bake - September 2018 - 48

breads

Fresh Milled in

NEW ORLEANS
Bellegarde Bakery began baking bread in New Orleans on St.

As a baker, what do you consider to be the key advantages

Joseph's Day in 2013 and is named after the very ﬁrst bakery

of using fresh milled ﬂour?

in Louisiana, which opened in 1722. Graison Gill, owner of

Like any good ingredient, ﬂour is best when it is at peak fresh-

Bellegarde Bakery, has baked professionally for seven years,

ness. Within 48 hours of milling, our grains become bread

training at the San Francisco Baking Institute under Michel Suas

headed out the door to customers. Because we know who

and Frank Sally. Graison's passion for bread stems from the

grew, harvested, shipped and milled our ﬂours, we have the

craft's intricacies and interactions with the primordial elements

special advantage of knowing the ins and outs of our products

of ﬁre, water and fermentation.

that would not be possible without our own mill.

With one of the only stone ﬂour mills between Asheville, North

What troubleshooting tips might you suggest?  

Carolina, and Arizona, Bellegarde actively preserves the whole-

The miller and the baker must work hand in hand. As a baker

some properties of wheat by stone milling all whole grain

consistently trying to grow in skill and knowledge, I expect the

ﬂours in-house, providing high quality product while preserving

miller to do the same. We are creating a new product every

the dietary quality of whole grains like wheat, corn, rye and

time we get the mill rolling. You've got to be ﬂexible and game-

rice. Today, Bellegarde is a wholesale bakery providing fresh

plan for experimentation. Also, there could be extra time spent

ﬂour and bread to more than 100 restaurants and markets in

sifting or bolting if necessary. It really is like taking the long

Louisiana, including James Beard nominees and winners Alon

way around but ultimately, I think worth it.

Shaya (provides pita dough daily for Saba), Nina Compton
(Compere Lapin) and Justin Devillier (La Petit Grocery).

What type of stone mill does your bakery use?
Our mill is a 40-inch granite stone mill made by New American
Stone Mills. We mill between 300 to 500 pounds of grain a day.

one of Bellegarde's head bakers, Morgan Angelle. In 2003, she
graduated from the Culinary Institute of New Orleans-just

What are your thoughts on preferred extraction rates for

weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit the city- and moved to

milled ﬂour?

Acadiana where she worked as a private chef. After opening

Generally, I think 100% extraction is my goal, but not every

a pizzeria in 2010 and developing a strong love for pizza, she

grain mill is the same or performs the same when baked. We

moved back to New Orleans to work with Chef Alon Shaya at

can mill a very ﬁne ﬂour from a hard white wheat at 100%

Domenica and Pizza Domenica. Shaya introduced Angelle to

extraction that will be consistent every time. However, that

Gill and Bellegarde Bakery. That relationship grew into a friend-

principle does not apply to a softer berry like rye or Red Fife.

ship and mentorship that would ultimately take her from being

So, I would say it all depends on the grain and the applica-

a chef to a baker, where she has been working since.

tion of it.

48 < SEP 2018 | bakemag.com

PHOTOS BY BELLEGARDE BAKERY

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