My friend Tim, above, used to be in Jesuit seminary but now he's the Business Manager for one of Baltimore's most upscale bakeries ... with trucks making fresh deliveries all over the county each morning (I forget all the details, but his bakery includes 4 full-time bakers who do nothing but make croutons).
Tim keeps a boat here at the marina, so one day I half-jokingly asked if he'd be willing to tackle Cuban bread. He'd never heard of "Cuban bread" and was intrigued at the idea of tackling something entirely unfamiliar, especially when I mentioned the prerequisite palmetto leaves baked into the crust tops. So I emailed him two recipes and he told me he'd start on it at 3AM.
Imagine my surprise this morning when I showed up for my "delivery" and Tim gave me 40 pounds of Cuban bread. Imagine seeing my face when I saw the palmetto fronds on top. Imagine you'd been here when we tasted it.
Why 40 pounds? Why not just bake a loaf or two? Tim explained that 40 pounds is the smallest batch his kitchen's geared to bake. Wow.
The photo above might not look like exactly 40 pounds because Tim is a generous man: in the 10 minutes it took me to walk from my boat, Cuban bread was becoming a hit with folks who just happened to be passing by.
