LOCALadk Magazine

40 Winter 2020 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Pane Paesano has been dipped in warm tomato sauce." Bread bakers tend to be a bit eccentric, somewhat unique in their vision of life, but fully cognizant of how important their craft is. The decision to bake bread is more than just a way to make a living; it is a way to bring the pleasures of life to others. Making great bread is a calling that requires individuals to work isolationist hours, work till their muscles ache and their lungs are filled with flour dust, and care for their starters as they would offspring. "Bread making is one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world's sweetest smells . . . there is no chiro- practic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread." -M.F.K . Fisher, The Art of Eating Breadbaking, unlike many other baking processes, goes beyond knowing how to read a formula. Great bread bakers have a feel for the process. They know great flour by letting it flow through their hands; they understand the importance of good water; they sense when a bowl proof is ready for shaping and rounding by stretching a piece of dough to see how well the gluten has developed; and they can smell and hear when a loaf is sufficiently baked to yield a great crust and chewy internal texture. To bake great bread you have to know it, love it, and be one with it. A breadmaking movement began in the bakeshop of Lionel Poilane in Paris, France. Although he passed in a tragic acci- dent a few years back, his daughter carries on the tradition of world-class bread made as it was generations ago. Poilane bread is so sought after, it is shipped fresh overnight all over the world. It was this commitment to ingredients and pro- cess that inspired a few rebel bakers in America to embrace this method, study it until it was part of their being, and open exceptional operations dedicated to bread as it should be. One of those American bakers is Michael London, who moved his landmark breadbaking activities from Mrs. Lon- don's Baker y in Saratoga Springs, New York (on the border of the Adirondack Park), to his 1805 farmhouse and renamed it Rock Hill Bakehouse. His baker y, possibly more than any other, started the American artisanal bread revolution of the 1980s. His baker y grew and was passed on to Matt Funiciello as it moved to Glens Falls, where the magic continues and from where their incredible bread is shipped throughout the Adirondacks, Catskills, and Berkshires. Matt worked alongside Michael London and his wife, Wen- dy. This is where he developed his early skills as a baker and where he finetuned his philosophy of bread—his "stakes in the ground." He bakes with integrity, and notes that he and his bakers do not control the environment that impacts baking: " We tr y to allow the starters to expand and contract with all of the natural variables we have come to respect and have learned how to use. We train our bakers to obser ve and react, not to control." Rock Hill brings in unbleached, non-bromated wheat flour from North Dakota Milling (the only state-owned mill left in the U.S.), high-gluten flours from Canada, and their organics from Champlain Valley Milling in Westport, New York. Their hearth ovens come from France and their mixers are coached to turn the bread slowly to keep heat to a minimum by re- ducing friction. The end product is mixed, shaped, proofed, baked, and cared for with Adirondack hands. The Rock Hill crew bakes until there is no more bread to bake (usually around 5 or 6 p.m.), and then packages and ships as the cycle begins all over again. By 9 p.m. drivers are off with trucks filled with incredible bread en route to dis- tributors and local clients. Evidentally Rock Hill Bakehouse never sleeps. Breadbakers are unique individuals with a passion for the craft, a commitment to process, and an unwavering focus on flavor and texture. Their lives differ from ever yone else's and they are worthy of reverent respect. These artisans love the feel of flour in their face, relish the intense heat of ov- ens, and talk to their bread as they wait for the sound of doneness when tapping on the bread's underbelly. Their job is physical, mentally challenging, and even emotional at times. Breadmaking is a blend of science, art, passion, and tra- dition that carries with it an almost spiritual nature. When asked about his own life connection with the process and the product, Matt states, "I am a simple steward of the process. Someone who obser ves, listens, and always learns." "The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight." -M.F.K . Fischer, The Art of Eating During your next visit to the Adirondack Park, make sure you add Rock Hill bread to your shopping list. It can be found throughout the Capitol Region and in the Park at operations such as Rock Hill Bakehouse in Glens Falls, Green Goddess in Lake Placid, and Origin Coffee, Nori's Market, and Lakeview Deli in Saranac Lake. Rock Hill Bakehouse, Queensbur y, NY: http://rockhillbakehousecafe.com/.

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