Eat Bread With Me: Asheville Artisan Bread Festival

Photo above shows beautifully crafted bread from Chicken Bridge Bakery

Located in Carrboro, NC

Photo above shows a chef d'oeuvre by Lionel Vatinet's La Farm Bakery

Located in Cary, NC

Photo above shows breads from Owl Bakery
Located in Asheville, NC

Photo Above shows breads from Farm and Sparrow Bakery
Located in Candler, NC

SATURDAY:

Arriving at the Magnolia Building of the A-B Technical College at 9:30AM one would see all the bakers, cheese makers and vendors setting up their stands to show case they beautifully crafted artisan work. From all that was on display I could only imagine the long hours of work, passion, patience, and dedication that took these people to be ready to show all of their skills and talents to the community in such elegant displays. They were all local vendors using the best possible ingredients from small farms and mills. The variety of flavors creatively incorporated into the breads was fantastic. It is a great reward not only for the bakers but also for the costumers to know that their food is baked not in an factory by people treated like machines, but that it comes from a labor of love made by the hands of bakers that know how to perform the whole process, from the feel of the flour, to the fermentation process, shaping, scoring to finally see the final product made and enjoyed by their eager and happy costumers.
My friend and I were able to get into the building right before it was open to the public and luckily I got some good photos to showcase here, but unfortunately not from all vendors and bakeries.
The marvelous smell of bread was everywhere. Right as the doors where open, I could see the explosion of excitement coming from all the curious eyes, faces and eager mouths that where waiting to taste the breads, cheeses, jams and buy the baking goods, flour, bakeware and talk to the bakers. Time seemed to fly by because before long my first class started.