Living through a bakery golden age that we are makes it difficult to comprehend that when Sydney’s Bourke Street Bakery opened in 2004 on the Surry Hills street that gave it its name, quality sourdough wasn’t available in every Melbourne and Sydney suburb.
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sourdough → live → suburb
It was also a challenge to find high-grade pies and sausages rolls, so when people heard both were available at the tiny inner-east corner shop, they drove from everywhere to buy the goods.
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they → find → goods
In fact, years after, people were still making the trek.
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people → make → trek
“Rain, hail or shine, the queue outside Bourke Street Bakery never abates,” Good Food wrote in 2013.
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Food → abate → 2013
“Early risers line the pavement for dense almond croissants, while the sausage rolls – pork and fennel, or perhaps lamb, harissa and almond – have their own cultish following.
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rolls → line → following
And let’s not even talk about the queues on Sundays.”
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’s → let → Sundays
Fast-forward to 2026 and founders David McGuinness and Paul Allam have 13 Sydney stores and two in New York.
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McGuinness → forward → York
The first international shop opened in 2019 in Manhattan’s midtown.
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shop → open → midtown
“When I take a moment and think back to Surry Hills, it’s amazing, it feels a bit weird being here,” Allam told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2018 from the construction site in New York.
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Allam → take → York
This year the bakery celebrates 21 years – an impressive milestone in Australia’s fickle hospitality scene.
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bakery → celebrate → scene
Also this year came the release of the 14th printing of its 2007-launched cookbook Bourke Street Bakery, which has sold more than 150,000 copies worldwide and been translated into Danish, Swedish, German and Russian.
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which → come → Danish
In the first line in the original book’s foreword, McGuinness and Allam describe the bakery as “small, rustic, homely and timeless”.
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McGuinness → describe → bakery
While the small part isn’t true any more, they reckon the other ideas “have held their own”.
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ideas → reckon → own
“Bourke Street Bakery has always felt like a community bakery, and in some parts of Sydney where there’s an actual street named Bourke Street, people often think it’s the only one.
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it → feel → Sydney
We love when people say that!” they write in the 21st-anniversary edition.
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they → love → edition
Bourke Street Bakery happened because regulars wanted to replicate their signature dishes.
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regulars → happen → dishes
“We were excited to be part of the Sydney and Australian food landscape, and soooo many people had asked us for the iconic pork and fennel sausage roll recipes and our heartbreaking creme brulee tart that it was time to put it in print.
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it → ask → print
There would be more inspiration and recipes down the track but the magic in those early recipes still endures,” they write.
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they → endure → recipes
McGuinness and Allam say the trick to making a good sausage roll is using quality meat from a premium butcher, fresh flavourings and great puff pasty.
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trick → say → butcher
“Rolling these savoury pastries by hand also helps.”
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Rolling → roll → hand
They knew people would like them but they didn’t anticipate how popular they’d be.
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they → know → them
Using your hands, mix the meat quite forcefully for 3 minutes to thoroughly combine (this will also work the protein in the meat).
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this → use → meat
At this stage it is best to roll up a little ball of the meat mixture and cook it in a hot frying pan for 2 minutes to check the flavour.
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it → roll → flavour
You may find it is too salty, however once the mix is encased in pastry, the saltiness should even out.
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saltiness → find → pastry
But if you cannot taste the salt at all then you need to add a pinch or two more.
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you → taste → pinch
Cut each roll into two even-sized pieces and place on baking trays lined with baking paper, seam side down.
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side → cut → paper
- Reduce the oven temperature to 190C and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until they are a golden-brown roll of steaming, oozing goodness.
Makes 12
Images and text from Bourke Street Bakery by Paul Allam and David McGuinness, photography by Alan Benson.
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they → reduce → Benson
The Aporia
