A few weeks ago we were set up selling our oh so yummy small batch food products at The Alchemy Fair in Holyoke. To us, the best part of actually bringing our small batch selections out into the community and away from the vagueness of the internet, is meeting the people who buy them. We met one wonderful woman who was very eager to tell us about one of her favorite stops in Western Massachusetts- The Baghdad Bakery in West Springfield. What she didn’t tell us was the name of the bakery or the address…so we had spent about a month trying to locate it by description, only to finally find it yesterday.
Unassuming and located on Main Street (not your charming version of a Main Street mind you), The Baghdad Bakery was most impressive to us because the owner, Dheyaa Habeeb, only came to America in 2009 and then began selling Arabic foods to the community in 2012. His shop has a variety of Arabic foods, hookah, tobacco for hookah, meats, and the most amazing part…freshly baked breads which are made right in the back of the shop.
The breads, which were the main reason we wanted to visit the shop, were amazing. We use that term a lot, I know, but truly- AMAZING! We bought four which cost us a total of $2.50. They were piping hot and put in a plastic carrying bag. We got to the car and ate two before we even got home. They were meant to be for lunch. We did save two so that we could use them with our lamb and tzatziki sauce. These were not pita breads but more like a Khubz al-tannour, generally made with flour, yeast, salt and water. They were flat and bubbly but did not have the pocket the pita has. As we walked into his shop you could hear the breads being formed on the slab table. Such a beautiful sound, almost like clay being conditioned before being thrown on a wheel…only softer.
We cannot wait to return to this gem of a bakery and hope that you will also stop by. Baghdad Bakery is located at 464 Main Street in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
Leave a Reply