Searching for the best salt bread: Francis Artisan Bakery

Welcome to part 15 of Salt Bread Diaries! This week’s salt bread is from Francis Artisan Bakery, which apparently originates in Indonesia instead of Japan. Hiragana letters in the branding once again has deceived me.

I always think of Francis as a bakery that focuses on healthy, unasumming baked goods. Or in other words, their target audience is mothers who retains the spirit of living a healthier, more organic life. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.

Francis sold their salt bread selection in bulk: six mini rolls (if I’m not mistaken) in a bag. They have three variants: Himalayan Roll, Himalayan Chizu and Wholewheat Salt Bread. The inconsistency in their names kinda bothers me – they should have picked either “roll” or “salt bread”. The price of one bag of Himalayan Rolls was the standard price for one salt bread at hip cafes in Gading Serpong.

I bought Wholewheat Salt Bread. The label highlighted “butter”, so I hoped it’s the most buttery one among the three variants. The first impression was… it was wet to the touch. It’s possible that the steaming hot bread was put into the bag and sealed right away, causing the dampness. It kind of put me off though. Things did not get better as I had the first bite, because the bread tasted a little sour. I was disappointed, but my husband said the bread was okay.

I didn’t finish the whole bag and refrigerated the rest overnight. Somehow the bread tasted better the next morning. The sourness has gone, replaced by a hint of milky flavor. Slightly salty, with no buttery taste at all. Thankfully the texture was not dry and not hard to chew.