When the pandemic hit, it seemed like the entire world simultaneously got into baking. People who hadn’t so much as picked up a whisk in their previous lives suddenly became conversant in starters, proofing times, hydration ratios. Group chats filled up with gratuitous crumb shots.
Five years on, sanity, at least as it relates to baking, has gradually returned. These days, most of us would probably rather grab a loaf on the way home than organize a day around kneading and rising times.
Yet just because we no longer have the time nor the inclination to spend our days baking doesn’t mean we don’t remember what good bread tastes like. And that makes it hard to settle for something mediocre. O cursed knowledge! With the awareness that good bread is possible, and the acknowledgement that we’re probably not going to bake it ourselves, comes the obvious question: Where can I get it?…