Bread: Panem meum da mihi hodie

Bread: Panem Meum Da Mihi Hodie

When most people in the United states think of Italian cuisine, one of the first things that comes to mind is pasta, and further, when people categorise cuisines according to their main starches, many or most would think in terms of the cooked products that take a place beside or before the meat and fish and vegetables, i.e., rice, pasta, polenta, potatoes etc. Without doubt, Italian culture prizes its cooked starches highly and Italians have done such a good job in developing recipes for them that Italian treatments of rice and corn mush and, of course, noodles are now popular throughout much of the civilised world. And yet, as much as all Italians love their fresh pasta and as much the Padani dote on their risotti and polente and as much as we Terroni revel in our maccarunë, none of these starches of the Italian kitchen have been able to dis- or re-place what has been the basic and most beloved food of the peoples of Italy since prehistoric times: bread.

Panem nostrum da nobis hodie... Give us good and wholesome sustenance... Give us our daily bread ... I would prefer not ever to have to do so for too long but I could live without pasta; I cannot live without bread. I cannot happily face a single meal without good bread. This addiction to bread I have inherited from my father and grandfather and I assume it reaches back all the way to my most remote Ausonian ancestors. And it is an addiction. Just as a real smoker will always plan ahead to assure a steady flow of sweet nicotine and will be willing to run out in unsuitable garb, ignoring the worst weather and the greatest inconvenience, to travel to the most unsavoury 'convenience' store in order to feed the fuming urge, to just such lengths will I go in order to assure that no single serious meal will appear on our humble table without the sacred, sacramental food.

Given my addiction, I always try to find new sources for that which my body and soul crave and, thank God, by Jove, Chicago has some good sources. I would not by a long shot call this city that works a great town for bread but it is also hardly a bad town for bread. But I suspect there may be and ardently hope that there are good or excellent bakers in the city or nearby periphery that I don't yet know of. The following list is of places that I know and like for the basic bread sorts I habitually consume (Italian and French types); other (for me) specialty breads, especially the northern and eastern European as well as Middle Eastern types I also very much love but leave aside for the moment:

D'Amato's (Grand at May): To my mind, this is the best basic bakery in Chicago, with a number of excellent offerings and their bread, in addition to being available at the conveniently located shop next to Bari Foods on Grand, is also available in various stores across the city (e.g., Hyde Park Co-Op, Treasure Island).

Fox and Obel: Not a convenient option for me but their baguettes are so good I've never managed to explore their other offerings in the course of my infrequent visits. When I win the lottery, I shall perhaps visit this store and its bakery department more frequently.

Medici Bakery (1327 57th Street): This bakery has been around for a while but until fairly recently I hadn't tried it. It is an outgrowth of the not terribly exciting but inexplicably revered restaurant and Hyde Park/UofC institution of similar name. The baguettes and demi-baguettes from this bakery are really outstanding. Also good is their sesame-semolina loaf; less thrilling to me was the ciabatta, but that is not a type of bread that in its American incarnations has ever really pleased me.

Whole Foods: The 'Tuscan' loaves (formerly called 'paisano' bread — Tuscan is so much more upscale, n'est-ce pas?) are pretty good and various other products can be okay to good. Nothing I've had from them sends me into ecstasy but I can be reasonably happy with their bread.

Artopolis (Halstead, north of Van Buren): some of the offerings of Artopolis I really like very much, such as the multi-grain loaf. Some others have been good and yet others less good but at the moment I am having trouble recalling which is which. During Lent, I really enjoyed their lagana.

There are a number of smaller Italian bakeries around which I have either tried once or haven't tried yet, especially out in the Harlem/Belmont zone and beyond, in the near western suburbs. This past weekend I tried Masi's Superior Bakery (Western, just north of Taylor) for the first time, buying a one-pound loaf and a sweet, lemon-flavoured ring (tarallo) which Amata and Lucantonius seemed to like well enough. The bread itself was more than seviceable: though perhaps not up to D'Amato's level it was much better (especially being more or less just out of the oven) than the more widely distributed products of the big Italian bakeries (i.e., Gonnella, Turano's). [Subsequent detailed report on Masi's to appear in mid February '05; search under "Masi's Italian Superior Bakery".]

