'Something silly inside sourdough? I'll do that for you'
Loaves of handmade bread flavoured with "funky inclusions" like KFC and Mince & Cheese Pie have made Auckland chef Hercules Noble a social media star.
International foodies can't get enough of watching Hercules Noble transform sweet and savoury dishes into decadent loaves of bread.
Last year, his Beef Wellington loaf even attracted a playful online ribbing from English celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, who happens to be a personal hero.
"It was just such a surreal moment. My heart was beating like crazy," he tells Saturday Morning.
In a TikTok video, Gordon Ramsay said Hercules Noble's Beef Wellington flavoured sourdough loaf resembled "a pile of s***".
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Like many people, it was during lockdown that Noble got his first sourdough starter. From then on, the Will It Sourdough? video series helped launch his career as a private chef.
Going by 'Herc' as a kid, Noble says it took him time to get comfortable using the name that he shares with a Roman god revered for his superhuman strength.
"Once I grew into myself and knew myself a bit better and had a bit more confidence about me, I was like, 'Yeah, Hercules. I love that name'. It sort of gets your foot in the door a bit."
Private cheffing at exclusive Auckland parties and events is Hercules Noble's main gig.
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The flavoured sourdough loaves Noble makes on Instagram and TikTok are inspired by whatever flavour or dish that people request, he says, from Jalapeno Pepper to Black Forest Cake.
"Something silly inside sourdough? I'll do that for you."
To ensure a fully baked loaf "with a lining of gooeyness in the middle", Noble doesn't just drop his "funky inclusions" into the dough.
Hercules Noble's Banoffee Pie sourdough loaf is flavoured with mascarpone, banana, dulce de leche and dark chocolate.
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To make a Kentucky Fried Chicken loaf for an event last year, Noble scored an unmarked sachet of the Colonel's 11 secret herbs and spices.
For his Mince and Cheese Pie loaf - a collab with fellow food content creator Darren Jarrett (aka Dazzas_ Cooked), chunks of Jarrett's famous Ashby Pies pie mix, cheese, tomato sauce and flaky pastry were folded through the dough.
The authenticity of the ingredients in Noble's dish-inspired loaves is something social media users have their eyes on, too.
Several Italian chefs were very upset that his "absolutely delicious" Carbonara loaf contained crispy pancetta instead of guanciale, which is traditionally used in the creamy pasta dish.
Hercules Noble's Carbonara loaf is made with "cured pork and loads of cheese".
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For people keen to create their own big, beautiful loaves of sourdough at home, you need to consistently feed your sourdough starter, morning and night, Noble says.
Because making loaves is a lot more difficult than it looks, he recommends people first master pizza bases and try Fruit & Nut as their first flavoured sourdough loaf.
Although each special sourdough loaf Noble makes for social media takes a lot of work, he hopes one day they might appear in a Kiwi supermarket so people can get a taste.
"Some of them, ike the Carbonara one and the KFC one, you're like, 'This is absolutely delicious. I really want people to try this, you know'."
A "happy and healthy" sourdough starter demands consistent feeding, says Hercules Noble, creator of the social media series Will It Sourdough?
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