Pane Integrale from Della Fattoria
I had the most wonderful experience in San Francisco this weekend, as we were visiting the city with my husband's family from England. It was their first time there, and they loved it. There was a Farmer's Market on the Embarcadero near Ferry Building #23 this past weekend, and I had the pleasure of meeting Edmund Weber (below) of Della Fattoria of Petaluma. He had a wonderful selection of breads, as you can see (sorry it's a bit dark).
Here is a link to bakery and cafe web site. http://dellafattoria.com/
I told him about the Fresh Loaf site and how all of us like to try new breads when we are traveling, and he gave me a loaf of his Pane Integrale, which is a very dark whole grain bread made with whole grain wheat and whole grain rye, water, honey and sea salt. It was really delicious. We drove back from SF to southern CA the next day and had the bread for dinner and toast for breakfast. Fantastic! He would not let me pay for it, as he said it was from one baker to another. He was very kind.
The crumb and crust were perfect and the bread itself was so light and airy. He is clearly a wonderful baker. It is so fun to be able to talk bread with another baker as well. He makes a variety of bread including Campagne, Ciabatta, Kalamata Olive, Levain, Polenta, Pumpkin Seed, Seeded Wheat, Semolina and Rosemary & Meyer Lemon, which is their signature country bread, in addition to the Pane Integrale he gave to me.
The crumb was just wonderful. I think this was the lightest bread I've ever had. If you find yourself in the area, please stop by and try his bread.
Inside the ferry building, there are so many great shops. I love cheese, and the Cowgirl Creamery certainly had some wonderful ones. Here is their web site: http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/
It was a great trip. Before we left to go to San Francisco, I got a classic sourdough going to bake as soon as we got home. I left it to bulk ferment for more than three days, so I was a bit worried, but it came along nicely.
Here's a link to the recipe for this bread that I posted previously. On to the next bake, as I fed my sourdough this morning. Best, Phyllis
Comments
Wow, that's impressive, haven't given that a try yet but your bread looks great! Love the photo of the Fattoria bread, sounds like you've been having a fab time! Looking foward to seeing the results of your next bake. Finally cold in England - you got the best of the last summer days before returning to the US!
Kiseger: In SF, the weather was unusually warm, but we really enjoyed it. The UK family absolutely loved San Fransicso; I am sure they will want to visit again in the future. We did have fantastic weather in the UK (the best ever for me), and we have continued that trend back here in the States. Not sure what the next bake will be....Hope your baking is great. Best, Phyllis
Thanks for the link - I love to read though bakery sites - the bread you took home is fantastic. The dark boldy baked but not burnt crust while being light as a feather can only come out of a wood fired oven - and why a WFO is the basic piece of equipment needed to make real artisan bread - the rest of us have to live with faking it in our poor substitute kitchen ovens:-) Your SD example is a fine example of the best you can make at home. Just beautiful and so well done Phyllis.
Happy baking.
dabrownman: He did tell me he had a wood fired oven. I have never baked bread so light as his loaf with that dark crust....and it was a huge loaf. Glad you enjoyed looking at their site. It is a family-run business; must be fun dinner conversations! If I ever get to Petaluma, I will stop by. Thanks for your comments, as always. Best, Phyllis
So many bakeries I want to visit! And now another on my list. :)
Anyway, sounds like you had a blast in San Francisco. I mean, I would too if I discovered delicious breads and food. That's basically the only things on my mind when I'm travelling.
Cheers, and don't hesitate to post more photos on your bread adventures!
Zita
We did have a really good time. San Francisco is such a wonderful city, and my husband's family really enjoyed seeing it for the first time. The food and bread are great. I was unable to get to Chad Robertson's due to lack of time as I wanted to make sure they got to see as much of the city as possible. Perhaps I will go there next time. I told the family about your catering and bread business as I was trying to describe The Fresh Loaf site and all the wonderful bakers, such as yourself. They were surprised that I got the bread free at the farmers market, but I was explaining how we really all enjoy talking "bread." Hope everything is going well with you and keep up your posts as well. Best, Phyllis
Phyllis, interesting post although at this point most of the picture don't seem to link for me.
I wonder based on the date of this post if you had found their book published at the same time?
Della Fattoria Bread: 63 Foolproof Recipes for Yeasted, Enriched & Naturally Leavened Breads. I have been curious about it and your account of the bread and people have me looking for reviews.
The cover photo came through but the rest won't for some reason,