Being rather finicky about bread, I must say that I find most Italian subs in Chicagoland and, more generally, store-made sandwiches, less than what they can and should be. For example, the Harlem/Belmont deli Riviera has great meats and cheeses but the bread they sell is not of the same high quality. Bari Foods, as a source for excellent subs, has received much praise from the Chicago CH and LTH communities, and that salumeria has a great advantage over most competitors in that they use their neighbour's, D'Amato's, bread. Gonnella and Turano, so widely used in the sandwich industries of Chicago, are to my mind not up to snuff. Corner Bakery used to have a few good offerings but I no longer find any of their products satisfying; presumably the change for the worse has come about since there was the change in ownership of the chain .

Without doubt, Chicago has some great bread but there can never be too many good bakeries in a city of this size. We need more but I hope too that there are some good ones I don't yet know about.

Antonius

Mmmmm - bread. I really miss a good sandwich, and you have to have good bread. But for whatever reason most people aren't looking at the bread, and concentrate on stuffing as much meat in the middle.

Adding to your list I would put Red Hen, 1623 N Milwaukee and 500 W Diversey. There's also a great bakery whose name escapes me at the moment, located in Evanston. I get their bread every time I go to the Green City Market.

But I am nostalgic for the past, and have fond memories of living in another neighborhood.

Antique Bakery
122 Willow St
Hoboken, NJ 07030
201-714-9323

Marie's
261 Second St
Hoboken

Lisa's Deli (if you go here, you will never be satisfied on Grand Ave ever again)
901 Park Ave
Hoboken
http://www.lisasdeli.com

Masi's Bakery (933 S Western) is an odd place and I'm not sure I've figured it out yet. It seems to be as much a social club as a bakery (there's always a group of guys hanging out in the north room). I was last there several Saturdays ago and even though it was before 9am they had sold out of pizza (they did have a special order of many trays in the back) and had nothing but white and wheat bread. No friselle, no biscotti like they used to have. The two things I like best are their wheat bread and corn bread, maybe neither spectacular but both good honest loaves. They told me if I phoned the day before they'd make a batch of corn bread, even if I only wanted a loaf or two. I plan to take them up on that offer. I'm curious about that lemon ring; never saw it before.

I too am grateful for having D'Amato's bread so easily available (as I am for Baltic Bakery's many rye breads). Just yesterday my night meal was a healthy portion of D'Amato's, picked up late at a supermarket, and a little bowl of caponata. As I understand it the original D'Amato's still bakes in a huge coal-fired oven, the last in use in Chicago.

Another Italian-style loaf I enjoy a lot is from Palese Bakery in Addison. I've never been to the bakery itself, only picked up the bread at Caputo's on Harlem. The loaf to get is bipartite, like two US footballs side to side. It's one of the sturdiest, crustiest loaves around with a beautiful interior full of wonderfully uneven hollows. It stays fresh for a remarkably long time and when stale is perfect for various bread-based soups and salads (time for panzanella!). The other breads from Palese seem to be of a different recipe.

I'm also a big fan of Medici Bakery. To me their baguettes are among the best in Chicago, on par with Fox & Obel's. I agree on the sesame semolina ring and will even admit to enjoying their olive ciabatta. Another favorite of mine is the whole grain walnut bread, sometimes made with raisins.

As for Gonnella and Turano breads, I think they're best used as a vehicle for beef, giardiniera and plenty of juice. Sort of like Wonder bread and barbecue.

Have you tried Trader Joe's breads? I am not sure where they get them but I think the baguette and demi baguette are some of the best in the city. I am, however, personally very fond of sourdough so that could be one factor. (note - I have had them from the Trader Joe's on Clybourn, I assume all of the TJ's in the city use the same baker, but potentially at least that is not the case.

Also, Treasure Island sells "Le Pain" which is bread flown in (I assume) from Paris. Extremely good and sold somewhat reasonably - a quarter loaf sliced for $2.50, half loaf for $5.00, full round for $10 (full round is quite a large bread, over a foot in diameter). Pauline I think is the baker.

Shannon

Rich4:

Yes, there are quite a few outstanding bakeries and salumerie in the old country, and a good distribution system from the better producers of fresh items to smaller shops... For example, I know a little (overpriced) salumeria in Lyndhurst that carries outstanding fresh mozzarella and also always has a frightening array of top quality bread and rolls... I wish the South Loop had such a place...

Shannon:

I haven't tried Trader Joe's bread, indeed, haven't been there yet... one of these days, I must...

