Having had the pleasure to contemplate a brimming basket of croissants and freshly cut real French baguette this past week on my breakfast table, I naturally started to think about the special appeal of bread in it’s various forms and flavors. Not to mislead anyone, this did not happen in Paris, which can be quite dreary this time of the year, but rather on St. Martin in the French West Indies. The weather there is balmy, with direct flights from Paris, but not alas from Waldoboro Maine. Nevertheless, it provided a pleasant January interlude, before returning home in time for some more snow.
But back to good bread! We have all heard that bread is the staff of life and when we enter a home filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread we inhale deeply in full agreement with that statement, cliché or not. And yet, it is amazing the various forms and flavors that can be created from such basics as flour water and yeast. My favorite breads usually come in some crusty version of wheat, white, rye or multigrain. Here in midcoast Maine we have an amazing array of small and large bakeries that seem to compete with each other for variety of flavors. The large Borealis and Atlantic bakeries offer their distinctive brands in wide selection including long crusty French and wheat baguettes . Others, like Black Crow specialize in crusty round loaves that bring back memories of Tuscany.
Further south, Brunswick boasts of Wild Oats bakery. During a visit to the Brunswick Farmers market, which continues throughout winter indoors in the Fort Andross Mill Building, we discovered the enterprising organic ZU bakery. The huge eye catching 4 pound loaves of rye or multigrain bread would feel at home in any European market. Mr Olins, the baker uses traditional French baking methods with certified organic whole grains that are milled just prior to mixing the dough. Leavening with a natural starter and the unprocessed sea salt lend the bread a wonderfully complex flavor and long keeping qualities.
Such flavorful breads can make great sandwiches or accompaniments to soups and salads and yet when fresh can be eaten with just unsalted butter to bring out all the subtle flavors of good bread. A poignant story comes to mind of survivors celebrating the arrival of spring after the bloody war in Bosnia. They were able to grow radishes in their window boxes and savored this harbinger of spring and hope with buttered black bread with fresh radish slices.
And then there is that special form of bread that has gained immense popularity, the bagel! Their popularity has unfortunately resulted in supersizing, usually without maintaining the chewy texture and special flavor. The assiago bagels from Pannera are delicious, but we have searched smaller bakeries for the chewy qualities with flavor. Close by Village Bakery in Waldoboro has usually a limited supply. Rockland has an aptly named Hole in the Wall Bagel Bakery, where I’m happy to munch on both sesame and sundried tomato bagels. The preferred accompaniment to bagels being cream cheese and smoked salmon, in Maine can even classify as a locovore meal. In summer, I like to be less orthodox and will top the cream cheese with a fresh slice of tomato, an equally colorful and delicious choice.
Poor Marie Antoinette, she apparently never understood that bread was one of the best things in life.
(I. Winicov Harrington lives in Waldoboro and is the author of “How to Eat Healthy and Well for Less than $5.00 a Day: the Smart-Frugal Food Plan”; website: www.winicov-harrington.com)
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