Laroti

Just out of the oven

The process that the breads baked at Laroti go through can take up to forty-eight hours.

Author: Joan Ramis Boscana

The fact that in the towns scattered around Mallorca exciting projects arise is good news that fills us with optimism. In the south of the island there are some initiatives that depend on the product born on these coasts. We drive towards our next destination, which is Campos, and in our heads are reproduced, in high resolution, the logo of Flor de sal d'es Trenc and the image of a dish prepared in the restaurant Tess de Mar. Two initiatives that someday we would love to visit, and that exude elegance and good work. But today our route takes us directly to Laroti, a micro bakery that opened a few months ago and that bets very strongly on an element that dazzles us: the sourdough. The two people who lead this project are Ana Bunge and Juan Ocampo, a couple sensitive to what they consume and who opened a place that makes a difference in this part of the island.

As soon as we find their store and bakery, located on the main street of the village, we take a look inside Laroti through a large window overlooking Convent street, an artery guarded by houses with rustic facades. From outside we can see Juan Ocampo at work, preparing one of his loaves with his apron on. We enter and greet him discreetly to catch him red-handed. In the background there is a blue-green tiled wall, a wall that gives the space an elegant touch that contrasts with its homely tiled floor. The refurbishment of the place has paid off, and Juan's face seems to confirm it. He greets us laughing and raising his chin, as if he were also pointing out his creations, all of them displayed on a counter that is a hymn to a job well done.

Laroti's offer is fermented on a base of organic flours obtained from Roca Fariners. Their sourdough is capable of creating one hundred percent wholemeal rye bread, others made with spelt, some with buckwheat... A very varied classification that is the result of an artisanal process, and that Juan is happy to explain while he is kneading one of his classics. You can tell he loves what he does. He tells us that the process that the breads baked at Laroti go through can take up to forty-eight hours. Patience, as we can deduce when contemplating his elaborations, is another essential ingredient for the aesthetics of his loaves to be so spectacular. Among their collaborators there is also El secreto del grano, with whom they elaborate some other marvels such as a Xeixa flour bread zero kilometer that we are going to take home. The history of this wheat is atavistic, its consumption gives us fiber and vitamins, and the good thing is that they always have it available to the public. An authentic flavor that takes us to the origins of Mallorca.

If we have entered this micro-bakery it is not to leave empty-handed, that is why we will also take a portion of focaccia that Laroti prepares with rosemary and olive oil. Sourdough, as it could not be otherwise, continues to position itself as the basis of these creations. The focaccia does not lack companions on the counter: muffins with blueberries and chocolate, a banana bread filled with walnuts and a batch of quiches that say eat me. Because not everything will be bread at Laroti; his store also includes a large stock of first-class products: Maüa chocolate bars, Isla's kombucha, Forastera beers, Son Jover cheeses or Fet a Sóller jams. All homemade and with a pronounced local identity.

When we crossed the doors of Laroti to go home well loaded, we saw a sign that went un before. Placed on the corner of the street it said: all you need is bread. How right they are.