For the final What is the Question for 2021, Roland Rocchiccioli talked with Trevor Walker, a Ballarat specialty baker, about his new home-delivery bakery business. Just like it used to be!<\/b><\/p>\n
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What is your name?<\/strong><\/p>\n Trevor Walker<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is your occupation?<\/strong><\/p>\n Baker, pastry cook and confectioner.<\/p>\n Now I operate beforslicedbread.com.au<\/strong> – a twice-weekly Ballarat home-delivery service of old-fashioned sourdough and speciality breads, using only organic flour and filtered water. Everything is done by hand – no machinery – and we deliver in an electric van.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What brought you to Ballarat?<\/strong><\/p>\n In 1983, through a coincidence of events, I was offered a position at Bunge Flour Mill as the test baker.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n What is your favourite spot in the city?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ballarat Railway Station. I remember vividly the first time I saw it. I was to meet a friend at about 6am on an eerily still foggy July morning. I was the only person on the platform. It was such a peaceful place the architecture jumped at me. It was like being in a magnificent artwork. It\u2019s a beautiful building and I could sit for hours. Often, I go just to walk around the station and old platforms.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is your earliest memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n My family had a dairy on the Mornington peninsular. I remember being about five years old and waking-up, walking to the dairy, and having Weet Bix with milk straight from the cow.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is the most courageous thing you\u2019ve ever done?<\/strong><\/p>\n I left a job with promised prospects to travel Australia with Karen, my wife. We bought a mobile home and travelled for three years. Most of my workmates at the time said I was crazy. Twenty-years years later when I was talking to several of them from the day, they were all in awe and wished they\u2019d had the courage to do the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do you like to cook?<\/strong><\/p>\n Long slow roasts and unusual breads from around the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What building would you choose to be?<\/strong><\/p>\n A straw bale or rammed earth. I like the idea of using natural materials and being close to nature. A lot of the building materials we used today are harsh on the environment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is your favourite quote?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIt will be all right in the end. If it\u2019s not all right, it\u2019s not the end.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What was your first job? <\/strong><\/p>\n Storeman, packer, salesperson at an electrical wholesaler in Frankston.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What did you want to be when you were growing up?<\/strong><\/p>\n A garbo because they only worked on a Thursday morning.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What scares you?<\/strong><\/p>\n People in power who have been promoted above their capabilities, And that\u2019s most politicians, councillors, and a lot of business leaders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What historical calamity would you choose to reverse? <\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t like dwelling on the past, I always look to the future and how I can improve it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n