The bread from Paris at Treasure Island that you mention is "Poilane"... I saw an article in a newspaper within the last year mentioning that the fellow who owned that very successful business in Paris had died... The bread goes on, unchanged... It's very good bread but not day-in-day-out fare for me... too sour for that basic role, so I enjoy it as an occasional treat with certain kinds of cheeses and cold cuts...

A

Antonius,

thanks for the clarification about the bread from Paris - I agree, not a day in and day out bread, but definitely a great bread for sandwiches or to serve with special cheeses (we bought some when my sister gave us some 10 year old chedder from the farmers market in Madison Wis.)

I'd strongly encourage you to stop by TJ's and try the breads - for $.89 the demi baguettes are a real bargain and well worth it - rarely last the day when we bring them home.

Shannon

Antonius, Are you aware/have you seen the threads related to last year's bread tasting party at MAG's house? The impetus for the tasting, or at least one strong impetus, was the desire to differentiate from those 10 or so brands on sale daily at Caputo's. The bread tasting was a great party, with great food generally, but as a scientific effort it got kind of bogged down in too many breads, too many styles. I think in the end, a lot of us went with what we *knew* to be good. And for me, the best local bread was Fox and Obel.

Now, I am rarely a baguette guy because the loaves are so damn fragile. I only buy them if I know I am eating them within the next meal, a hard standard to comply. Instead, what I adore best at F&O is their peasant bread, dense and rich almost like cake, but with plenty of bread crust too.

Maybe my next favorite is Freddy's, the amazing store in Cicero that also makes their own hams, multiple kinds of sausage and a great array of daily specials. You do know this place right?

I would agree totally with the sub-sammy sentiment. I think there is good bread in Chicago, it's just that you do not find it with the famous sub sandwiches.

Rob

TUSCAN BREAD
In my limited experience in Italy, the bread that is served regularly in Tuscany is flat, flavorless and hard. Travel to points south or north, and the bread starts getting better. But right there in Tuscany, the flatbread that accompanies most dishes is nothing to be excited about. This does not stop American brands from marketing flavorful, crusty, and fresh bread as Tuscan Bread, but I think it's something of a misnomer.

Keep eating,
J. Ro

Rob:

I wasn't aware of the old thread and will try to find it. I love the idea of the party, though I can also imagine that it would be hard to execute the ranking part of the test...

About subs, even Bari, which uses D'Amato's bread, uses a lesser grade of bread for the subs than the glorious, dark-baked sour-dough long loaves which I really love. Usually, if we're in the mood for subs, we go to Bari or Conte (they get D'Amato's fresh every day, maybe twice a day), buy some prosciutto and mozzarella and whatever else we're in the mood for, as well as a D'Amato's sour-dough long loaf; then we make the subs at home.

(Incidentally, Lucantonius loves 'p & m' -- not 'papa and mama', but rather prosciutto and mozzarella -- and has become very particular in the quality of these that he will accept. The bread is secondary to him still.)

J Ro.:

The basic Tuscan bread is indeed saltless and to me uninteresting, so it is quite humorous that, in an effort to make their bread sound classy, Whole Foods decided to rename the 'paisano' and call it 'Tuscan'. I must add, however, that I've had some great bread in Tuscany too, bought in bakeries. But the basic stuff in at least parts of that region doesn't compare with what one finds elsewhere in Italy.

Tuscany is a great place -- who would deny that? -- but the sort of mindless fad-ism associated with it (Under the Tuscan Sun!) inclines me away from rather than toward it. I guess I'm sort of a wee bit resentfull as well, having heard too many times ignorant people say "oh, real Italian food, like in Tuscany, not that southern Italian stuff"...

And crappy bread is not a good thing...

A

Antonius wrote:This past weekend I tried Masi's Superior Bakery (Western, just north of Taylor) for the first time, buying a one-pound loaf and a sweet, lemon-flavoured bread ring which Amata and Lucantonius seemed to like well enough.

Lucantonius and I liked the lemon ring from Masi's very much. In fact he was worried he wouldn't get his fair share of it:

"Mommy! Don't eat the whole thing!"

"Mommy! Let me carry the bag!"

(He knows Antonius has no sweet tooth, but I might give him some competition in the cookie-eating department. )

To me, the lemon ring was more cookie-like than bread-like. Not overly sweet, not glazed or decorated, but with a dense, crumbly texture, about 5 inches in diameter. I wish we had asked the baker what it was called - as Rene G mentions above, the atmosphere there is a little odd and by the time we added this whatever-it-is to our order the baker was engaged in conversation with a friend who had stopped in.

