Today, from field to hearth and everywhere in between, people have thrown themselves into the work of educating themselves about grain growing, harvesting, and milling. Enthusiastic bakers might know the protein percentages of the flour they worked with, but many didn’t even think about that… and almost no one thought about things like ash content, wheat types and varieties, or where the wheat was grown.” They would buy the type that worked for what they were making. Twenty years ago, most bakers gave very little thought to where their flour came from. “Many of us have also witnessed the transformation that has taken place across the country when it comes to bakers connecting with the source of our main ingredient. “Today, we all know what has transpired in the first four areas I listed,” he continues.
In other words, as many bakers these days know, it wasn’t much use if it made up more than about 20% of a bread formula. “My guess is that most years, this flour had a falling number of 200 or perhaps, less. “If I was to guess, I’d say that the protein percentage was 9 at most,” George recalls. It was whole wheat flour milled by the farmer who grew it and there was no available data on it.
When Randy and his (future) wife Eliza Cain decided to move back to Liza’s home turf in the Mad River Valley of Vermont, they did so with the intention of opening a bakery. George had been baking bread for several years, both in his home state of Maine as well as in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. Similarly, Randy George started Red Hen Baking Company in September 1999 on Route 100 in Duxbury, Vermont. Like many retail bakeries, Bennison’s evolved with changing times. In 1975, Jory Downer followed in his father’s footsteps to join the bakery after learning the craft from his father, Guy, and attending culinary school and classes to improve his skill, eventually achieving the position of Certified Master Baker. The word “viennoiserie” – French for “things from Vienna” – describes a whole category of pastry that includes croissants, pain au raisins and brioche.īennison’s Bakery has been a Chicago North Shore institution since 1938, earning a reputation as a popular full-line bakery that specializes in European-style pastries, cookies and custom-decorated cakes. Viennoiserie now ranks among the most recognized categories of French pastry, thanks to its flagship baked good, the croissant, according to the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.