First taste: Avalon International Breads

Throughout history, bread has symbolized communal society. Huge hearth ovens served as a town’s center, connecting all who lived there with the daily need for an inexpensive form of nutrition.

In modern times things are not so ideal. Sadly, the majority of bread consumed worldwide is little more than mass-produced junk food. 

The super soft bread sitting on the supermarket shelves is made from flour that has been bleached and extracted to the point of containing practically zero nutritional benefits, so bad that since 1941 the U.S. has required that wheat flour be “enriched” with vitamins that were lost in the process.

Detroiters rejoiced when the answer to this problem came from the emergence of Avalon International Breads. Since 1997 Avalon has created an “oasis of healing and compassion with food being the vehicle,” says owner Jackie Victor. “Bread brings people together; it has always been a metaphor for relationships.”

While most businesses are concerned with the bottom line, Avalon is committed to three bottom lines: Right relationship with the earth; right relationship with the employees; and, right relationship with the community.

Avalon sets itself apart from the competition by using only 100% organic flour for its handmade breads, pastries, muffins and cookies. Victor recalls one night when organic flour was unavailable and they halted the baking process and drove to Traverse City for a load of organic goods.

Homemade soups grace the menu everyday as well as Focaccia and sandwiches made with the finest local ingredients.

Avalon’s hallmark is traditional artisan made sour-dough breads. These breads are made without using any commercial yeast as a leavening agent. Instead, the dough is leavened with a starter of live cultures. One gram of unbleached flour contains enough “wild yeast” to get this process going.

Some of the beneficial bacteria and yeasts needed for this natural leavening process come from the specific environment being used for making the dough, including from the patrons and employees. That means that Avalon’s breads have developed qualities that are unique to their environment and actually influenced by the people around them!

These breads are truly handmade and are not totally consistent, which is why everyone at Avalon is constantly checking the quality of the product. Temperature, humidity and even barometric pressure all have significant influences of the final product.

The self-leavening process also affects the flavor of the bread which is characterized by a thick caramelized crust and has a slight sourness making it a perfect companion with meats and cheeses. 

Bread that has been self leavened with spontaneous fermentation using “wild yeast” contains organic acids that actually aid digestion much better than their counter-parts which use commercial yeast.

Sour dough breads include the Farnsworth Family Farm Bread, Leelanau County Cherry Bread, Cork town Cinnamon Raisin, Pole town Rye, Davison Dexter Rye, Pumpernickel and Wheaty Wheat.

The only breads made with commercial yeast are; the Lafayette baguette which competes with examples found in Paris, Country Italian, Pulgiese, Brioche and traditional Jewish Hala Bread, as well as the cookies, brownies and sweets.

What goes better with pastry than coffee?  At Avalon they use Caffé Darte coffee which comes from Seattle and Avalon is the only place in the city to find this boutique roast.