Smith Field Bakery in Chennai is standing tall since 1885, and has even seen both world wars!

Located in the chaotic and crowded Perambur Barracks Road in Chennai, Smith Field Bakery has been baking love in the air with its traditionally baked bread, and cakes since 1885. This bakery has seen both world wars and holds a legacy that is worth taking a bite.

Smith Field bakery was founded by Mr. Ponnuswamy N of Sadarasapattinam 135 years ago, and it is still a favourite among local people for its freshly baked goods. It is one of the oldest bakeries in Chennai and has been serving a variety of cakes and other bakes since 1885. The bakery has seen the city's transformation in all these years but has grabbed the attention with its bright red board and rows of glass jars piled with yellow, white, and brown cookies. " When my grandfather moved to Chennai in 1885, he started this bakery.", says Venkatesh.S, who manages the bakery with his father and belongs to the fourth generation of the family.

Witnessing the world wars

The locality, which principally consisted of Anglo-Indians, saw the rise and fall of many bakeries in the late 19th century. But, it was Smith Field that stood the test of times till date. This bakery has even seen both world wars and has been a witness to the crisis it caused. " My father used to tell us about World War 2, when there was a scarcity, and there was not much of a supply. Everything was rationed. The ingredients were not available for the bakeries. It was rationed and was subsidized too. People would be distributed tokens for the bread and other things like maida, flour, and sugar.", says Venkatesh.

They used to make bread with wild yeast

Wild yeast bread is artisan-style bread made with a wild yeast starter culture instead of commercial baker's yeast. They used to have a big tub and in which they would culture yeast medium. Later, it would be used for making bread. "My father used to tell me that it was a very long process. They had to be very careful because yeast naturally has an acidic tendency and you have to keep a constant check. You will have to take a portion of the yeast and maintain it in a jar. The whole process is like taking care of a pet, because it requires patience, time, and constant check.", he explains.

However, now Smith Field uses factory-made yeast, but they have ensured that the quality is still the same. They dedicate the entire night shift to prepare and bake bread. "We follow the process of slow fermentation, we do not rush through proofing for increased output and do not add chemical improvers. The slow fermentation of the dough makes the bread easily digestible in addition to making it flavoursome.", adds Venkatesh.

Facing the tough times, and new challenges!

Even though Smith Bakery is still a big hit and pretty popular, it has seen a decline in its production. There are various reasons behind it. Twenty years ago, they were baking around 400 loaves every day. Today the count has reduced to half (200 loaves of bread a day). " The reasons as we see are: the locale had a higher Anglo-Indian population whose staple food was bread, which is not the case today. And secondly, the market share is split by fast-food joints and baked goods being sold by any shop/stall along with other food products. Though selling every day 200 loaves of bread in a store is still a remarkable in the present day scenario.", he adds.

What is there in the oven?

Smith Field Bakery has customers who even know the exact timing of their baking. They flock up the bakery as soon as the goods are baked. "They know when the goods will come out of the oven. We have a limited production as we don't have the facility but people love it anyway. We have spoiled them with the fresh baked goods, so they come and ask what is there in the oven every time.", says Venkatesh.

A bite of their bread!

Venkatesh says that 90% of their production process is handmade. They employ machines only for mixing the dough. "Thirty years ago, a humongous stone table of about 9 feet stood at the center of our production floor. Six people would go in circles around the stone table while mixing and hand-kneading the dough.", he says. But now, thanks to industrialization, machines are used to mix and knead. After mixing, artisan bakers prepare the dough for baking.

Besides their signature bread, Smith Field Bakery produces 25 types of artisan biscuits like shortbread biscuits, ginger biscuits, Ragi biscuits, jam swirls, and the iconic old madras butter biscuits. When Venkatesh joined his father 12 years ago to help him in the bakery, he researched and introduced new flavours to capture a new audience. "We have also added red velvet, black forest, and other such flavours. I started as a home baker so the recipes are as good and flavorful as you get from the home bakers.", he adds.

"I used to gift baked goods to my friends!"

Though Venkatesh has been fully involved in the business for the last 12 years, he used to visit the bakery during his childhood. "Almost every day, I used to visit the store, pick items, and share it with my friends to become popular. They were a fan and would ask me to bring more items. During Christmas and Easter, the demand would be very high, and the entire family would have to jump in and help. So we used to help, and I would cut the bakes, pack them, and it was fun.", he smiles.

Where: 30, Perambur Barracks Rd, Perumalpet, Purasaiwakkam, Chennai.
Contact: 098846 00232

Also Read: Wenger’s in Delhi is serving fresh cakes and bread since 1926!

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