Vermont bakery is turning out artisan matzah they call Vermatzah

By Ann Trieger Kurland Globe Correspondent, March 29, 2022

To connect their work as bakers to their Jewish heritage, Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich make matzah, the unleavened bread eaten by Jews during the eight days of Passover. As proprietors of Naga Bake House in Middletown Springs, Vt., a bakery and mill, the couple most days bake artisan wood-fired rustic loaves with local grains. Read full article here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/03/29/lifestyle/vermont-bakery-is-turning-out-artisan-matzah-they-call-vermatzah/

Vermatzah, ideal for Jewish locavores

MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, Vt. – Doug Freilich adds another log to the embers in his wood-burning oven. Tugging the door partway open for a peek at the wares, he inhales and smiles. “Almost crisp,” Freilich announces, cheeks ruddy from the fireside vigil that began at 4 a.m. Across the room, morning sun pours through the picture window as his wife, Julie Sperling, hand-cranks sturdy pellets of wheat berries and emmer through a mill, transforming them into a hearty flour.

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For a locally grown Passover ‘Vermatzah’ links ancient traditions, contemporary tastes

MIDDLETOWN SPRINGS, Vt.   Micro-bakers Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich have enjoyed a decade of commercial and critical success for their organic, fire-baked Naga Bakehouse breads, but in the past few years they’ve also been developing a seasonal product for Passover. They call it Vermatzah. The whole-wheat, focaccia and sourdough loaves Sperling and Freilich produce at their mountaintop bakery for most of the year are sold at food co-ops and farmers markets around Vermont, Massachusetts and New York. And unlike many locally baked breads, theirs is made primarily from locally sourced grains.
Read full article at  hillcountryobserver.com/2014/April2014news2.htm

We found this inspiring version of matzah at Naga Bakehouse

Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the exodus of the Israelites from slavery into freedom, a narrative that became a worldwide inspiration for people who fight for freedom and human rights. What is less known is that Passover was also a major agriculture festival, indicating spring and the barley ripening season, celebrating the awakening of the natural world in days when people’s lives were even more directly dependent on nature than ours.

Read full Edible Berkshires Vermatzah Article.

A Very Artisanal Passover: Vermatzah Is Matzo from Vermont

The cardboard-like crackers on Seder plates are a Passover requirement, but typically a dry and flavorless one. Not anymore. Vermont’s Naga Bakehouse is baking a new small-batch matzo — aptly monikered Vermatzah — by sifting locally-sourced wheat with nutty emmer, the ancient grain better known as farro. A wood-firing process renders a complex, slightly sweet piece of flatbread that retains an ample crunch, even when fried or chocolate-dipped. Unlike the squares of the Manischewitz variety that dominate the traditional matzo market, Naga’s version is hand-shaped into rounds, each one slightly smaller than a dinner plate.

Read full article on the VillageVoice website

For Vermont locavores who celebrate Passover, finding lamb shanks and bitter herbs is a breeze. Stocking up on unleavened bread could be trickier. Until now. Julie Sperling and Doug Freilich of Naga Bakehouse in Middletown Springs recently invented Vermatzah, a round, handmade, wood-fired alternative to the mass-produced Manischewitz matzohs you find in the supermarket. As a bonus, each box comes with a small bag of wheat seeds so eaters can, in theory, start growing their own.

Nothing to Pass Over

In Vermont food circles, kosher-certified isn’t just for Jews anymore. According to several Vermont businesses that have been certified as kosher in recent years, an increasing number of consumers want products with a kosher seal. That demand comes from vegans, lactose-intolerants or other conscientious eaters concerned about industrial food production. In the eyes of many people, a kosher seal, like a certified organic seal, is one more guarantee of quality. To paraphrase an old Hebrew National advertisement, it reassures the customer: This busines answers to a higher authority than the U.S. government. Page Two

Lotsa Matza

Nothing says Lakes Region in the spring quite like Matzah bread.

No, really.

The Middletown Springs couple who make a living baking handmade, wood-fired artisan bread have launched a new bread for the Passover season and they’re calling it ‘Vermatzah.’

The Making of Vermatzah

A Middletown Springs bakery brands new old-fashioned Matzah
A Middletown Springs bakery is reaching back in time to celebrate Passover with its own brand of special bread dubbed Vermatzah.

See the full article here