For Putiki local George Jackson, bread baking is all about home, and family.

His late grandmother was from Ranana and George and his siblings and cousins grew up with her rēwena, or Māori bread.

George has been baking rēwena for about six years and he’s converted his garage into a commercial kitchen. Resting on a top shelf inside is the old cast iron Dutch oven in which his grandmother baked bread.

Rewena is a sweet, white loaf that uses a natural starter produced from potatoes. Many years after his nan passed away, George began baking rēwena for his kids, wanting them to have the same experience he enjoyed growing up. A cousin then returned from Auckland — with the “bug” from their nan. He was a chef, and had kept the bug going all that time by regularly baking. It’s this starter that George now uses.

George bakes once a week for now but has big plans to take rēwena mainstream. The bug seems to approve. “I have to bake on a schedule, the bug likes consistency and reliability,” he says.

Three days before he bakes, George bulks up the bug by feeding it sugar and more water in which potatoes have been boiled. It’s added to flour to make a dough that is then mixed, kneaded, and left to rise in tins before baking.

George supplies a handful of independent outlets, including the Dublin Street Butchery and Abbott Street dairy, but he’s steadily preparing to up his production. He wants to see rēwena bread on the shelf in supermarkets.

He’s planning on baking two variations; the sweet rēwena people are now used to, and a recipe with far less sugar in it for those who enjoy the complex sour flavours. “My generation, we like the sweet taste. But it’s not how my grandparents ate it,” he says.

George’s favourite way to eat rēwena is with butter and jam — just the way his nan liked.