Santa Monica Farmer's Market, and 4715 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., 90029
ph. 323/663-8608
We haven’t even been to the actual Bezian’s bakery yet, but we buy from the stand they have Wednesdays at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market. (Go down Arizona to 2nd Street, hang a right and walk to the end on the left. That’s them!). I wanted to hurry up and post this because they have the most amazing bread! Their loaves are sourdough, so there are only natural yeasts in the bread, many are unusual, and all are delicious. I have not really figured out how to do sourdough easily, and it seems like a lot of work (in Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, keeping the sourdough mix alive is charmingly referred to as “feeding the bitch”. It’s demanding.).
These loaves are about $2.50 each ($1.00 for a sample size that’s 3 oz and makes a really nice breakfast). We have bought: Multigrain (which is gorgeous – covered with cracked wheat, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, everything!), Whole Wheat, Sun-Dried Tomato and Thai Basil and Date Pecan loaves. There are many more, they are all labeled for those with sensitivities, and they are lovely.
I highly recommend buying several loaves if you can’t go to the market every week, cutting them into adequate serving sizes and freezing them. We cut them into thirds, defrosting one at a time, and we get about 4 good slices from each third. Get some Earth Balance Vegan Margarine, or butter, mix with minced garlic and a little salt, spread and toast for a wonderful garlic bread. The Earth Balance stuff manages not to have trans-fats like other margarines, and that’s why we use it. Tastes great. Trader Joe’s.
Typical ingredient list, taken from the Date Pecan loaf: Unbleached Wheat Flour, Filtered Water, Sourdough Culture, Whole Wheat Flour, Malted Barley (a sweetener), Sea Salt, Dates, Pecans, Vitamin C and my favorite part of their label – “Government Enforced Vitamins: Iron, Niacin, Riboflavin, Thiamin Mononitrate, Folic Acid”. This is true; all breads that are not whole wheat have been stripped of fiber and vitamins, and the government requires that you put the vitamins back (this makes just almost no sense, huh). This is called enrichment. When bread is enriched, they’re putting back what was taken away. When food is fortified, it has a nutrient it never had added to it. (Example: calcium fortified orange juice). There’s your nutrition education for the day.
I cannot wait to go to the actual bakery. It will probably be a scene to behold (we’ll be knee deep in sourdough bread for months). Stay tuned.