Thursday, November 10, 2005

On a roll

Judging by the crowds I thought they must be giving merchandise away free at the Marin Farmers Market last Sunday. No, just the usual suspects stocking up on veggie goodies. It really is a great time of year at the Market. The last of summer's bounty mixed with all the fall favorites. The only disappointment was that no Meyer Lemons could be found. We bought baby bok choy, mandarin oranges, lettuces, spinach, and some lovely fingerling potatoes. We were trying to make healthy choices this week.

That was until we entered the bread vendor's aisle. A little carb loading never hurts. That's when the idea struck me. Let's have a croissant taste off. Sounds simple eh?
We purchased a plain croissant from each of the four vendors at the market. On the way home, just to make it sporting, we purchased one from Safeway. The tasters consisted of me, my wife and three of my kids. We had no guidelines other than personal tastes.

The contestants
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Back row left to right
Panorama Bakery 3 1/8 oz $1.75
Crepe et Brioche 3 1/8 oz $2.00
Pastisserie Francaise 3 5/8 oz $1.45

Bottom row left to right
Skully's Bakery 4 5/8 oz $1.50
Safeway 2 ¼ oz $1.00 sale price- regular price $ 1.29

The results mes amis!

First place Panorama Bakery -Unanimous decision- Buttery flavor and airy layers

Second place Skully's Bakery - A little drier but a nice sweet taste

Here's where it got complicated. There was no concise decision at this point. Every body had different taste concepts. It should be noted that all these products rated at least very good. Not a stinker in the bunch. I would serve any of them with pride. Next time I think we should do a fudge tasting.

2 comments:

Mona said...

Great idea on the croissant tasting :) Love it! Forget the healthy stuff, always gotta go for the freshly made carbs ! Wish we had farmers' markets here.

cookiecrumb said...

Mona: But you do!
http://www.cenyc.org/HTMLGM/maingm.htm
xxx