THE BREAD MAN was giving out bread samples on Saturday at a local grocery store.
I call him the “Bread Man” because I don’t know his name. He has a few decades on me and he’s the nicest, smiley-est demo person I’ve ever met. I’m pretty certain he also sells a lot of bread. He’s a convincing salesman.
I once worked as a grocery store demo person. I can appreciate the Bread Man’s skills.
After sampling a few mini-slices of artisan style bread, I picked up a bag of the Sicilian Baking Stone Bread which the Bread Man recommended. With the 50-cent off coupon he offered, the loaf cost only $1.49. I couldn’t pass on the deal as it would be the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday noon birthday meal for my 17-year-old son and 25-year-old daughter.
The Bread Man plied me with his offers and I quickly snatched up a loaf of Sicilian bread.
I also could not resist the flirtatious salesman. “If you like the bread, come back and give me a hug,” the Bread Man told me and another woman. “If you don’t like the bread, come back and I’ll give you a hug.” We all laughed.
And then he called me “young lady.” I haven’t been called “young lady” in, well, uh, a long time. That Bread Man…
Some time ago, while dining at a now-closed Faribault restaurant, my daughter and I were presented with bread and a saucer containing a mix like this. I wondered why the restaurant was serving chocolate with bread. Really. I'm not making this up. My daughter quickly explained that this was balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil for bread dipping. Balsamic what? I am not used to such fancy food. When I bought the Bread Man's Sicilian bread, I also made my own dipping sauce with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My only question: Are you supposed to swirl the two together? I am not a foodie. I need your expertise.
Olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar created the perfect, healthy dip for the Bread Man's Sicilian bread.
© Copyright 2011 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
That bread looks wonderful and at that price with such a charming salesman, how could anyone say no?
I cannot imagine there is a right or wrong way to serve the dipping sauce, just whatever appeals to you, right? I mix the oil and vinegar together for myself in the dipping and skip the vinegar from time to time, adding salt, pepper or other spices to the oil.
You may have just prompted me to bake bread tonight!
The bread was/is delicious and you are right that I could not resist the charming Bread Man.
Thanks for the tips, too, on the dipping sauce. It doesn’t taste as good as the mix I had in the restaurant. I’m thinking they used garlic-infused balsamic vinegar. Is there such a thing? I am a total novice at this fancy food stuff.
That bread looks divine. There are likely a couple reasons why it didn’t taste like the restuarant version. You are using Extra Light Olive Oil and I bet the restaurant used Extra Virgin Oilve Oil. Light (and Extra Light) are typically used as a cooking oil – frying and sauteeing. Extra Virgin Olive Oil is from the first pressing of the olives, is greenish in color and has the most flavor. It should be used for drizzling over food, dipping bread and vinegarettes. It is much more expensive than Light Olive Oil. I just bought both kinds yesterday.
The oil may have been infused with garlic, but not the vinegar. There are also different grades of vinegar based on how it is made. Real Balsamic vinegar is natural fermentation of reduced wine. Very expensive and difficult to get. Most commercial vinegars are not fermented and made with additives to wine vinegar. I bet the resturant had a blend of these which is also available.
Try adding salt and freshly ground pepper. I bet the restaurant at least added salt.
My apologies for rammbling. We are novice “foodies.”
Thanks for teaching me the basics of Olive Oil 101 and Balsamic Vinegar 101. Your tips were quite helpful and I’ll keep trying. Just takes awhile for this bread-and-butter farm girl to figure it all out.