The Rise and Fall

The world stopped spinning on Monday. There I stood at the bakery counter, my eyes roving over the options in the glass counter case, my stomach anticipating the deliciousness to come. They scanned and paused. They looked up and down in disbelief. Within moments, I knew my life would never be the same.

For a moment I was confused. I read the tag "Turkish Bread." Nothing registered, but I had this niggling feeling that all my problems would dissolve if I just bought some.

My body swayed slightly as the bell rang in my head. Finally!!!!! Turkish bread!!! Here!!! In Canada!!!! I blinked myself back to awareness (by now the girl behind the counter was staring at me, her eyebrow cocked questioningly) and said "Turkish bread? You guys have Turkish bread?" I ordered the medium size.

I'll fill you in on my delight. While wandering the lands of Oz about six years ago, I encountered food I had never known. A delightful treat was Turkish bread; it is this amazingly chewy, yummy flatbread that must be made by the gods. I really have no idea if it actually hails from Turkey, but let's just say the Turkish should be revered for this bread.

When I returned to Canada, I searched high and low for this bread. Continually devastated, I never found the bread. After about two years, I almost gave up on my quest to find the delicious bread. For the following four years, I just kept my eyes randomly peeled when I went into a new grocery store or bakery. I was giving up hope, I had lost the will to live. I mean, the will to keep searching.

So there I stood. And there it lay. The bread of my dreams was right before me. And do you know where I found it? In the bakery that opened up just down the street from my old apartment in Toronto about two weeks before I moved away. Ahhh, the irony of life. I shake my fist wildly at it!

I asked the girl if I could tell her a story. She said sure and I revealed to her my epic search. She took the story in with graceful rapture (ha, yeah right!), and then told me that their bakery chain (Cobs Bread, for the record, now go and find one and get the bread!) was actually a part of the Australian chain Baker's Delight. It makes sense!!!!!

Currently, in Ontario, Cobs Bread is generally in the GTA. And I will drive the three hour drive on a regular basis just to get it. That is how much I love it. My life is now complete. God bless you, Turkish bread.

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I think the best part of this story was when I called up my friend Charlotte to tell her what I found. She had lived in Australia for a year too, and experienced all that is delicious. And would you care to know her reaction? She shared in my joy, felt her heart rise, and revealed to me that she has been covertly searching for Turkish bread ever since she got home about five years ago...I promised to take her to Cobs Bread.