WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ...?
What’s Your Favourite ...?
Winnipeg baker Tabitha Langel on the Wolseley neighbourhood’s special charm and the secret to a best-selling cinnamon bun.
By Nicole Keen
FROM A CHURCH BASEMENT to three thriving locations, Winnipeg’s Tall Grass Prairie Bread Company has come a long way in 35 years. That’s thanks in no small part to co-owner Tabitha Langel, whose long-time passion for local, organic and heritage grains led the bakery to build an on-site flour mill. That reduced their carbon footprint and allowed them to channel more money back to Manitoba farmers. And there was an unexpected bonus: a serious improvement in the products’ taste. “I often say, do the right thing and you might be surprised at the results,” Langel says.
Back Alley Arctic by Kal Barteski is one of many murals and outdoor artworks in Winnipeg’s Wolseley neighbourhood. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TALL GRASS PRAIRIE BREAD COMPANY; MIKE PETERS/TOURISM WINNIPEG
What do you love most about Wolseley, where Tall Grass’s first retail bakery opened?
It’s a vibrant neighbourhood, lovingly called “The Granola Belt.” There’s an amazing alternative bookstore called Prairie Sky, and just down the road from us, there’s a knitting workshop where women meet to knit and talk. On sunny days, they put tables out on the boulevard, and no one seems to mind. I live two blocks from our first bakery.
Do you have a favourite menu item?
I love our cinnamon buns. We sell thousands of them! On a Saturday, we’ll easily make 500. We make them with 30 percent whole grain flour, which gives them a nutty flavour.
I read that the bakery uses electric and hybrid vehicles. What are some other ways you aim to be more sustainable?
We try to use as much paper packaging as possible, we offer reusable pie plates, we compost. But being local is the best thing we do — our average food item travels within 100 miles.
“I love our cinnamon buns. We sell thousands of them!”
Tall Grass Prairie Bread Company’s rightly popular cinnamon buns go well with a cup of joe; autumn in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden at Assiniboine Park. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TALL GRASS PRAIRIE BREAD COMPANY; ROAM CREATIVE/TOURISM WINNIPEG
Why is it important for people to know where their food comes from?
What unites us as human beings is that we all need to eat. It’s important for people in the city to understand farm issues, because that’s often politically where we differ. When we know each other’s story, we can make better choices for the whole.
When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?
I enjoy being physically active. I’m a [YMCA] member; the Y is one of my joys. I no longer bike [outside] because I need to get a three-wheeler, but Assiniboine Park is marvellous.
Are there any recipes that are especially meaningful to you?
I would have to say the poppy seed cake — it was my mom’s favourite. Canadian farmers are not allowed to commercially grow poppy seeds, so we have to get [them] from Holland or Australia. But the Ukrainians and the Hutterites [living in Canada] — because they spent 100 years in Ukraine — got special permission to grow them as a cultural food, not for sale. When I was a child [on a Hutterite farm], the RCMP officers would come in their red jackets and look at our garden. It was only later that I found out they were inspecting our poppy seeds. CAA
FROM A CHURCH BASEMENT to three thriving locations, Winnipeg’s Tall Grass Prairie Bread Company has come a long way in 35 years. That’s thanks in no small part to co-owner Tabitha Langel, whose long-time passion for local, organic and heritage grains led the bakery to build an on-site flour mill. That reduced their carbon footprint and allowed them to channel more money back to Manitoba farmers. And there was an unexpected bonus: a serious improvement in the products’ taste. “I often say, do the right thing and you might be surprised at the results,” Langel says.
Tall Grass Bakery Company’s rightly popular cinnamon buns go well with a cup of joe. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF TALL GRASS PRAIRIE BAKERY COMPANY
Autumn in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden at Assiniboine Park. | PHOTO: ROAM CREATIVE/TOURISM WINNIPEG
“I love our cinnamon buns. We sell thousands of them!”