He's not the guardian of rye, but he's close. He's the baker who whispers and works magic with this grain. The Briton Richard Hart is a revolutionary genius of artisan baking and also of marketing, as he demonstrated on Tuesday at the Madrid Fusión, where he spent more time discussing the book that encapsulates his professional knowledge than kneading the bread that has made him famous. "It's super easy and anyone in the world can do it, and even better if they buy my book," he said with a smile and a copy in his hands.

Hart shared his knowledge and experience in finding the "perfect loaf”. Interviewed by his wife, he talked and kneaded his wonderful rye bread. A baking adventure detailed in his book, Richard Hart Bread, a complete guide to the intuitive art of bread-making with more than 60 recipes.

"By learning to see, taste, touch and adapt, readers can find their own way to make truly wonderful breads, from sourdough to rich rye loaves and more," encourages the creator of the 'Cardamomo Croissant' in his book, a delight with a flaky, airy, delicious and almost addictive dough.

Without an apron, hat or chef's jacket, in a denim shirt and cargo pants, he mixed the essentials: water, flour, salt. "My daily dream is to make the best bread possible. I wake up everyday thinking about making the perfect loaf, and maybe I'll succeed once, twice, three times a year," he joked.

"I want to show you that making bread is easy, and everything I know is in my book, which is much less boring than other baking books I've found," he told his audience. Whether you live in Australia, Sweden, London, Tokyo or anywhere else in the world, you'll have the ingredients to make this bread at home, he assured them, mixing his ingredients in a bowl without using any machines.

A master class of a few minutes, which was how long it took to mix and knead the ingredients of his own unique rye bread, coat it with seeds and other grains, and show off another already baked. "It's super simple. What I do in the bakery can be done in any kitchen in the world. The trick is in the ingredients and their quality; if you want good bread, you have to use the best. As with chocolate, you have to make sure you get the best products, such as flour and wheat, which are crucial for me," he concluded.

Born in London, Hart began his career as a chef in haute cuisine restaurants, but it was in San Francisco that he fell in love with sourdough bread and has dedicated his life to baking ever since. After a stint at San Francisco's prestigious Tartine bakery, Hart teamed up with René Redzepi, chef of Copenhagen's Noma restaurant, to found Hart Bageri, which has established itself as one of the world's best bakeries with several branches in the Danish capital.

Hart moved to Mexico City in 2023, where he plans to open Green Rhino. "I moved to Mexico because my ex-wife moved to California with my kids and it was impossible to be a father from the other side of the world," he explained. "I love Hart Bageri, but my kids are more important to me. In the six years I lived in Copenhagen, I built a very strong team. And my first employee, Talia Richard Carvajal, took over my position as director of Hart Bageri.