Ingredient Sources: Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

Kathy Question:
I welcome the coming of your baking web site, and would like to ask that you include a section which leads us to quality sources for some of the ingredients needed for the recipes. My plight (lack of supplies) is becoming more critical as the winter holidays come closer - I would like to make cookies which require a substantial amount of whole unblanched almonds (I want to grind my own) but the local stores - including Whole Foods and Balducci's) only carry small bags of slivered nuts. This problem is endemic across the board - it's hard to find good ripe peaches for pies, good ground (not canned) poppy seed etc etc. - AS IF the processed varieties, when available, are just as good.

NO! Only someone who does not have a good gustatory memory would ever believe that canned poppy seed, canned almond paste are as good as the products you would make for yourself. For example, when I grind my own almonds, I can taste the whole almond and see that it is plump and not dried out. It begs the imagination to believe that whoever makes the canned product takes care to be sure the raw ingredients are really prime.

Enough! Please include sources, where we can buy items like nuts and figs and prunes, top quality, in bulk, for a reasonable price.

Rose Reply:
you’re right! quality of ingredients is why sets professional bakers (and chefs) apart from home bakers. they often have access to the best. more and more places are selling to home bakers but they usually sell in large quantities.

penzey’s is a great source for spices and poppyseeds. i would never buy them ground, however, as they get rancid so fast that way. even whole, i store them in the freezer.

i list several good sources in the bread bible and of course the web is often my source for researching where to find special ingredients.

please also check out chefshop.com, and also, here’s an article i did for Food Arts Magazine on my greatest formerly secret sources!

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From the kitchen of Rose on 12.12.05 at 12:33 PM in Questions and Answers