It’s a cold, rainy morning at the Saturday morning Eastside farmers’ market. In spite of the lighter-than-usual crowd, Rosemarie Abbouchi has already sold out of several varieties of her remarkable Artisana bread. Her booth is buzzing with shoppers who have come for their weekly fix along with those who’ve wandered over to see what all the fuss is about as Rosemarie provides descriptions and thoughtful care tips.
“This one freezes beautifully” or “This one will keep for a week sealed in the fridge.” It’s a fun scene. If you hang out for more than five minutes, I bet you won’t escape with fewer than five items, and even that will require some tough decisions. This is serious bread.
I left with a gorgeous baguette, a Belgian-chocolate brioche, fig/honey scones, chocolate/cherry scones and bacon/cheddar/scallion scones, and a little bag of bite-sized pieces of salted milk bread (pain au lait avec sel). I have grown so weary of bread that looks so much better than it actually tastes. These breads were a revelation.
Rosemarie’s career has included working in computer graphics at NASA, a degree from the Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and work in restaurants. While staying home with her young son, she earned her accounting degree after 9/11 in response to feeling a need for a stable career. She worked as an accountant until she took steps to do what so many of us wish we had the nerve to do – she followed her passion into a new career.
She is now a professional baker.
Her friends and family were lucky enough to experience her very special affinity for the dough – they enthusiastically encouraged her to go into business. It took a year of research before she took a leap of faith. Artisana Bread has been in business for just over a year, selling out regularly at both the Eastside and City Hall farmers’ markets.
She’s currently baking in the commercial facility at the Neighborhood Center in Garden Oaks, but her capacity there is limited. Rosemarie is looking for a larger facility that includes a small storefront where she can sell from inviting baskets of bread on a daily basis.
Like other magically delicious artisan foods, quality ingredients are key. King Arthur flour, Plugra butter (because of its high fat content), organic dairy and local-everything whenever possible (Texas olive oil, Bee Wilde’s honey) are important elements. Rosemarie also rests her doughs for several days to develop flavor from ingredients like roasted garlic, mashed potato, olive oil and fresh rosemary for her pillowy Italian-style panmarino bread or a savory scone dough flavored with fresh parsley, basil and asiago cheese.
French and Italian breads are her favorites to prepare. She loves the depth of flavor and unique textures they provide.
One of her favorite breads is the pain au lait avec sucre, which is a rich, buttery egg and milk bread with a crunch of raw sugar on the crust. She says it took her a while to get this bread just right and asked French friends to test it for authenticity. The first batch was too firm, the next batch not firm enough. It took a few iterations, but she finally got their stamp of approval. She really loves this bread herself, primarily for the taste and texture; but she also loves it because she managed to recreate bread that satisfied her friends’ nostalgia and tasted just like “home.”
Another favorite with friends and at the market is the pain a l’ancienne. It’s a rustic French baguette. “Rustic,” because it’s not a rolled baguette. In France, this is the bread folks go to the boulangerie to buy fresh each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The dough is quite wet, which helps create a caramelized crust and holey crumb – a result of a beautifully gassy and bubbly dough. There is a depth of flavor and a natural sweetness to the bread that is hard to find in the supermarket bakery. Rosemarie loves the way each baguette is different from the next in its own homely way.
She has a couple of new favorites, too. One is the flaxseed, sunflower seed whole wheat bread. Rosemarie likes the crunchy texture of the seeded crust and the dense chewiness of the crumb. She says customers seem very drawn to this bread and that she finds herself making more and more each week.
The wild rice, onion and sage bread is another new choice – extremely fragrant with onion and sage while the cooked rice contributes to the tender texture.
Rosemarie’s enthusiasm is contagious, and her passion is evident. She loves her customers and loves to make them happy with her bread. When asked about whether she’d like to grow the business to the point of supplying restaurants and other wholesale endeavors, she talks about her desire to make money while maintaining balance with her passion and guiding principles. “I don’t want to get so large that I don’t have my hands on the dough,” she says.
For the sake of Houstonians who have come to love these beautiful breads, we want for you to keep your hands on the dough, too, Rosemarie.
For more information about Artisana Bread, visit www.artisanabread.com.