By the way, there is a new café, Café Frida, which opened about a week ago on Western north of Polk. We got a strawberry-banana smoothie there to wash down the lemon ring with. Besides the usual coffee drinks there's ice cream (Ashby brand, whatever that is). It's a nice space; you writers out there looking for a quiet place to work might check it out.

Café Frida
739 S. Western Ave.
312 455-9422

*summer and fall hours: M-F 6 am - 9 pm; Sat 8 am - 10 pm; Sun 8 am - 9 pm*

Have you tried Trader Joe's breads? I am not sure where they get them but I think the baguette and demi baguette are some of the best in the city

I absolutely agree. Crisp crust, chewy inside. We can't eat a whole baguette (welllll, we *could*, but....) so I cut it into rounds and put it in a heavy duty baggie and freeze it right away. Since we eat cheese almost every day, I take a few out of the freezer, toast, add my cheese, eat, get happy.

But I suspect there may be and ardently hope that there are good or excellent bakers in the city or nearby periphery that I don't yet know of.

Unfortunately, not really. Although I would add Benison's (the bakery in Evanston that has a tent at the Green City market) to the list.

I have located the bread tasting thread from CH. http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... 33663.html It was not particularly scientific. We had far too many entries to create a disciplined analysis.

From my perspective, the order of commercially available bread is as such:

Fox & Obel
Medici
Red Hen/Benisons

Beyond that I cannot rank, as I rarely purchase bread.

Rene G wrote:Masi's Bakery (933 S Western) is an odd place and I'm not sure I've figured it out yet. It seems to be as much a social club as a bakery (there's always a group of guys hanging out in the north room). I was last there several Saturdays ago and even though it was before 9am they had sold out of pizza...

I was back at Masi's again the other day, bought a two pound loaf of their very respectable basic Italian sour dough bread, a pound of excellent 'medium' sausage (I didn't get around to asking who the maker was), the last ball of fresh mozzarella he had (made by Chellino; okay flavour, but texturally too smooth), and a bottle of Sicilian olive oil that was $2.50 less than I pay for the same brand at Conte di Savoia or Bari.

Masi's has been in the same place since the early 1930's, originally run by the parents of the current owner. His family is from a small village in central Campania near Acerra, just a little northeast of Naples, if I remember correctly. Given that the Lezzas, who used to be in Tri-Taylor, and their former partners, the Ferraras who are still there, are apparently also from Naples or Campania, one wonders whether this section of Taylor was where the Campanians tended to live back when the whole area was strongly Italian; further research is needed on that.

The two things I like best are their wheat bread and corn bread, maybe neither spectacular but both good honest loaves. They told me if I phoned the day before they'd make a batch of corn bread, even if I only wanted a loaf or two. I plan to take them up on that offer. I'm curious about that lemon ring; never saw it before.

I haven't seen any whole wheat bread there and will ask next time when they usually have it. Concerning the lemon ring, the owner called it a tarallë and the dough was indeed pretty much like what one finds in the savoury versions (with black pepper or fennel). They make them on Fridays but not all Fridays. He said they might have some today and, if not, then next week.

Incidentally, Ferrara's (on Taylor, just west of Ogden) also bakes and sells Italian bread, both white and whole wheat. We tried the white recently and it is pretty good; similar to D'Amato's but a little denser and with a crust not quite up to level of the Grand Street baker. But definitely a good loaf of bread.

Ferrara's has greatly expanded their offerings since the time when I used to go there now and again (early 1990's). They now offer various hot dishes for lunch, with different specials each day. They also offer pizza (they call it 'focaccia') with various toppings, as Rene G has noted.

A

I've had a few thought on this thread at different times and keep forgetting to join and now I've forgotten what many of them were, but I do want to throw Palermo bakery on North Harlem into the ring. I picked up a loaf for the bread tasting--sourdough--and thought it was quite good. It's a charming little shop, and I have high hopes. I believe VI has commented favorably on their sweets in the past. Perhaps tomorrow calls for a return trip. In any case, I am curious to hear from others who explore the place a bit more and/or can place it in a vaster context of Italian bakeries.

Palermo Bakery
3317 N. Harlem
(773) 777-5957

Okay, so I took my own advice this past Saturday, and hit Palermo Bakery again. Actually we hit Caffe Italia first for an espresso and cappucino, both quite nice, very pleasant place, enjoyed the patio on a lovely morning. Ducked over to Caputo's to pick up some parmigiano-reggiano and a few other well-priced sundries. And then back north to Palermo for the main event. Unfortunately, we were met with disappointment all around.

