TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — All you bread enthusiasts might be excited about this one, on Wednesday, the Presidio Museum hosted a Spanish Heritage Sourdough Bread Workshop. It’s one of the new workshops aimed at bringing Tucsonans together at the museum to learn local history.
Attendees learned how to make sourdough bread while also getting a history lesson on White Sonora Wheat.
Former teacher Marea Jenness taught a workshop of eight Tucsonans on how bread was made 400 years ago in our region.
“I think making bread is a very intentional act and sharing it with other people really builds community.”
They used White Sonora Wheat, which the Spanish brought to America around the 1640s.
“Wheat is a lot easier to grow," said Jenness. "It's a winter crop, and it's happy with the intermittent winter rains. And so, it quickly became the dominant crop in the Americas.”
One attendee, Deanna Knoepfle, signed up for the workshop as a novice to baking sourdough bread.
“I thought this would be a great hands-on opportunity, as well as, this is local flour and wheat and that really appealed to me from a sustainability standpoint," Knoepfle said.
Knoepfle is originally from Washington and the workshop brought her to the museum for the first time.
“I had no idea of the different wheats and the different effects that they would have on making bread. I think it's very cool," said Knoepfle. "I love that this is something that comes from tucson where I live.”
Details on the Presidio Museum’s future workshops are here.
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Jacqueline Aguilar is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9. Born and raised in Yuma, AZ., she is no stranger to the unforgiving Arizona heat. Now this U of A wildcat is excited to be back in Tucson and is looking forward to involving herself in the community. Share your story ideas with Jacqueline by emailing jacqueline.aguilar@kgun9.com or connecting on Facebook, Instagram or X.
