Trent Cooper is obsessed with perfecting his loaf of pain de campagne — a naturally leavened country-style bread also known as French sourdough. In the past three years, he has made more than 77,000 of these oblong loaves, called bâtards. But only in the past few weeks has he felt that he has achieved some nearly perfect specimens.
Trent began as an apprentice to well-known local baker Gérard Rubaud in 2012 and took over his Westford bakery in 2020, two years after Rubaud's death. Cooper makes about 600 loaves per week in the winter, and each one takes a huge amount of effort. He bakes solo on weeknights with only the company of his dog, Benny, who spends most of the shift sleeping.
Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger joined Cooper and Benny on a recent Tuesday night to watch two batches of dough get mixed, shaped and baked in a wood-fired oven. And at 2:30 a.m., she ate the fresh, hot bread smothered in butter.
EVA SOLLBERGER: Photographer and Westford resident Orah Moore sent me a card and mentioned Trent and his bread. Orah takes a weekly "bread walk" from her home to Trent's bakery to pick up a loaf. It is about two miles round trip. I have never done a video about a baker, and as someone who loves bread, I thought it was essential.
SD: How long were you there?
ES: I talked to Trent on Monday around 5 p.m., which is when he wakes up and prepares to start his baking shift. I asked if I could come the next day to film, and he agreed. I realized after we hung up that Tuesday was also Valentine's Day. I "loaf" bread, so it was fitting. I arrived around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and stayed until 2:30 a.m., when the first loaves were ready to taste. I wore black, which Trent said was a bold choice in a bakery. While we were waiting for the dough to rise around 7 p.m., Trent shared his "breakfast" with me, which was a delicious feast of farm-share vegetables that were roasted in the massive wood-fired oven.
SD: That's a long night!
ES: I used to be a night owl, so this would have been a great shoot for my younger self. But these days I get up early, and I started losing steam after midnight. Somehow, Trent has the stamina to work this grueling shift five nights a week, which is staggering to me. It takes a lot of physical strength and dexterity to cut the massive logs that feed the wood-fired oven, manipulate the huge blob of dough, nimbly shape each of the loaves and yank the trays out of the oven. The timing has to be just right. And if you miss a step, it spells disaster.
SD: Did you participate?
ES: Trent asked me if I wanted to try shaping two chunks of dough into oblong loaves. He had already explained that the dough could only be touched a certain amount of times, and it was essential not to overwork it. I did my best to imitate his quick and fluid movements, but it was very difficult to copy. He told me later that my poorly shaped loaves would be headed to the donation bin. I guess I have a long way to go as a baker.
SD: Was there downtime?
ES: Yes. I was trying not to film too much, which can make editing harder because there is too much footage to wade through. So after I got enough shots of Trent shaping the bread, I sat down to knit. Trent recently learned how to knit, and this is one of the many activities he does while waiting for the bread to rise. I taught him the rib stitch, which is a good stretchy pattern for hats. He did a few rows and then went back to the endless shaping of the loaves. I stayed and finished the hat, which you see at the end of the video. Benny kept me company and slept at my feet. That dog is very Zen.
SD: What surprised you?
ES: The amount of time, effort and skill that goes into each loaf. Trent touches, shapes and handles each bâtard multiple times. The next time I see his loaves on the shelf at the co-op, I will think of all the work, time and late nights that went into their creation. As I was editing this video, I started to feel like I was shaping a loaf of bread, slapping and pounding Trent's story into an earthy, chewy delicacy. Luckily, I am a better video editor than a bread maker!
SD: How did the bread taste?
ES: I ate Gérard Rubaud's bread many years ago, which was always a special treat. But I never had the pleasure of tasting Trent's bread until this late-night shoot. After it emerged from the oven, the bread needed another 20 minutes to cool down. That is one hot oven! By the time I was allowed to cut into it, I was both exhausted and salivating. It truly is an unusual taste, and I savored every bite of this old-fashioned country bread with a thick, nourishing crust and a dense, wholesome crumb. This loaf was totally worth the wait!
Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, "Stuck in Vermont," since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at here to receive an email alert each time a new one drops.
The original print version of this article was headlined "Labor of Loaf | Trent Cooper marks three years of baking bread in Westford"
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Bio: Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series, "Stuck in Vermont," since 2007. New episodes appear on the Seven Days website every other Thursday and air the following night on the WCAX evening news. Sign up at sevendaysvt.com to receive an email alert each time a new one drops. And check these pages every other week for insights on the episodes.