One constant in life, sadly, is that people don't always get along. Issues as petty as a burned out turn signal annoy. Heaven forbid if the referee misses a clear hooking penalty at your child's Pee Wee hockey game. Outrage!
We bakers try to rise above petty disagreements. Our philosophy is that so long as everyone has access to good, healthy daily bread, and we're all well fed, the tiny disagreements won't matter so much and we'll all work out the Big Issues together. With full stomachs, no less.
I think this philosophy rubs off on people too. When we're busy on Saturdays or before a holiday, we often see people in the lineup who may not always get along. When they're at the bakery, everyone has the same goal -- Good Bread For All. Once there were even two political candidates who had recently run against each other, standing side by side (dare I say, smiling?) to get their bread fix. And if one man ordered a "People Before Profits" Birdseed Loaf and his opponent ordered a "Free Market" Whole Wheat Loaf, who would dare to judge them? Not me, that's for sure. I'm more of a "Holey Moley" Saskatchewan Sourdough guy anyway.
But in Regina anyway, 99% of our petty annoyances are just that -- annoyances. Sure, I may give that driver beside me the stink-eye for a few blocks, and I think hard before selecting my seat at the hockey rink, but I'm not likely to have to board up my windows and arm myself any time soon. Which brings us around to our November Bread of the Month, Two Castle Rye.
Legend has it that back in the days when the Feudal Lords were constantly at war with each other, one poor baker was continually caught in the middle. His village was at the bottom of a fertile valley, with a Castle on either hill occupied by a warring Lord. If you think it gets dicey in Regina around election time when our landlord dusts off his election billboard, try having soldiers stopping by your bakery wondering which side you're on. Not fun.
So when the two Lords finally decided to make up and end the war, the village baker was estatic. He created a special loaf - a deep, dark, tasty rye full of luxurious, nutty seeds. Then he made two tiny loaves, each decorated in the colours of the (formerly) warring Lord. He baked the mini loaves close together, so they came out as one big loaf, to symbolize the new time of peace and harmony.
Pretty diplomatic, eh? That baker should've run for office, that's all I'm saying. Too bad it was Feudal times.
We took inspiration from that story to create the Orange Boot version of Two Castle Rye. Ours is a sourdough rye with Wheat, Whole Wheat and Whole Rye flour. We mix in lots of rolled oats, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds too. Each mini loaf is decorated with either golden flax or brown flax seeds, to symbolize the two sides of whatever argument has your fancy at the moment.
This loaf tastes great, whether you have a bone to pick, a score to settle, or just have a hunger pang to placate. So give one a try. We're making them every day in November, but just for this month only. So don't miss out!