Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1182004
as he demonstrates taking loaves of bread in and out of the huge ovens at Annarosa's Bakery in Salisbury with a long wooden baker's peel. At 9:30 on a Saturday morning, he's already put in nearly a full day of work at the bakery that he owns with his wife, Jane, which is packed with people stocking up on loaves of crunchy ciabatta, baguettes, sourdoughs, and other freshly baked breads. Annarosa's is only open a few days a week, but it has a devoted following. "East Boston comes to us now," Malatesta says. "We have a whole crew of old-school Italians that drive up from East Boston and buy 5, 10, 15 ciabattas at a time." It's easy to see why. Humanity's love of and reverence for bread goes back thousands of years. It's something that Andy King, co-owner with his wife, Jackie, of A&J King Artisan Bakers in Salem calls "foundational" to who we are as people. "The reason we love bread is the same reason we love campfires and companionship with animals," he says. "It ties us to this ancient form of nourishment, whether it's nourishment of the soul or nourishment of the body, that's really ingrained in our DNA." For those of us who grew up eating peanut butter and jelly on mass-produced loaves of 92 sugary white Wonder Bread, though, bread baking and eating sometimes slip away from the realm of the ancient and reverent. But with local bakeries treating bread baking as both an art and a science, North Shore residents can find delicious, lovingly made bread to fill their bread boxes, baskets, and plates any time they crave it. One of our New England bakers is The Olde Craft Bakery in Dover, New Hampshire, which sells its bread at Tendercrop Farm in Newbury, among other locations. "We are in the healthy bread business," says Alexander Nash, who co-owns the bakery with his wife, baker Alyona. Alexander and Alyona, who are originally from Russia, Bill and Jane Malatesta own and operate Annarosa's Bakery.