Artisan bakers are now so cool that they occasionally warrant the attention of the web’s style-pundits. At least, Vermont’s Vergennes Laundry do, with recent features on interiors websites Remodelista and The Selby. The confluence of food photography with that of interiors is fairly natural, although some of Todd Selby’s shots are verging on twee (check read more…
This evening I tried to make the Welsh fruitbread bara brith for the first time. All was going reasonably well, though I underestimated the amount of yeast I would need to compensate for the fat and sugar in the dough and it didn’t rise well. Nonetheless, after half an hour in the oven it was read more…
Some time ago I was chatting to an acquaintance about breadmaking. It emerged during our conversation that she suffered from the symptoms of Coeliac disease when she ate shop-bought bread, but did not experience these symptoms when she ate her husband’s home-baked sourdough. I hasten to add that she had not been diagnosed with Coeliac, read more…
I’ve been pretty quiet over the Christmas period and, aside from a half-hearted attempt at making stollen that I’ve decided not to share with the world (maybe next year…) I’ve done very little baking. Actually, I find this time of year rather disorientating, so I’m quite looking forward to getting back into a routine and read more…
I’m a big fan of real ale as well as bread: after all, the two are linked by a common heritage thanks to the role of yeast in their creation (and that’s not the only reason…). Like many real ale drinkers, I’ve been seduced by the punchy, citrus flavours of beers made with hops from read more…
It’s not April 1st, so I guess this article from The Guardian isn’t a practical joke after all: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/may/30/the-sourdough-hotel-cultural-centre As any sourdough devotee will doubtless know, starters don’t really need the cossetting that the ‘hotel’ doubtless provides. Unsurprisingly, the owner admits that “the hotel hasn’t been a commercial success”. Nice try, though.
Suffolk is liberally studded with commons, where Gypsies often graze their ponies and horses. Commons were once widespread all over Britain: areas of land where rights to pasture animals, grow crops, gather firewood and even build houses were held ‘in common’. The common at Mellis, where my in-laws live and which is only a few read more…
Jonathan Kent has been presenting a series of short programmes on BBC Radio 4 this week called Our Daily Bread. Each programme looks at a different aspect of the way bread is entwined with human history and culture. Full of interesting observations, I particularly liked Thursday’s instalment, which examined the role of bread in the national identities of read more…
Nicholas Clee has contributed an interesting post on The Guardian‘s Word of Mouth blog, about recipes and the danger of viewing them as guarantors of success. I’m sure we’ve all endured culinary disasters despite following this-or-that recipe to the letter. In the throes of disappointment it’s easy to blame the author, and sometimes that’s justified. read more…
A wide-ranging bout of family illness has enforced a bit of a break from the blog, so I’ll ease myself back into it with some ephemera. This beautiful wood-engraving was made by the English artist and typographer Eric Gill (1882-1940). It was made in 1915 and was originally a piece of advertising art, intended for read more…
