A Bread Winner

Thursday, November 03, 2011

No sooner was the specialty bread we ordered unwrapped last Tuesday afternoon, it quickly disappeared. The moist, circular-shaped proved that good! One pinch led to another pinch, each offering more satisfaction, making for pure food nirvana. "Damn good bread!" one person exclaimed. It was enough to make Thursday Food hightail it waaaayyyy up into the salubrious hills of Irish Town, S. Andrew to EITS Café - the eatery run by Michael Fox and daughter Robyn and where the bread is made.

After a winding, yet scenic drive, we arrive at EITS and are told that two breads are baking in the antique cast iron stove. With embers of coal aglow at the base of the stove, the breads (baked in Jamaican dutch pots) are removed from the oven and knocked out of the pots.

So, what prompted the idea for the specialty bread?

"We just started about a month ago," Robyn Fox shared. "It came about as a result of two Australian guests who were visiting our Mount Edge guest house. They had operated a bakery in Switzerland and they were telling us all about bread how nice it was to be able to have freshly baked bread everyday. They left us a simple recipe which we decided to try," ... and voila!

While the EITS Café in fact makes fresh bread daily for the eatery, the specialty bread is a different and welcome carb addition. Understandably tight-lipped about revealing the recipe, Fox said the tasty bread may be simple but in actuality, after being mixed has to sit for at least 16 hours before being baked.

Already, orders for the bread are pouring in and Fox is trying to keep pace.

"It's not available every week...it's limited because it's a specialty; so we're going to probably feature it twice a month," Fox said.

To heighten the taste experience, Thursday Food recommends pairing the bread with unsalted, herbed butter sold through the Foxes' Food Basket company that retails fresh-from-the-farm herbs. "We're also going to start very soon a line of dressings, and herb-based oils such as chives oil, cilantro oil, mixed herbed oil, basil oil, and other dressings that can be used with the Food Basket salads," Fox divulged.

Do consider sampling Food Basket's specialty bread that retails for $500 per loaf. Email foodbasketjamaica@gmail.com