On 20/08/2012 6:13 PM, l, not -l wrote:
> Artisan bread is another of those terms that has become so devalued as to be
> meaningless. Just as most who use the word awesome have no clue about what
> is truly awesome, most who talk about artisan bread have never seen or
> tasted it.
>

Yep. There are now "artisan" bread franchises. I am thinking that the
fact that they are a franchise and therefore following franchise recipes
or, more likely, using franchise ingredient mixes, they are not really
franchises.

My corner bakery makes a variety on interesting breads. They do not make
regular white bread or whole wheat. They have a variety of whole grain
breads with olives, leek, potato etc. I confess that I don't buy their
breads. I don't eat much bread, so it would be a waste of good (and
expensive) bread for me, but I do occasionally have lunch there and
their sandwiches are made with their bread, and they are incredible.