Meet the Chef: Richard Miscovich

In an ambitious effort to begin a new category on Sweet Mary, I sat down last week to chat with Richard Miscovich, one of my instructors at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.  If you've been following my site, you know that it was in his class, Introduction to Breads and Rolls, that I received my first taste of culinary school last September.

I chose to "interview" (I'm using this term fairly loosely) Richard not only because I felt I received an excellent foundation in bread baking, but because he has an interesting story that smacks of his commitment to wholesome organic food, and, simply put, well made bread.  He has also served as my Academic Adviser all year and has been a tremendous help in my path towards graduation and beyond.

My objective here is to just introduce you to someone in the baking industry whom I respect, as well as share why I've enjoyed learning from and getting to know him.  So, rather than give you a run down of the standard questions and answers, I'll just lay out a little history.

Some Background

Chef Richard Miscovich grew up in mid-Michigan in the 1970's where his Polish aunts and uncles from Detroit exposed him to their genre of baked goods and pastries.  Like many of us, our heritage leads us deep into the things we grow to know and love.  Consequently, while in college at Michigan State University, he worked in a grocery store with an in-house bakery.  One of his colleagues there had a father with a brick oven, which led Richard to his first taste of well fermented bread.  This, of course, was one of those proverbial light bulb moments.  A moment when he realized there is much more to bread than he (and most Americans) knew at that time.

After college, he migrated out west to California where he was exposed to more tasty fermented breads.  Shortly thereafter, he moved to the coast of North Carolina with his wife, where, like many bakers, began baking at home and giving his products away to friends and family.  He read the book Bread Alone by Daniel Leader, owner of the bakery Bread Alone in Woodstock, New York.  This book was instrumental in Richard's quest to create the crust and crumb of true artisan bread.  In Bread Alone, Leader takes home bakers through all the steps to baking artisan bread while recounting his own journeys and stories.  It is a great book for those interested in baking (real) bread at home.

In the mid 1990's, Richard became involved with the Bread Bakers Guild of America (http://www.bbga.org/), which has proven to be a guiding force in his career due to the quality of education and information the Guild provides.  He also attended the first two classes held by the San Francisco Baking Institute (http://www.sfbi.com/) right around this time.  For anyone in the Bay Area, check out all the great classes they now offer in both bread and pastry.  Another influential force in Miscovich's career path was Alan Scott, an oven builder and owner of OvenCrafters (www.ovencrafters.net) from Petaluma, California.  It was Scott who taught Richard to build his own brick oven, which he did back home in Beaufort, North Carolina.

In Beaufort, Richard began baking at a local restaurant that also had a brick oven.  Wood fired brick ovens are important because they heat differently than the ovens we have in our homes.  The heat they create is very intense and radiates from all directions.  This type of heat creates some amazing bread and is a tradition that dates back to almost every ancient civilization.  So, you can see why someone interested in the art of making hearth bread would be drawn to learning about, building, and baking in a brick oven.   And, how cool to have one of your very own at home.

After spending time baking for the local restaurant, Richard began his own bread business (One Acre Garden and Bakery) baking organic hearth breads out of his oven, which he calls Magdalena.   He inadvertently built up a strong customer base while working at the restaurant.  In fact, his first customer was his former employer.  In addition, he baked a lot for the community, became involved with the local farmer's market, and even ran a bread delivery route for a while.

Transition into Teaching

Even though Richard teaches in New England during the academic year, he returns to North Carolina each summer to resume baking and managing his business, which picks up during the summer months.  Miscovich actually began teaching at King Arthur Flour (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/) in Vermont where he ran classes for home bakers, served as head bread baker, and helped develop books and courses.  This was a truly satisfying job for him because he enjoyed teaching and assisting a really diverse group of people who loved both baking and learning.  It was while working at King Arthur in 2003 that the position at Johnson & Wales opened up.

Here and Now

In addition to his teaching responsibilities at Johnson & Wales and serving on the board of the Bread Bakers Guild of America, Miscovich is also currently working on an MBA at JWU.   Regarding his current position, he loves being able to teach during the academic year and, then, go home to North Carolina to bake for the summer.   That kind of flexibility is very appealing and seems to suit his lifestyle well and correspond to the natural progression of his baking career.

Regarding teaching, he enjoys experiencing how students progress from the first to the last day. He also likes the challenge of improving his ability to explain things so that students understand.  Bread is a culinary form that relies on science, but also on intuition.  He strives to help give students the information and skills they need, but also to use their common sense.

Miscovich's advice to those of us new to the field includes two things:  always remember to take your dough temperature and learn how to control fermentation. He keeps sane amidst his extremely busy schedule by finding inspirations all around him...his professors in the MBA program, brick oven hearth bakers, art, music, and interesting information on the Internet.

So, there you have it.  Chef Miscovich in a nutshell.  It is my completely biased opinion that Johnson & Wales is lucky to have him because not only does he make damn good bread, but he's a smart, enthusiastic, and effective instructor.  And, you all know that I don't say that lightly given my own history in the classroom.      

Comments

[David Mccowage]

davidthe2@bigpond.com

I believe that we have the same great great great grandfather.. From Poland in the area that I am sure we come from... There was a name change when my ancestor came to Australia in order for him to get work. I know this sounds far fetched but I am sure it is correct. I have been searching for some time. Even have documents to back it up.

Email me and we can link up. I would be very interested to see if you have any info on the tree that I have generated

David McCowage