The Power of Sour - Sour Dough Bread Month

Elora Bread's Stonewell Spent Grain Loaf - specially baked for Taste Real. 

I'm all for bread.  I love it still warm from the oven in the form of rolls, a fresh loaf for sopping up sauce and toasted and drizzled with honey for breakfast.  And I waste neither crust nor crumb making custard bread puds and french toast and grateing oven dried slices for coating fish, chicken cutlets, veal chops, stuffed olives and other fried treats.

For plain old eating, the heel is my personal favourite.. 

The Italians in my life also have a thing for bread and what it represents.  From the shapes of traditional and celebratory loaves to the many expressions I hear on a regular basis 'A table without bread is like a day without sunshine..' or that the table is bare without it..

In the light of the upcoming month of sourdough in the UK and World Bread Day not long thereafter (October 16), I thought I'd pass along something I've discovered in my food science travels. The article addresses whether or not sour dough bread is really 'all that'.  In addition to supporting local bakeries that go through all the effort to maintain an age old art, turns out there are health merits afterall.

My local bakeries produce some absolutely stellar breads.  Before it's even in your gob, the colour and aroma of these deeply golden burnished and fragrant loaves is such that, you can't help but smile.  Regularly available in my neighbourhood are Polestar Hearth's gorgeous Country sour doughs and Superseed superbly seeded breads (check out their Vimeo posting).  You can join the CSA or purchase from a few retail outlets as well.  The Stone Store and Valeriote's Market on Yorkshire both carry the bread, you can call ahead for delivery dates/times.

However, if you live near or frequent the adorably vibrant Town of Elora, lucky you.  The Elora Bread Trading Co. will hopefully be opening it's doors in the coming months.  If you are among the few million FB inclined folks, you can follow the lovely ladies of the EBTC here.

A BIG thank you to the those artisans who keep loaves of sunshine in my life.

Happy Bread Day (however you choose to celebrate - baking, mopping and toasting) to all!