| San Francisco Bread Review | Alfaro's Sun Dried Tomato bread |
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| Summary | |
| Appearance : | OK |
| Taste : | OK |
| Overall grade : | C+ |
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| The bread | |
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| Ingredients | |
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| Nutrition | |
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| Bread name | Sun Dried Tomato |
| Baker | Alfaro's, Vernon |
| Purchased | Thursday, May 29, 2003, 4:00PM |
| From | Safeway, 4100 Redwood Road, Oakland |
| Tested | Thursday, May 29, 2003, 7:30PM |
| Price | $2.99 |
| Weight | 19 oz. |
| Size (LxWxH) | 7" x 6" x 4" |
Appearance
This bread comes in a transparent plastic bag, which is definitely a bad idea for this type of bread. The closing tab has an expiration date (June 2). It is pre-sliced, which I don't particularly care for either. It has a very strong smell when you take it out of the bag, which is of course caused by the fact that the bread can't breathe in a plastic bag. This effect is reinforced by the pre-slicing, which exposes much more surface. Ah well. The color is OK, there are four soft-looking scores on top, and there are chunks of tomato visible on top of the loaf. The density is a bit above average. The crust is very soft and does not have a good feel at all, in fact it feels a little clammy. The weather today probably does not help, but I suspect the plastic bag. The outside smell is strong, mostly sun-dried tomatoes, with a definite garlic presence. No real bread smell, or maybe it is masked by the tomatoes. The crumb is yellowish and has a reasonably pleasant appearance. Fairly fluffy, with chunks of tomato visible, as well as garlic bits.
Taste
The crust (if you can call it that) has a bad consistency, way too soft and unsatisfying. The taste is a bit sourdough, the garlic is quite noticeable. The crumb has an OK consistency, it's a bit dry, and the taste is not fully satisfying. The aftertaste is so-so.
Conclusion
This bread is an excellent demonstration of the fact that you cannot have good bread sitting on a shelf for days in a plastic bag. At least the ingredients are reasonable, otherwise it would have ranked lower.