A Visit to Gerard's Bread
What if I told you there was a product we stocked that is in even higher demand than Heady Topper? Would you believe me? If you’ve ever looked for Gerard’s bread at the Co-op, then you know it’s true! We’ve even seen folks notice it arriving at our loading dock out in the parking lot, and head back inside to meet the deliverer right as they arrive in the Bakery Department.
Needless to say, Gerard’s bread is a highly sought after product, and you can typically find it in our Bakery in its own devoted bread rack on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, usually in the late afternoon. What makes this bread so special? Well, first of all, it arrives still warm from the wood-fired oven. It’s a sourdough bread, made by a French artisan. And it’s soft, delicious, and hearty!
A few of us from the Co-op were lucky enough to go out and visit Gerard Rubaud at his bakery the other week. If his last name sounds familiar, it may be because Gerard is the father of Julie Rubaud of Red Wagon Plants (and Don Schramm Award recipient in 2014). The bakery is located not too far off the highway in Westford, and is located in a beautifully built wooden building. We found Gerard already hard at work, forming sourdough loaves and preparing them for baking.
When we asked Gerard about his schedule, he told us that he had started the fire in the wood-fired oven around 5pm the afternoon before. When he arrived (very early in the morning), he started by grinding fresh flour, mixing up the dough, and then separating the dough into loaves and putting the loaves on a wooden tray covered by hemp cloth to rest. Lynn Ellen, our Assistant Director of Retail Operations, jumped behind the work counter (a huge slab of beautiful wood, salvaged from an old bowling alley) to give forming a loaf a try. She can attest it is a lot harder than it looks! Gerard makes it seem effortless, but there is a learned method of folding the dough in on itself that is crucial to a properly formed loaf. Gerard told Lynn Ellen that it’s easiest to learn by watching and trying to imitate what he does. Eventually (after practicing for a while) you’ll get the feel for it.
While the dough rested, Gerard showed us the wood-fired oven. Gerard’s oven has two parts – the top part, which is where the initial fire is started and where the bread will eventually bake, and the bottom part, which is into where Gerard scraps the initial fire and ash using a trap door in the bottom of the top oven. Once he’s swept out the top oven, he closes the trap door, and builds a secondary fire in the bottom oven to help keep the temperature up in the top oven. Right before he puts in the bread to bake (he can fit 36 loaves into his oven at one time), he’ll spray down the top oven with hot water to further clean it and to provide steam for baking.
After moving the fire, it was time to get back to the dough. After the dough rested, Gerard took each loaf off the hemp cloth and started forming the dough into longer loaves, getting them ready for the oven. As he did this, he told us a little bit about his history – he grew up in France, and worked in a bakery for 5 years starting when he was 14 years old. After a stint in the military, Gerard started working with the ski company Rossignol. He worked for them for 12 years in France before moving to the US and working another 26 years for them here before retirement. And that’s when his baking started again – in retirement. He’s now been baking for 25 years, and he doesn’t view it as a job because he just loves baking bread.
Once all the loaves were formed into their final shape, they were wheeled into a warm room next to the oven to rest for 20-30 minutes before baking. In total, Gerard makes about 140 loaves a day, some of which go to various CSAs and some of which go to retail stores like the Co-op. Luckily, Gerard still gets some time off – he takes breaks from baking on Tuesdays and Fridays.
While we weren’t able to stay through the morning to witness the bread baking, we felt fortunate to get a glimpse into Gerard’s process and to see the care and skill that he imparts on his bread. So, next time you are in the store, keep your eye out for Gerard’s bread. You may just get lucky and find it before it flies off the shelf!