And while living in Paris with her now-husband Ismail Salhi, fresh baguettes and croissants were always just a boulangerie away. When they moved to Somerville in 2015 they found nothing to compare, but they made do.

That is, until Hartzheim visited Germany about two years ago, sampled a friend’s homemade sourdough and realized how much they’d been missing. Once home, she immediately bought Chad Robertson’s Tartine Bread, the book Hartzheim calls the “bread bible for sourdough aficionados.” A few days later, she learned she was pregnant, further motivating her to consume clean, high-quality carbs—starting with making her own bread.

Thanks to a private sourdough baking class and the gift of a 30-year-old sourdough starter, Hartzheim, traditionally a pastry baker, was ready to embark on her own bread-making adventure. She and Salhi learned everything they could about the wild yeast and the nutritional benefits of its slow, 36-hour fermentation process.

“You end up with less gluten, more prebiotics, more nutrients, no sugar and a shorter list of ingredients,” says Salhi. “It’s a healthier loaf that’s way easier to digest.” They quickly found that baking one loaf or 10 took the same amount of effort. “With sourdough, the time-consuming part is turning the dough every half hour, so you may as well do a big batch,” Hartzheim says.

Friends and neighbors loved the product, so the couple began experimenting with larger batches, and found parbaking and freezing delivered the best results. The further along they got, the more they realized they might be onto something more than a side project. When Qleek, the couple’s tech start-up with suppliers based in China, showed early signs of suffering from the pandemic, Hartzheim and Salhi decided to take the leap. In January 2020, a week after their son was born, they incorporated Wildgrain, a home-delivery subscription box service that includes partially baked and frozen sourdough bread and seasonal, artisanal pastries, as well as hand-cut pasta. “We felt confident in the product, and knew there was a demand for it,” Hartzheim says.

Wildgrain espouses the same principles that fueled Hartzheim’s original quest for good bread. “Our motto is ‘Healthy carbs, the way nature intended,’” says Salhi. The loaves feature mostly stoneground, unbleached flour (organic when possible). Each box contains a seasonal loaf and pastries, with the rotation including blueberry biscuits, pumpkin cinnamon rolls and a triple berry galette.

Demand grew fast, and within months, Hartzheim and Salhi shifted from producing out of a commercial space in Woburn to partnering with local bakeries—one each for bread, pasta and pastries—to teach them their process and recipes. The timing proved serendipitous, as bakeries were looking to recoup business lost due to the pandemic.

At the same time, quarantining spurred many to try their hand at breadmaking, only to discover the challenges of sourdough. “People now understand how hard it is,” Hartzheim says.

While Hartzheim took the lead on the actual baking, Salhi put his tech background to work in testing packaging and shipping. “I have algorithms that, depending on your zip code and weather, and how long it will take for the box to arrive, can adjust the dry ice quantity. We try to make it extremely efficient and ready to put in your freezer.”

With little effort, you get the same effect as if you made it yourself at home. “All you have to do is finish the baking in your oven and it turns into a beautiful loaf, with a nice crunchy crust and delicious crumb,” says Hartzheim. “And your house smells like fresh bread.”

For every new subscriber, the company donates six meals to the Greater Boston Food Bank.

wildgrain.com

This story appeared in the Winter 2021 issue.