People often stop me on the street and say "Hey, Q, what's with calling our neighborhood Caledonia?" Or rather, if they did, this is what I would say:
The Caledonian Hospital was once the soul of the neighborhood, standing majestically at St. Paul's and Parkside. Many a famous Flatbush Caledonian was born there, from Kevin Bacon to half of the surviving members of the rock band Survivor. Recently the decaying building was purchased by a developer named Chetrit for $15 million, and that's the truth, though the part about Kevin Bacan and Survivor is most definitely a filthy rumor started right here by yours truly.
Caledonia of lore refers to Scotland, and the word was in use throughout the middle ages -- a relic of the name given by the Roman Empire. During the middle ages, most people lived as peasants, and their bread has been making a resurgence. In fact, I paid $5 for a loaf of Peasant Bread just the other day, and I have to say that if I'm going to pay half a sawbuck for a few slices of bread I'd really rather it not be too tough to chew. I'm quite certain that no self-respecting courtier would have been caught dead eating peasant bread, and if there's one era of history we don't need to glamorize it's certainly the European Dark Ages.
I have pretty good teeth, but I can barely rip through a piece of the stuff, which leads me to wonder whether this Bread Alone company is worth its weight in dough. Because if the current British smile is any indication, a medieval peasant's teeth must have been horrendous, and I doubt very much that they would have spent what little "downtime" they had baking bread that was thoroughly unchewable. I mean take a gander at the authentic color photo above, taken sometime during the early 1100's.
Which reminds me, if you have a recommendation of a good dentist in the neighborhood, I'm all ears.
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