Alchemy: (definition) “A power or process of transforming something common into something special. An inexplicable or mysterious transmuting”. So says the Merriam Webster dictionary. The magic formula of water + yeast + flour has been mixed and baked for 1,000s of years. And the resulting bread does indeed have magical qualities. Walk into a bakery when the bread is baking in the oven. The warm yeasty aroma hits your nose & immediately triggers all sorts of memories and emotions. You feel at peace & happy. Your second reaction is “I want to eat some of that!”
There are about 25 Sonoma County bakeries large & small that sell bread daily. Seven of my fellow foodies went out on a Tuesday morning to purchase loaves of fresh baked French style white bread. The game plan? We got together at 7:00pm to conduct a competitive French bread Taste Test panel. We managed to purchase 14 different bread loaves. I cut and displayed the bread loaves for a consistent look so the breads would start on a even playing field.
In alphabetical order the breads were:
Artisan bakery
Basque boulangerie
Bennett Valley Baking
Chloe’s Café
Costeaux Baking
Della Fattoria French
Della Fattoria Epi
Franco American
Full Circle Baking
Lombardi’s seeded
Lombardi baguette
Petaluma market French
Safeway Supermarket
Village Bakeries (1445 Town and Country Dr Santa Rosa, CA 95404 Tele: (707) 527-7654)
Mezzaluna Bakery 202 W 7th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Tele: (707) 545-7528 (Thier Bastoni loaf arrived too late to include in this taste test but is included for recognition as a long time Santa Rosa boutique bakery)
We used a simplified version of a 4-H club bread judging criteria spreadsheet like you'd find at most county fairs. The breads were analyzed for presentation (looks), technical skill (feel) and eating quality (aroma, taste, mouth feel). To see a copy of my bread taste tester score sheet....Click HERE.
For tasting variety some flavor enhancers were put on the table. The assortment was: a mild Sicilian olive oil, an Irish Plugra butter, a big wheel of soft & very mild flavored brie cheese, slices of Bud’s custom meats pork loin and slices of Bud’s Italian boil pork sausage. To wash it all down there was Kunde chardonnay , Martin Ray Angeline Chardonnay, Eric Ross 2006 Viognier Russian River Valley Catie's Corner Vineyard and San Pellegrino mineral water.
None of the judges had eaten since noon. After a quick orientation to the tasting & scoring method everyone rushed to the test table with hungry stomachs. To my surprise & delight the judges took nearly 3 hours to taste, analyze, judge and record their opinions. They were into the task!
And the results? (Imagine the sound of a 5 second drum roll and a finishing cymbal crash):
Sonoma county Yeast Bread Taste Test
April 2008
Rank Bakery Score (100% is perfect) 1 Costeaux Bakery 88.96% 2 Chloe's French Café 84.38% 3 Bennett Valley Baking 77.04% 4 Village Markets 74.92% 5 Della Fattoria Baguette 73.50% 6 Full Circle Baking 73.08% 7 Della Fattoria Epi 72.29% 8 Lombardi's Seeded French 72.21% 9 Artisan Baking Sonoma 70.08% 10 Petaluma Market 63.67% 11 Basque Boulangerie 52.96% 12 Franco American French 49.25% 13 Lombardi's Baguette 40.13% 14 Safeway Supermarket 36.75%
The Comments:
Costeaux Bakery
•“Beautiful all around. An art form in a loaf. Best flavor all around” •“Favorito! Muy Greato!” •“Lower oven temperature and 5 mins less baking could have been great.” •“Friendly concoction. Nice doughy consistency. Nicely done crust.” •“Crust overcooked. Interior soft - Good taste” •“Yeasty, crunchy, airy, poofy, crisp shell - Yum!”Chloe’s French Café
