Yesterday I was in the mood to bake but I didn’t have enough flour left for a decent-sized loaf. I decided to make a couple of fougasse, a French flatbread that is often, though not necessarily, decorated with incisions that make it resemble a giant pretzel. At least, that’s what my youngest daughter thinks. The read more…
Quince are not a commonly-found fruit in Britain, but I’m fortunate enough to live close to a country estate with a handsome Victorian walled garden that plays host to two mature quince trees. The garden also harbours numerous different varieties of apple and pear, and the estate sells the fruit for a donation to the read more…
Bridge rolls are usually associated with social gatherings of one sort or another: one theory as to the origin of the name is that they were made for consumption at bridge parties, where these small, soft rolls would provide sustenance without getting in the way of serious card-playing. This sounds eminently plausible, if you remember read more…
It’s great to see that The Real Bread Campaign is one of the finalists in Radio 4’s Food and Farming Awards 2012, the winners of which will be announced on Wednesday. They’re up for the Derek Cooper Award, named after the venerable food journalist who first presented the station’s Food Programme in 1979. If you read more…
I have a soft spot for milk loaves. There are fashions in the bread world as there are in every other field of endeavour, and freeform loaves with wild, open textures are still very much where it’s at right now. There is, though, much to be said for the refinement of a good pain de read more…
Amongst other things food- and drink-related, I love coffee. I started drinking it when I was quite young, and never really developed a taste for tea. Of course, the British and tea are widely considered to be inseparable, but a passion for coffee pre-dates the association of this beverage with the British Isles. The first read more…
The British obsession with curry is hard to explain, although there’s no doubt that it’s very real. In part it must have something to do with our colonial past, of which India was famously ‘the jewel in the crown’. Although the present-day role of the curry in British culture is a post-war phenomenon, employees of read more…
Aberdeen butteries, also known as rowies, are rather like rustic croissants: flaky like their continental relatives but not as delicate or rich, and round or oval in shape. They’re made using more or less the same technique of rolling out yeasted dough, dotting the sheet with hard fat (traditionally a mixture of butter and lard) read more…
I took a walk across the fields at the weekend and spotted this unorthodox, though innovative, use for a bread bin outside a local farm.Like the yard that it graces, this bin repurposed as a postbox is functional rather than pretty. Judging by the state of it, though, it may not keep the mail dry read more…
Lardy cake is one of the jewels in the crown of British baking, yet you would have your work cut out to find a bakery that could sell you one these days. There are variations of the lardy across the country, but it is most strongly associated with the westcountry and it was my father, read more…
