Speaker Profile

If bread is about nourishing community, Maaryasha Werdiger is all about bread. Her kosher microbakery first drew the Orthodox Jewish community of Melbourne’s south-east to her flour-dusted garage, then from 2021 to Zelda, her two-day-a-week shopfront in Ripponlea. A physiotherapist by training, the world of sourdough lured Maaryasha for its endless puzzles and opportunities for connection: not just with local Jews, but also with baker-mentors such as Michael James, local growers like Jason Cotter from Tuerong Farm, and neighbourhood food identities including Ben Shewry and Dani Valent, who have collaborated with her on delicious flavoured knishes