Just because the sourdough baking craze has died down a bit (does that really surprise anyone?), it doesn’t mean we have lost our taste for delicious, fresh-baked bread. But that isn’t always easy to find these days, with bakeries short-staffed and fresh bread in scarce supply.
Enter Wildgrain, a subscription box that features delicious bakery- quality breads, made with slow fermentation and clean ingredients, and offers a choice of sourdough breads, fresh pastas and artisanal pastries shipped to your home. Everything arrives frozen and can be baked in 25 minutes or less, with no thawing required. And it tastes as good as homemade, because, except for the frozen part, it is.
Founded in Boston by husband-and-wife team Ismail Salhi and Johanna Hartzheim, the idea took hold when Johanna became pregnant with their first son. “When we couldn’t find the sourdough bread and fresh pasta we were looking for, we spent months experimenting with making them ourselves,” says Hartzheim. “We quickly realized how difficult it is to find high-quality carbs and how time-consuming they are to make on your own. That’s when Wildgrain was born.”
Wildgrain’s 20+-hour fermentation process predigests the majority of the gluten in its breads, leaving it rich in lactic acid and prebiotics, as well as easier to digest. Each Wildgrain Box includes a variety of slow-fermented sourdough loaves, hand-cut pastas and seasonal pastries. New members also get a free sourdough loaf in every box for the life of their subscription. The box price is $89, and shipping is free. For each new member, the company donates six meals to The Greater Boston Food Bank, which is a member of Feeding America.