Portland, Maine: Great Bakeries
One of my favorite towns for bakeries is Portland, Maine. I do happen to live there so my bias is obvious. But setting that aside I think most visitors to Portland would have to agree, that for a town of this size, we are certainly blessed with a high concentration of great bakeries.
Years ago I worked at Standard Baking when it was on Wharf Street. It was literally like a shoe box with a door that opened onto an alley and a single long narrow room that ran back from the street…
Posted on: 2008-09-21 16:52:20
Montreal: Bread and Flour
Montreal is such a great city. Over the last year I have been able to travel there on three occasions and with each trip I like the city more and more. On my most recent trip I got to spend a day with my friend James MacGuire, baker and proprietor/chef of the now closed Le Passe-Partout. Alas, I never got to eat there or enjoy the bread from his ovens but I have heard such great things. But I have eaten James’ bread, baked in his home oven and then taken to a restaurant where we had a meal toget…
Posted on: 2008-09-10 10:21:41
The Gliadin-Glutenin Ratio
In the process of researching material for a presentation on Ancient Grains I have become increasingly interested in protein quality, especially as it relates to why modern wheat (T. aestivum) is so good for bread making. The term ‘protein quantity’ is fairly easy to grasp and, in fact, our whole wheat marketing system here in the US (and throughout most of the world) is based on it: producers are paid based on the protein content of their wheat. But ‘protein quality’ is a bit more elusive for m…
Posted on: 2008-09-10 10:14:10
