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from Bayou Cora Farms in Baldwin County, Alabama, where
the unique variety has been in the family since 1875. It makes
stone-ground grits that are every color of a Southwest mesa.
More important, says Gill, instead of dealing with wholesalers,
he gets to hand a check directly to a farmer. “I’ll never go back,”
he says. “I’ll never not have a mill.”LET’S NOT PRETEND: Milling hundreds of pounds of grain a
day is a monumental task on top of a baker’s already grueling
schedule. Who would take on such a commitment?
A whole new generation of renegade bakers, it turns out. Usu-
ally all it takes is one taste of a loaf made with fresh whole grains
and traditional, slow fermentation, which allows the natural
enzymes in the grains to break down the tough-to-digest gluten.
Heyn’s stone mills are now grinding out beautiful flours at such
third-wave bakeries as Providence’s Seven Stars; Boulted Bread
in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Fry’s Bakery in Victoria, British
Columbia. Others milling their own flour include Seylou Bakery
& Mill in Washington, D.C.; New York City’s Scarr’s Pizza; and
Soba Ichi in Oakland, California.“FRESHLY STONE-MILLED
FLOUR IS A LIVING INGREDIENT,
FULL OF FLAVOR, AROMA, AND
NUANCE.” —GRAISON GILLMAKE IT New Orleans chefs share their favorite ways to cook
with Bellegarde flours; recipes on p. 92.
TAKE IT Shop the flours ($10 for a 2.5-pound bag) at
bellegardebakery.com.But freshly ground grains have been making inroads on the
coasts for years. The real question for Gill was: Could he convert
a city wedded to the whitest of breads? The answer: with ease.
Bellegarde has grown from a one-man show to a 14-person
enterprise cranking out a thousand loaves a day of floral and
zesty baguettes, ciabatta, rye, and country bread for the city’s
best markets, such as Rouses and St. James Cheese Company.
And it’s no coincidence that the restaurants featuring Bellegarde
products are the same ones that are reinventing New Orleans
cuisine. The stone-ground grits give Isaac Toups’ shrimp and
grits its earthy bite at Toups South. Best New Chef alum Nina
Compton uses Bellegarde’s buckwheat flour in shortbread cook-
ies at Compère Lapin. Whole-wheat flour gives Ryan Prewitt’s
capellini its toothsome edge at Pêche.“I love it,” says Prewitt.
“It makes the pasta denser and richer. I take it home and use it
for my kids’ pancakes. It makes everything taste better. I can’t
ever see going back.”
With chefs like Prewitt and bakers like Gill leading the way,
it seems certain that the grain awakening is here to stay, and
these humble, extraordinary plants can return to their rightful
place at the center of our plates.