New with Old

Our Sundays are really ramping up. For one thing we have live music. This Sunday we are hosting High Blue Sky which is comprised of James Burkett (guitar, mandolin, harmonica) and Karen McKenzie Vosburg (baritone ukulele and percussion).They have played all over Southwest Michigan. We are delighted that they play at the bakery every month. They perform between 11am and 1pm.

But let’s talk about food! This Sunday our brunch specials are Shakshuka (more on that below) and Egg “Nests” (A pesto/goat cheese pastry covered with an egg). Of course, we will also have our normal pastries, and our regular lunch items.

The "New" of the headline above is Shakshuka which means “mixture” and is a North West African dish which become wildly popular throughout the world in the 60s. And for good reason! A rich base of tomatoes and red peppers combined with warm spices, topped with feta, cilantro, and a runny egg make for a delicious start to your day.

I say “New” because compared to breads, it came along much later, particularly because is based on tomatoes. They weren't adopted in the Middle East until “John Barker, British consul [came to] Aleppo between 1799 and 1825. Barker introduced the tomato to the local crops, and within a few decades, both tomato sauce and the tomato itself - in all its forms - became an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern cuisine.” See: The history of tomato sauce: Arab and Italian traditions | Middle East. So any tomato dish from the Middle East is a mere child in the culinary world.

.Shakshuka is often served with focaccia the “Old” reference in the title. Focaccia “evolved” from its earliest form, an unleavened bread baked on a stone by the Etruscans, to a Roman version adding olive oil, to modern savory or sweet versions. Ours is savory featuring rosemary. We first produced it in the early 80s and have made  several versions over the years. Hands down the current version, which we just brought out, is  the best! Use it for snacks, sandwiches (sliced horizontally), a pizza base, a dipper for soups and stews. My favorite is simply as a warm snack.

So join us for a downtown Sunday brunch worthy of a big city. Parking in the rear of the building 

See you here,
Judy and Alec and Crew