Spelt Bread

As I said in an earlier blog, we went to a farmer’s market last Saturday. There were many, many booths there and lots of people, both sellers and buyers. We went past one booth toward the back of the lot and I noticed they were selling breads. Normally, I don’t stop for those as I have no need for more bread in my diet. However, the brightly colored labels caught my eye and I stopped for just an instant.
That’s all it took for the woman at the booth to strike up a conversation with me, telling me that the bread I was looking at was made with spelt. Not knowing what spelt was, I asked.
“It’s a relative of wheat, but makes a bread that is sweeter and nuttier,” according to the woman at the booth.
I bought a loaf and brought it home. It’s been a wonderful experience. Toasted just right, with butter (actually something called “Move Over Butter”) and my homemade pear jelly, it’s a great dessert to any meal. As you might guess, the loaf is now history.
A couple of thoughts here. First, the bakery where this was made is in the 1900 block of East 21st Street in Wichita. That’s out by WSU somewhere. I’d like to go out there sometime and see where it is and what else they may have to sell.
Second, the bread contained, according to the label, “No animal products or by-products.” Olive oil, spelt, sea salt, and other non-animal things were all that was in the bread. There were also no preservatives. I’m not vegetarian, but this bread would fill the bill for someone who was, and won’t hurt me a bit.
Third (and this is the reason for the blog), I said at the outset that I normally didn’t buy breads and pastries at places like this. I did buy a loaf of bread from this woman, however. Why? Because she engaged me right away and sold me on the product. Most all of the other booth people just watched as people looked at their products. They didn’t engage in conversation, try to sell the product, or make any real effort to distinguish their tomatoes from those sold by their neighbor.
This woman, however, was different. She was energetic, knowledgeable, and engaging. I bought a loaf at least in part because she made the effort to sell it. I know I didn’t make or break her day with one loaf of bread; however, she got her product into a household that previously did not have it, and information about her product has now appeared on a blog. Where else that information will go is anyone’s guess.