Poulsbo Bread
{{Short description|Variety of multigrain bread}}
{{Infobox product
| title = Poulsbo Bread
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| type = bread
| inventor = Marion Sluys
| inception = {{start date|1974}}
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| available = yes{{efn|availability limited to one retail location}}
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Poulsbo Bread is the name of a proprietary variety of multigrain bread that originated in Poulsbo, Washington, United States, in the 1970s, and which was distributed internationally until the 2000s. The creation of the bread was inspired by a Bible passage. As of 2018 it is sold only at a single retail location in Poulsbo.
History
File:Poulsbo's Front Street - panoramio.jpg]]
Poulsbo Bread was developed by Marion Sluys, the owner of Sluys' Bakery in Poulsbo, from a biblical recipe. In 1974, after reading a passage in the Book of Ezekiel directing the baking of a specific type of multigrain bread, Sluys claims he decided to attempt to prepare the recipe in his Poulsbo bakery, naming the resulting product Poulsbo Bread.{{cite news|last1=Bryan|first1=Saint|title=Sluys Bakery: Poulsbo's must-see sweet spot|url=http://www.king5.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/evening/sluys-bakery-poulsbos-must-see-sweet-spot/281-527253823|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=KING-TV|date=March 9, 2018}}{{cite news|last1=Cantwell|first1=Brian|title=$99 Road Trip: Taste Scandinavian heritage, lutefisk tacos in Poulsbo|url=https://www.seattletimes.com/life/travel/99-road-trip-taste-scandinavian-heritage-lutefisk-tacos-in-poulsbo/|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Seattle Times|date=November 17, 2016}} The passage in question, {{bibleverse||Ezekiel|4:9}}, reads:
{{cquote|Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.{{cite web|title=History of Poulsbo Bread|url=http://www.sluyspoulsbobakery.com/about/|website=sluyspuolsbobakery.com|publisher=Sluys Bakery|accessdate=March 31, 2018}}{{cite web|title=Ezekiel 04:9|url=https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Ezekiel-04-9/|website=kingjamesbibleonline.org|publisher=King James Bible Online|accessdate=March 31, 2018}}}}
According to Sluys' Bakery, the bread was licensed to Franz Family Bakeries in the early 1980s for national and international distribution, with the license terms requiring Ezekiel 4:9 be imprinted on all packaging. In 2011, Franz discontinued mass production of Poulsbo Bread due to lagging demand for the product, however, as of 2018 the bread continues to be hand-mixed at Sluys' Bakery for local sale.{{cite news|last1=Seymour|first1=Rachel Anne|title=Franz drops its Poulsbo Bread|url=http://archive.kitsapsun.com/news/local/franz-drops-its-poulsbo-bread-ep-713682979-355187261.html/|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Kitsap Sun|date=October 27, 2014}} Sluys' Bakery produces Poulsbo Bread in three varieties: regular, dark, and raisin.{{cite news|last1=Spargo|first1=Sandra|title=FLOUR POWER: Father and son in Poulsbo are baking a: Family Tradition|url=https://web.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/02-15/0056_flour_power__father_and_son_in_po.html|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Kitsap Sun|date=February 15, 1999}}
Reception
The bread has been variously described as "famous" and "world famous".{{cite news|last1=Gardner|first1=James Ross|title=52 Weekends|url=https://www.seattlemet.com/articles/2009/1/9/52-weekends|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Seattle Metropolitan|date=January 2009}}{{cite news|last1=Blake|first1=Judith|title=Poulsbo Palate Pleasers – Gustatory Pleasures Await Visitors To The Picturesque Waterfront Town On The Kitsap Peninsula|url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920708/1501097/poulsbo-palate-pleasers----gustatory-pleasures-await-visitors-to-the-picturesque-waterfront-town-on-the-kitsap-peninsula|access-date=March 31, 2018|work=Seattle Times|date=July 8, 1992}}{{Cite episode |title=Sluys Poulsbo Bakery |episode-link= |url= |access-date= |series=A Few Great Bakeries |series-link= |first= |last= |network=PBS |station= |date=August 11, 2015 |season= |series-no= |number= |minutes= |time= |transcript= |transcript-url= |quote= |language=English}} According to Sea Magazine, Poulsbo Bread is the "best-known concoction" of Sluys' Bakery, and few boaters visiting Poulsbo leave the town "without carrying home a loaf or two".{{cite news|title=No Passport Required|url=http://www.seamagazine.com/no-passport-required/|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Sea Magazine|date=September 1, 1994}} In 2008, a student of Libby High School in Libby, Montana, credited his decision to move to Kitsap County and attend Olympic College on an athletic scholarship to his affinity for Poulsbo Bread, saying he regularly purchased the product at his local grocery store and, after reading a description of the town of Poulsbo on the packaging of the bread, thought "it would be a cool place to live".{{cite news|last1=Nealson|first1=Hope|title=Wickstrom Follows the Bread Trail|url=http://www.thewesternnews.com/members/article_3d6a7651-485a-5fe3-ba06-b7bcd681237a.html|accessdate=March 31, 2018|work=Western News|date=June 13, 2008}}
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://archive.kitsapsun.com/Services/image.ashx?domain=www.kitsapsun.com&file=sluys02_9352594_ver1.0_640_480.jpg&resize= A photograph of shelved bags of Poulsbo Bread at a grocery store]
{{American bread}}
{{Bread|state=collapsed}}