| San Francisco Bread Review | La Brea Bakery Pain Rustique |
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| Summary | |
| Appearance : | Not bad |
| Taste : | Not bad |
| Overall grade : | B+ |
| Pictures | |
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| The bread | |
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| The wrapper | |
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| Ingredients | |
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| Nutrition | |
| Click on the photos for larger view | |
| Bread name | Pain Rustique |
| Baker | La Brea Bakery, Van Nuys |
| Purchased | Thursday, May 22, 2003, 5:30PM |
| From | Albertson's, 1550 E 14th Street, San Leandro |
| Tested | Thursday, May 22, 2003, 6:30PM |
| Price | $2.99 |
| Weight | 18.5 oz. |
| Size (LxWxH) | 10" x 6.5" x 2.5" |
Background
This is the first review of a La Brea Bakery bread, and the first question anyone should ask is: how can they be located in Van Nuys (near L.A.) ? The answer is that they bake their breads only 80% of the way, then they freeze them, ship them around, and the local outlet completes the baking. I must admit that doesn't really sound all that good, but based on this sample, it works. Compared to Albertson's own breads, this one is head and shoulders above (admittedly, that's not saying very much).
Appearance
The bread comes in a paper bag with a transparent plastic window. The loaf is rectangular and relatively flat, light in color, with fun-looking dimples on top. The bottom is coated with what I assume is semolina. The density of the loaf is slightly above average, the crust is quite soft, but that's probably OK for this type of bread. The outside smell is very faint, barely detectable. The bottom smell is a bit doughy. The cut was OK, but the loaf collapses pretty easily, so it's not easy to make regular slices. The crumb is white, with fairly large bubbles. The inside smell is doughy with a very slight sourness which would suggest artificial additives.
Taste
The consistency of the crust is not unpleasant, as it turns out. The taste is not strong, but bready with doughy undertones. The crumb has a good consistency, with a slight sour taste, but not at all unpleasant. The ingredients are not too bad for an industrial bread, the only gripe I would have is with the "enriched" flour.
Conclusion
I'm not sure exactly what it is that is supposed to make this bread "rustique". The name is misleading. But it's a pretty honest bread, which would probably be good dipped in olive oil, or in soup.