What Makes Choices a Special Place to Shop - Publican Quality Bread
When you shop at a small local grocery store, you expect it to offer something unique that you can’t find anywhere else in Rockford. Publican Quality Bread is definitely a unique, good food partner.
What makes Publican Quality Bread so special? Baker expertise and ingredients.
Baker Expertise:
Greg Wade, the head baker at Publican, received the coveted James Beard Baker of the Year in 2019. This award recognizes the best bakers in the country. Upon winning, he took the chance to call on people to pay more attention to our food system and how climate change endangers it – and the potential of food to bring people together: “We only have one food system, one way to feed everyone, whether rich or poor. It’s time that we come together to cultivate a better, healthier food system for all.” When we met Greg and his team, we knew right away that his philosophy and leadership fit perfectly with the high standards we have at Choices.
If you’d like to read more about Greg Wade, here is a great article: Greg Wade is Leading America’s Bread Renaissance
Ingredients:
Publican focuses on whole, locally grown grains that are also milled locally at Janie’s Mill (which you may recognize since we carry some of her organic flours at Choices.) Spence Farm, Fairbury, IL is the source for the grains used in Publican’s bread. Their whole farming system is built on biodiversity, soil health and plant health. There are no added chemicals or pesticides in any flours used by Publican. Below is a trailer for a documentary about America’s food system sustainability that features Spence Farm with an appearance from Greg Wade, as well.
Our Current Offerings
We bring in 3 different pastries. Chocolate croissants. Kouign Amann and Brioche Morning Buns.
The breads we offer are
Spence sourdough - wheat from Janie’s Farm, rye from Spence farm, open crumb (lots of air pockets, 30 hour fermentation.
Honey oat porridge - very tender from cooking the oats into a porridge before incorporating into the bread, local honey. Open crumb (lots of air pockets, 30 hour fermentation)
Seeded Rye - flavored with molasses and charnuska, a moderate crumb with fewer air pockets, 60 hour fermentation)
Sourdough Sandwich Bread - Similar to the boule version, but shaped into a sandwich loaf.
Seeded Rye Sandwich Bread - Similar to the boule version, but shaped into a sandwich loaf.
1979 Multigrain Sandwich Bread - nutty and earthy, moderate crumb with fewer air pockets, 60 hour fermentation.
But…why is it called “1979” multigrain??
“We used to have a baker named Gil. We always got along talking about music, the Grateful Dead, and general old hippie stuff. When we were developing this recipe, Gil said, “This bread tastes like nostalgia- it tastes like memories.” So we started thinking about fuzzy home movies on super-8 film, and other memories Gil threw out the year “1979” as a name- and it’s stuck ever since. ”
You will find this delicious, nutritious bread on our shelves, delivered fresh every Monday afternoon and every other Thursday afternoon.