On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, we decided to hit the road in
search of Cohen's Bakery in Ellensville, NY and also to Bread Alone in
Boiceville. While others started their holiday shopping, we sought the
elusive pumpernickel raisin and wild artisan bread.
http://www.cohensbakery.com/
http://www.breadalone.com
The weather was cool, but clear, with bright sun and lovely clouds. A
perfect day for a drive.
I expected Cohen's to be a fancy place, but found the store quite
small and unassuming. In fact, while walking in front of the glass
displays to see all the bakery items, each of us there, strangers
before that moment, needed to say "excuse me," and pass sideways to
get by - we became almost immediate intimate acquaintances. Luckily
the place was not too crowded.
Still, just being there made me feel like a kid again, visiting the
Jewish bakeries that flourished in the area of Detroit where I grew
up. The only things missing to complete my memory-come-to-life were
the middle-aged women that used to wait on customers and kibbitz in
Yiddish with any and all.
There on the back shelves were 4 of the huge 5lb loaves of
pumpernickel. I get the feeling most customers buy part of a loaf,
not a whole one. This was based on the look on the face of the kind
woman behind the counter when I enthusiastically said "yes" when she
asked , somewhat incredulously, if we really wanted the whole thing.
We did not buy any other breads, but did manage to walk out with a
pound or two of poppy cake, some kichel, a few almond horns and a
mandel bread (chocolate covered!!).
We put the goodies in the trunk to avoid nibbling and made our way to
Boiceville and Bread Alone. Boiceville is in the middle of Catskill
State Park. We drove through the mountains, past gorges and waterfalls
and winding rivers and beautiful reservoirs....lovely ride.
Bread Alone has several shops, but the one we went to houses the
famous brick oven and is the bakery that supplies the bread and baked
goods to the other stores.
There is a cafe attached to the bakery and we had some soup (vegetable
for me and corn chowder for The Hub - both soups were superb) and a
roll (whole grain and rustic - not bad). After lunch, we bought
couple of loaves and asked to see the oven. We had read on the web
pages that one could tour the facility without any appointment and
they were true to their word and most accommodating. One of the
college-age women behind the counter escorted us back for a quick tour
of the facility (looked like the usual kind of bakery work area), but
I wanted to see the star of the facility close up...the famous oven
which had come from France (peek around the web link I posted to learn
about the oven). Obligingly, they let us get right up to it and opened
a door for us to look inside. Neat-o. What can I say...I got a real
charge out of looking at it and walking through the facility. I'm a
cheap date, I guess!
We came out of the bakery area and I took a deep breath and asked if
could have some sourdough starter. I had explained earlier to our
"docent" that we were ardent bread bakers. She asked if we knew about
the book, "By Bread Alone," and I told her that it was well worn and
used often at our house. Our guide went back in to make the request
and returned, saying that if we could wait 10 minutes, we could have
some starter. She then asked if we wanted white or whole wheat. I
wanted white. We passed the time looking around the cafe and at the
various breads (we had bought a rustic corn bread (looked like a
semolina loaf with cornmeal on the outside. It is in the freezer) and
an onion bread, similar in shape to foccacia, but I am not sure what
they called it.
A few minutes later, one of the workers from the back came out with a
cup full of starter with the words "La Brea" written on top. (that
surprised me) and we thanked one and all profusely, put the starter in
the cooler in the car and made our way home.
It was a very nice day.