ZENSATIONAL BREAD
On a recent morning in Peoria, Ill., , revolutionary poet-baker Jerry Caldwell coaxed oversized loaves of rising ciabatta dough from proofing rack to parchment sheets. Supple and silken, the dough responded to every touch. The Rubenesque size was special ordered by a local restaurant.
"Each loaf has a personality. It's alive, that's for sure," Caldwell said. "It's a pleasure to work with yeast and flour and bring out that character. I'm a person who loves to work with bread. It's my means of expression."
Peoria Bread Co. opened this spring after nearly five years of planning and a lifetime of savoring the taste and philosophy of whole-grain breads. Nora Sullivan is company president. Her husband, David Koehler, is vice president.
Sullivan said her shop is evolving its own biga, or starter yeast. Some famed San Francisco sourdough is made with a starter yeast that has evolved during the past 150 years. An artisan shop uses starter that grows with the natural yeast and spores in the air, Sullivan said.
"In time, the biga picks up the aura of the place," she said. "It's the difference between a formula and a recipe."
Caldwell said, "Processed bread is poured from a sack and baked. It's got great consistency. Here all the basic ingredients are touched by hand. This is Zen baking that responds to the basic ingredients and brings out the character of each."
The artisan process - making limited quantities with starter rather than dry, powdered yeast - requires more labor.
"It's more personalized, and you can taste that character," Sullivan said.
Assistant baker Bert Raabe, a welder, artist and counselor, said, "Working with yeast is working with a living thing. It's like being in a relationship. You have to listen and be responsive."
During the Alaska gold rush, miners in the Klondike were known to keep their bread starter warm by keeping it next to their bodies, even taking it to bed with them at night.
One of the signature loaves of Peoria Bread Co. is Anadama, widely considered the only true American bread.
Caldwell said the origins of Anadama can be traced back to New England. A fisherman returned home for supper one evening and found his wife was out but had left him cornmeal mush and molasses to eat. In anger, he grabbed some flour and yeast, mixed all the ingredients together and baked the mixture. As he worked, he was heard excoriating his wife, "Anna, damn her."
He created a wonderfully dense, sweet loaf known today as Anadama.
Valuing heritage is an ingredient at Peoria Bread Co. The bakery is housed in a century-old building.
"Bread has been made for thousands of years. It gives us a connection with the heritage of food," Caldwell said.
Sullivan added, "Bread speaks of our heritage. It gives us connections. Every culture has a form of bread that sustains people. Bread speaks of human nature across national borders."
The bakery takes special orders. When questions arise, the bible of the operation is "The Bread Baker's Apprentice," by Peter Reinhart.
"The world's most symbolically evocative foodstuff: bread," Reinhart writes.
"We know that bread is a metaphor, we sense it in our bones, we eat it as the body of God in our worships, we believe that it truly is the staff of life."
He believes in the romance of the "bread revolution," and he divides bread bakers into two categories: the technical and commercial bakers and the Zen-artisan bakers.
At Peoria Bread Co., there is also a passionate conviction in the nutrition of bread.
"Our philosophy is that bread is good for you ... not white bread, but whole grains. Rich, hearty whole grains," Sullivan said. "We are so inundated with information on reducing carbs and eliminating bread from your diet, but hearty bread helps you lose weight by satisfying you. There are no empty calories in this bread."
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