Joseph's Food and Cakes

Bakery: Joseph's Food and Cakes
Address: 24 Martin Ross Avenue, Toronto ON 
Website: http://www.josephsfoodandcakes.com/
Style: Polish
Price: $$ 

Every now and then, Starsky (the supermarket for all things Polish and Eastern European) brings in products from new bakeries. Sometimes the bakeries don't last long; some are on an off and on basis; some are replaced. In other words, you can't really count on them if you happen to like something. The newest arrival on the shelves are poppy seed rolls (classic Polish makowiec) and walnut rolls, available in whole or half rolls, from Joseph's, which appears by its location in an industrial area that it's more of a commercial, order-only bakery? Given that the shelves are already brimming with not-so fresh poppy seed rolls from all over the GTA, I'm always left wondering why bring in a half dozen of the same thing and let it get it old... Anyways, not only did the fact that Joseph's poppy seed rolls look a little different than the usual dry dough and brown filling lure me in, but it actually, unlike other products, felt fresh(er).

A day isn't complete without... poppy seed!

I took a half-roll of the poppy seed ($4.99 for half; I believe $8.99 for the whole; walnut rolls are $12.99 for a whole). At first glance, it had a softer dough than the usual Polish variety -- unless it's simply that every time I've tried a traditional poppy seed roll, it's always been stale -- and generous on the poppy seed. The outside was rolled in a bunch of them and the poppy seed mass actually looked like poppy seed. Some places, I swear, dilute the filling with raisins and dough and whatever they feel like putting in until it's a light brown (hence the reason why I generally don't like Polish poppy seed rolls), but Joseph's was a beautiful black and wrapped in such a way that you got both dough and poppy seed in every bite. Not too much dough, not too much poppy seed; not saturated in flavouring ("aromat"), so you could appreciate the delicious taste of poppy seed a little more. It was still dry, I admit, and probably looked more "different" than the usual poppy seed roll than it tasted.. and I was pretty disappointed to return and find that they had stuck on an ingredients list that was easily twice the size (certainly not in a good way) of poppy seed baked goods from other bakeries. :/

Alright for the Polish version, but I feel that it would have been much better if it had been bought when made, but this is common complaint of mine when shopping in Starsky.

Rating: **1/2