For those of you who know Rockport, Massachusetts, imagine this: Just beyond the train station on Railroad Avenue there is a large bustling bakery cranking out warm loaves of Anadama bread. Inisde there are huge vats of dark molasses and steamed cornmeal mush ready to be kneaded into the famous loaves, actually 2600 loaves an hour. A fleet of 40 strong, square Ford F600 trucks stand solidly outside ready for deliveries to all of the New England States. If you live in Texas, the baker will mail it to you.
It seems like a child’s story with folksy illustrations straight from The Folly Cove designers, because sadly there is no sign of the bakery, and no one I know is making Anadama Bread commercially that is any good. But this is the story of Melissa Smith Abbott’s grandparents. As she tells in her wonderful cookbook and memoir, The Legacy of The Three Melissas, Bill and Melissa Smith opened the Andama Bread Factory on Railroad Ave. after a hearty start on Main St. in 1956. It closed shortly after her grandfather’s death in 1970.
Melissa and her family claim the bread was born out of a Finnish fisherman’s temper tantrum when his wife Anna served him the same cornmeal and molasses dinner, and he turned it into a loaf of bread, cussing Anna as he kneaded. I’ve heard versions of this tale, but I had never heard that in Rockport an old time baker originally used crude crystallized sugar in his loaf – actually the scrapings from the molasses barrel – which Melissa’s grandfather tried to reproduce with undiluted West Indies Molasses.
The collection of recipes – from an 1884 recipe for Apple Muffins to Portuguese Moile Crue Sauce with Saute of Fish – is part family archive, part a culinary treasury of Cape Ann.
Melissa Collins Smith, Melissa #2, wasn’t just a baker’s wife; Over seventy years she owned and operated the Blacksmith Shop Restaurant, The Faraday Inn, The Cable House Bed & Breakfast, and The Easterly Inn. The last had a French chef, dancing, and drinks with names like “Wet Salvages,” “Wreck of the Hesperus,” and “Main Brace Splicer.” Those were indeed the days.
I’ll write more about the original Anadama Bread in my column soon, but here is a recipe from The Easterly Inn, so retro it could be chic again. For more information about The Legacy of the Three Melissas, and how to order a copy, go to www.anadamabreadbook.com.
Easterly Inn Stuffed Lettuce Salad
1 package cream cheese
2 tbsp. Roquefort cheese
1 tsp. onion juice
2 tbsp. greated raw carrot
1 tbsp. chopped green pepper
2 tbsp. raw tomatoes chopped
1 head iceberg lettuce
watercress for garnish
Preparation
Hollow out head of iceberg lettuce, stuff with cheese mixture. Wrap in waxed paper, place in refrigerator till ready to serve. Slice to desired thickness, serve with French dressing. Garnish with watercress.
