Nantucket Portuguese Bread

Robert Sulzer

Beyer Gritzke divides the Portuguese bread into individual loaves.

Paul Tjobe makes a fresh batch of Portuguese Bread.

A rack of Portuguese Bread at Something Natural's Bakery.

There’s one thing on Nantucket that has become more abundant than Nantucket Reds, hedges, and cobblestones combined. While its name seems to indicate foreign origins, its freshness has become a staple of the Nantucket diet.Portuguese bread, a simple hearth bread, has been on Nantucket for as long as most people can remember and has become the Island’s bread of choice. Most of the bakeries on the island provide some variation on the original recipe.Magee and Jay Detmer, owners of Nantucket Bake Shop, have held the trademark for the name “Nantucket Portuguese Bread” for 31 years now. Magee said the earliest commercial bakery to bake Portuguese bread was owned by Aimee Poirer and was operated out of the Cumberland farms location. Joe Cecot, an apprentice to Poirer opened what is now the Nantucket Bake Shop in the 1960s. Jay Detmer learned from Cecot and is part of the “third generation using the original Portuguese bread recipe.”

While Nantucketers continue to enjoy delicious Portuguese bread, closer inspection tells an interesting story, a reminder of our Island’s rich history. The origins of Portuguese bread have been traced back to the whaling days and the Azores islands. As ships stopped at these islands during long trips at sea, they would also pick up extra crew members who brought their culture and baking techniques to America.During the height of the Whaling era in the 1700s and 1800s, a large Portuguese Population began to flourish on Nantucket and in New Bedford, the city that eventually replaced Nantucket as the Whaling Capital of the World.

Portuguese bread is set apart from its' white bread counterparts for its' distinct cooking method. “It’s hand molded as opposed to machine molded, it needs three different proofs to rise, and it is hearth cooked right on the shelf in the middle of the oven,” said Magee Detmer, Owner of Nantucket Bake Shop, “A lot of people compare it to sourdough, but there’s nothing sour about it.” Matt Fee, owner of Something Natural, spoke of how the recipes are passed down from generation to generation: “You can give somebody a recipe, but no two bakers will come out with the same product.” He spoke of how most white and French breads are made up of the same ingredients: flour, water, milk, salt, and yeast. The cooking temperature, oven size, and other variations in preparation all contribute to a bread's unique taste.Fee credits Helen Vanetta with the original Something Natural, but says she probably learned her baking technique from Aimee Poirer. These days at Something Natural, Beyer Gritzke continues a baking tradition at the place where his father, Kent Gritzke, developed original recipes like the sweet herb bread over 20 years ago.

During the height of the season, thousands of Portuguese bread loaves are baked on Nantucket. Its' quality and freshness are what Nantucketers have come to expect as the best from around the world, and have become staples on the Island.

Photo Gallery

There’s one thing on Nantucket that has become more abundant than Nantucket Reds, hedges, and cobblestones combined. Nantucket Portuguese Bread has been a staple of a Nantucketers diet for as long as most can remember.

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Paul Tjobe makes a fresh batch of Portuguese Bread.

Robert Sulzer