Barrio Bread

Right around the time the entire world was learning how to make sourdough, I discovered the reason I’d never have to: Barrio Bread. Living in Tucson earlier this year, my weeks revolved around one all-important ritual: my Saturday morning bread pickup at Barrio, where I’d stand in a long, socially-distanced line to pick up some of baker Don Guerra’s incredible loaves. Over the course of several months, I worked my way through his entire offering: baguettes (which never made it past the car ride home), sesame, jalapeño cheese, olive, 9-grain, emmer & rye, and my favorite, the Heritage, Barrio Bread’s signature loaf stamped with a flour cactus. It was my quarantine constant - more than any Netflix binge or reoccurring Zoom call, it brought me a real sense of comfort and security knowing I had one of these cactus-tattooed loaves in my kitchen. And for the record, I did end up trying my hand at sourdough-making - which would have been a complete and utter failure without Barrio Bread’s flour and Don Guerra’s instructional videos.