August 10–17, 1995

food

Loaves I've Loved

One woman's quest to satisfy her yen for yeast.

By Janet Ruth Falon

I have loved three loaves of bread.

There was the Essene bread I first experienced in 1978 in Bucks County; we were introduced by my macrobiotic cooking teacher.

There was the loaf I met, and couldn't get enough of, on a bike vacation based in Proctorsville, Vermont, in 1992.

And, later during that same trip, there was the hippie bread from the nearby headquarters of Bread and Puppet, the experimental theater troupe. (I'm ashamed to admit that the scent of the second loaf hadn't completely disappeared from my car when, a few days later, I discovered its replacement.)

All three of these breads were intense, and had strong personalities.

All three were sweet, but sort of nutty.

All three were moist, chewy, with complex textures.

And all were unconventional, as un-white-bread as you can get. I have fond memories of each. Luckily, you can buy Essene bread and some very acceptable clones in many health-food stores (including Essene in Queen Village, though the bread and the store are linked in name only). And while I hate to sound fickle, I'm always on the lookout for new bread sensations, additions to my master list.

But my search has been futile; maybe I've been looking for loaf in all the wrong places. Happily, the number of unusual breads available from traditional venues has risen recently, I think because people finally comprehend that as with potatoes and pasta, bread without butter isn't fattening.

"We're just coming back to our senses, that's all," says Esther Press-McManus, who's the creative force, along with owner David Braverman, behind the bread at Le Bus. "Bread is a very important thing in life. I cannot eat a meal without bread."

The cornbread at Le Bus has always been something to look forward to, so I've been pleased to see that Le Bus, with its year-old Manayunk bakery, has been spreading its bread wings. In fact, its breads are now served in local hotels and restaurants, including Le Bec-Fin and the Four Seasons, and Press-McManus and Braverman will be baking partners with Julia Child in a PBS television series, Baking With Julia (Child), slated to air next year. So I buy several loaves at Le Bus to see if I can add to my list of three choice breads, and share them with some of my favorite foodie friends, Alf, Laurie and five-year-old Maddie.

First we try the pumpernickel ($2), a chewy bread with a hard crust and "English muffin dust" on its bottom.

"It has a good, strong, burnt, rich flavor," Alf says.

"But thank God it doesn't have raisins," adds Laurie, who likes her textures pure. "Raisins would interfere with the grainy taste." We agree it would be good with apple butter or caviar.

"Or butter," Maddie adds.

We move on to a small whole wheat bread ($3.90) from Le Bus, which is sweet and grainy, with a hood of sesame seeds and innards that don't quite hold together.

"This would be disastrous for a turkey sandwich, or for any sandwich at a Phillies game," says Laurie, always the pragmatist, always the fan.

We try it with strawberry-rhubarb jam, which is a hit, and imagine the bread would work well with peanut butter, which would keep the slices from falling apart. We end with a stirato loaf ($2.65), a light, airy bread with a crackly, crumbly crust.

It's deemed most versatile; we envision it dipped into olive oil or spread with Brie.

"Or butter," Maddie reminds us, and because we can't survive on bread alone, we segue into our salads.

I've enjoyed these breads, each with its own style, but none has wormed its way into my heart and onto the master list of amazing breads.

So we we try again, the same crew breaking breads together, this time with loaves from Baker Street in Chestnut Hill, one of four featured bakeries in the recently published book, The Philadelphia Food Companion, by Alonna F. Smith. (Researching the bakery chapter, Smith admits, "did her in," adding a few pounds to her usual weight. She must have used butter.) Smith made her comparisons based on sampling a French and Italian loaf from different bakeries.

"Some people like their French bread salty or spongy, but I like a crustier loaf of bread," she told me. "I'm not looking for the 'Wonder' texture. I like body and chewiness."

So does Alf, who imagines that Baker Street's rosemary bread ($4.50) would be great if it was dipped into a strong sauce, or served with a cheese that's brawny enough to hold its own — this is an intense bread with a powerful herbal smell.

And Laurie, always consistent, likes that the rosemary pieces are spread throughout the bread, rather than in one large clump.

"It tastes really good with butter," Maddie reminds us.

We progress to this month's "bread of the month," a Tex-Mex loaf ($5.75), which is gorgeous with dots of yellow (corn) and red and green (peppers). It's also sweet and moist, more like a cakey challah than a sandwich loaf, and we devour it undressed (the bread, that is; we're all in shorts and T-shirts).

"But this would go well with a meal in Santa Fe," says Laurie, always the traveler. "Or tequila," Alf adds, while Maddie stares at the butter dish.

We finish with the farm grain bread ($3.75), which is not only covered with poppy seeds, but has poppy seeds scattered throughout; for that reason, like corn on the cob, it should be served with dental floss, to be used discreetly, after the meal. The bread smells wonderfully yeasty, and what I like best about it is that I can pick out ingredients, such as what I think are grains of millet, in the bread.

"It's a bread that reminds you of its origins," Laurie agrees, as Maddie shapes a crust into a happy-face smile and holds it over her mouth.

I've enjoyed these breads, too, and could be content to eat them regularly, but I don't imagine I'll crave them like I do the Essene and Vermont breads.

So my quest continues, with future stops to include Metropolitan and Sarcone's.

And if there's a bread that makes your heart (and belly) flutter, please let me know.

Baker Street, 8009 Germantown Ave., Chestnut Hill; 103 Coulter Ave., Suburban Square, Ardmore; and opening late this summer at 316 S. Fifth St.

Le Bus, 3402 Sansom St., University City; 4266 Main St., Manayunk; Reading Terminal Market.