Eatdrink #44 November/December 2013

36 www.eatdrink.ca
№ 44 | November/December 2013
farmers & artisans
Unique Innovations in Baking
Downie Street Bake House • Lindsay’s Bakery • Organic Works
By Bryan Lavery
Really Good Bread From the Wrong Side of the Tracks
The sale of artisanal premium breads —
high quality, hand-crafted and free of
artificial additives and preservatives
—continues to be on the rise. Alan
Mailloux, a trained chef from Stratford Culinary
School with nearly 30 years’ experience baking
bread, has the skilled hands of a practiced baker
who knows how to perfect the ideal crust and
crumb. Kneading, long rises, multiple rises and
sourdough starters produce complex artisanal,
specialty breads of great diversity. The latest
incarnation of Alan and Barb Mailloux’s baking
career, Downie Street Bake House, has allowed
them the opportunity to experiment with long
Alan Mailloux
(above) and
his wife Barb
are hands-on
owners of
Downie Street
Bake House
Cinnamon Walnut Raisin, Sour Chocolate Cherry
Sourdough and Olive & Oregano.
Mailloux started baking at the age of 24, “when
my wife (the
lovely Shop
Girl) politely
suggested
that I might
want to get
a hobby. I
was newly
married; I
thought that I already had a hobby.”
They opened their first B&B in Windsor, in
Mailloux’s grandparent’s old house on the main
street. They did some baking for a local coffee
shop in the evenings after Alan finished work at
his “day job.”
They relocated to Stratford in 1990, so that
Mailloux could enrol in the Stratford Chefs
School. “Cooking was going to be my thing, but
something kept pulling me back to bread making.
We had an opportunity to take over the
Orbit Bakery in Stratford when it came available
in 1993, but thought I needed to practice my
cooking instead (so I trained the eventual owner
how to make bread) and moved on.”
“After cooking around for a couple of years,
we ended up back in Stratford in 1996 to open
a B&B. Baking bread on Friday nights to sell
and cold fermentation times for their breads
(giving better flavour and keeping qualities) and
expanding the selection. On offer is a variety of
bread baking that includes: Whole Wheat Rye, 12
Grain Sourdough, Plain (not boring) White, French
Country, Stratford Sourdough, Walnut Sourdough,
Mini Me Miche, Potato Currant, Rye Sourdough,
at the Stratford Farmer’s Market on Saturday
mornings was going to be a temporary thing to
do until the B&B became a success. Instead, the
bread making became a success, something we
could do year round and that people enjoyed.”
“Our first bakery was located in Sebringville
and it suffered from four problems: location,