Neil Blazin
The Pedaling Baker
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Salt-risen bread was a mainstay for Appalachian pioneers. In the modern-day Paris of Appalachia (that’s Pittsburgh, for those not in the know), Neil Blazin is making his own naturally leavened bread and delivering it to local markets on bicycle.
Why we chose this bread:
Blazin uses all USDA-certified organic grains that are grown in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. He started learning about sustainable food sourcing in 2011, when he began working at Legume, one of Pittsburgh’s pioneering local and seasonal restaurants. He credits the restaurant as a “launchpad for a lot of things in my life.” In addition to running The Pedaling Baker, Blazin bakes all of Legume’s bread in-house at the restaurant.
If you’re going to elevate the bread game, go back to the basics:
“There’s only three things in bread — flour, water, and salt,” says Blazin. “It’s such a simple thing that’s kind of sustained the human race for 10,000 years, really.”
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