PHILADELPHIA — Whole Foods Market has partnered with The Bread Lab at Drexel University to create a new line of bread made from recipes by chef Marc Vetri and Vetri head baker Claire Kopp McWilliams.
Whole Foods Market said the bakers create the recipes for the bread using flour from Castle Valley Mill in Doylestown, Pa. The flour is processed slowly and at cool temperatures on antique buhr mills to "ensure the flavor and nutrients of the grain are preserved," the company said.
The bread is offered as either a batard or baguette and is free of artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, preservatives and hydrogenated fats. The bread is available at the Whole Foods Market location at 2101 Pennsylvania Ave. in Philadelphia.
“We are thrilled to partner with The Bread Lab at Drexel University to create this new line of fresh-milled breads now available in our store,” said Anastasia Sotiropulos, regional bakery coordinator at Whole Foods. “All involved in this unique collaboration — Drexel University, Chef Marc Vetri and Castle Valley Mill — are devoted to finding more flavorful, natural foods, and together we created breads that draw out the inherent features and tastes of the high-quality flour.”
The Bread Lab at Drexel University focuses on product development, nutrition and issues of health and access surrounding whole grains. The lab focuses on nutrition analysis, recipe and product development, fresh local milling and natural leavening in order to resolve business and social challenges of the food industry and to address issues unique to a major urban center. The Bread Lab at Drexel University is the East coast’s urban extension of The Bread Lab at Washington State University.
“The Bread Lab at Drexel is an exciting new partnership with the Bread Lab at Washington State,” said Rosemary Trout, head of the Culinary Arts & Food Science department. “Our Culinary & Food Science department along with Nutrition Sciences will work on how to integrate whole grains back into the diet. They taste great, and the nutritional benefits are there, too. Where Washington State has land and expertise in growing varieties of wheat and grains, we have high population density to distribute recipes, freshly-milled whole grain products and cooking techniques to many people in the city. Taking an idea and translating it into a delicious and nutritional product is what we do best.”