Well, young Watson was pretty satisfied with the various pastries, but maybe he hasn't developed the most discerning palate yet. We got a variety of small sweets (cannoli, sfogliatelle, "lobster tail", fruit tart, maybe one or two others), a round peasant loaf, a couple semolina rolls, a handful of cookies, and a cappucino.

To be honest, I'm not sure I have a good sense of how all these things are "supposed" to taste, but the sfogliatella seemed a bit too chewy and not enough flakey. Chewy, in fact, is my dominant memory of the goods. The bread, for example, was too chewy and not enough crusty, unlike the last sourdough loaf I had from them.

The cookies, on the other hand, were chewy in a good way. I will get more cookies, though they all taste kind of the same--that sort of sweetish, moistish, almond paste taste. I liked the ones dipped in chocolate and covered with pistachioes best. The filled cakey thing was pretty good, too, though Watson got most of that. And actually, the mini-tart wasn't at all bad either.

The cappucino suffered in comparison to the earlier one at Caffe Italia, and the space in general is much more conducive to running in and picking up than to lingering and enjoying the goods on site. Plus the clueless teenage girls behind the counter don't add to the gestalt of what I'm looking for in my out-of-the-way neighborhood Italian bakery. Again, contrast with the polished, accented waitress at Caffe Italia, and the gentlemen relaxing in their undershirts, sharing their morning espresso, with their foreign tongues and sense of personal space.

When I left, Palermo, I pretty much wrote it off. But I've liked it before, and it sure looks good. With some time for reflection, I'm feeling it deserves another shot. I don't suppose this account gives much incentive for that, but there's always Caffe Italia down the street.

Interesting sub-thread on saltless Tuscan bread. I remember my shock and disappointment, going into my first bakery on my first day in Florence and buying a beautiful looking loaf and tearing into what seemed an utterly flavorless, textureless, cottony travesty.

My understanding is that Tuscan bread is traditionally made w/out salt and that's just the way it is. Some have argued that the saltiness of the meats, cheeses, etc. that go on the bread balance that out. But I don't find that altogether convincing in practice. Though, I'm sure this is a cultural bias.

Sympathies to Antonius for a lifetime of hearing the food of southern Italy dissed. When I was growing up, it wasn't in comparison to Tuscany, but to Northern Italian food. Northern food was understood to be vaguely Frenchified and therefore sophisticated because there was lots of butter and veal and less garlic and tomato.

Southern was somehow equated with being the origin of (and identical to) the worst of Italian-American food. Big messy plates drowning in bland tomato sauce.

Of course the romantic, faux Tuscany of the imagination has been around since the Brits "discovered" it in the mid-19th century. Not so much the food as all those picturesque, sentimental ruins of Greek/Roman antiquity that they then went and recreated in their own back yards.

Back on the Chicago bread theme - forgive me if this already came up, but Artopolis in Greektown produces solid B+/A- breads, and together with some olives and cheese from the Athens grocery down the street, makes for a lovely summer lunch. (I have just consumed same, so it's on my mind.)

In today's Chicago Tribune there appears an obituary for Nicola D'Amato, who died on Christmas Day. His was an interesting life.

We who love bread in Chicago owe much to him and his family.

Antonius

Does anyone know what type of bread Tony's Deli in Edison Park sells?

There's also Convito Italiano in Wilmette - I'm not sure where their stuff comes from, but it's good.

Tony's sells bread from a couple different bakeries--alas, not D'Amatos. I can't remember all of them--I believe they sell Turano, and I know they sell bread from La Casa Nostra. They also usually have breads that are unidentified.

Well, this is off subject a bit, but still about great bread. In Door County, the Door County Bakery sells one of the best breads I've ever tasted. It's an olive oil /sesame seed bread that is baked as a huge round. You can buy the whole round or part of one. It's truly an amazing bread-has anyone else here had it?

Franabanana wrote:Does anyone know what type of bread Tony's Deli in Edison Park sells?

There's also Convito Italiano in Wilmette - I'm not sure where their stuff comes from, but it's good.

I'm not sure what kind of bread they use for their subs, but I've always found it to be somewhat lacking in the texture department when compared, for example, to the D'Amato's bread used by Bari. I never could understand whay an otherwise outstanding deli could stumble so badly in the bread department.