•“Chewy, light but dense. Great salty flavor. Undercooked" •“Loved the texture and density” •“Flavor exceeds presentation” •“This is a chewy loaf in the nouvelle style” •“Good flavor. Good texture & crust” •“Too wet, too chewy”Bennett Valley baking
•“Seeds great, really dry” •“For seeds, pretty dang good” •“Flavor exceeds presentation” •“Unspectacular, a pedestrian loaf” •“Good taste. Crust starting to get hard” •“Seeds make it! Otherwise, blah”Village Bakery
•“Great form. Nice air holes. Good color”. •“If the bus passes this Village, no problem”. •“Light weight. Mild flavor.” •“It talks the talk, but it ain't got legs to walk the walk”. •“Getting stale. Can't tell. Lack of character”. •“Semolina flavor. Carbon dioxide musty, slightly sour funkiness”.Della Fattoria Baguette
•“Good crust. Too much air.” •“Prefer the Della Fattoria Epi, but do like this as well.” •“Okay for rubber” •“A semi-serious loaf that promised more than it delivered." •“Good texture. Poor flavor.” •“Wet, gummy, chewy.”Della Fattoria EPI
•“Great Flavor, a little wet. Too yeasty for me.” •“Top notch texture, flavor & density” •“You can drive nails with this one!” •“Nouveau bread in the doughy style. Okay” •“Good flavor, not excellent. Crust okay” •“Wet, gummy, heavy in mouth, tough crust”.Lombardi’s seeded French
•“Pretty crust. Bread is too dense.” •“Fooled me by good looks". •“Sub-par to average.” •“Marie Antoinette "let them eat cake" not withstanding, Bread like this is why French peasants revolted". •“Poppy seeds add Good flavor. Interior too consistent - No air bubbles, cake like.” •“Slightly sour. Gummy & thick mouth feel. Seeds are good though.”Artisan Baking of Sonoma French bread
•“Disappointing for #1 winner in a Paris contest” •“Balanced flavors, subtle presentation” •“Tad disappointing but certainly in the great French tradition" •“Stale, good flavor comes through however” •“Nice balance of flavors. Pretty golden color. Slight gummy mouth feel."Petaluma Market
•“Almost cake like. Weird crust.” •“Tasted better than it looked.” •“Needs a little work with looks and taste”. •“A comfort bread. This is really Italian style not French.” •“Great chewy interior - Excellent.” •“1950's style "French bread". Oddly satisfying rubbery mouth feel. Sweet sugar flavor. Cake like.”Basque Boulangerie
•“Bland like paper.” •“Take me back to Spain or France no place close to this bread." •“Balanced flavor, subtle presentation.” •“Like the 1st loaf of French I ever had, it was the best when I was 12 years old.” •“No character.” •“No aroma, baking soda flavor, no salt.”Franco American French
•“BLAT!” •“FEH!” •“What do you expect from "American" French?” •“Cafeteria bread from Chico State Correctional Facility." •“Sandwich bread." •“Marshmallow puffy”Lombardi’s Baguette
•“I've eaten better hot dog buns. Another new version of Wonder bread.” •“Give me my money back. Don't make me eat this.” •"Enriched"? •“There is certainly a Dickensian air about this bread. Evokes the culinary traditions of Victorian orphanages". •“No, no, no good qualities unless you're hungry for a processed ham & cheese sandwich.” •“Artificial like "TANG" orange drink. Crust texture is CHEERIOS flaky. Bread is pasty, generic, and rubbery.”Safeway Supermarket French
•“Are they kidding? This is NOT bread!” •“Puuuleeeze!” (With Steve Martin's fake dramatic, ironic tone of voice). •-No comment. - •“Cafeteria bread at a decent elementary school”. •“Paper Mache' quality.” •“CRAP!”
Now that the first warm spring days are returning to Sonoma County, it's time for a picnic. Plan a trip to your favorite spot. Get out your picnic basket to fill with Sonoma county made cheeses, a bottle or 2 of local wine and a fresh loaf of our taste tester approved bread. And make some Alchemy of your own.
