The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight. (M.F.K. Fisher)
As a child of eight or nine, on my way back home from school I often slowed down my step when passing the bakery. It wasn’t even one of those petite artisan bakeries, but the back side of an industrial plant that made loads of traditional sourdoughs for the grocery shops of the day. And yet, the smell that often lingered around that building is one of my major childhood memories. There was something delicious, deep, and comforting in it.
It is hard to tell now whether this was the cause and beginning of my love affair with bread, or whether by then I was already under the spell of gluten and that is why these thirty yards past the bakery have logged in my memory with such prominence.
I love bread. The smell, the taste, the texture of it. And yet, it wasn’t until I grew up and moved away to Ireland (where supermarket loaves are uninspiring to say the least and my favourite dark rye sourdough was nowhere to be found) that I even thought of baking my own. A little research into the chemicalized nature of grain-growing prompted me to get a bread machine and stock our house with organic flour. Some recipes worked better than others. However, I quickly discovered that just popping rye flour into the bread machine does not a delicious rye bread make. Only after my father ventured into the world of sourdough and assured me it wasn’t that difficult (and sent me some starter), only then did I step into the surprisingly easy and ridiculously rewarding world of delicious home-made sourdough bread.
Up to now, I have largely relied on a handful of tried and tested recipes (and by that I mean 4 🙂 ). Until recently I picked James Morton’s book ‘Brilliant Bread’ in the library. It is brilliantly simple, accessible, and engaging. Many cookery books overflow with eye-candy and inspiration, but upon closer inspection only a handful of recipes prove to be relevant enough to try out. Well, with this one I would probably struggle to find a handful that would not make my hands itch to make them. Soon enough, I came to realize I would need to break my self-imposed ban on buying any more cookery books and get my own copy of ‘Brilliant Bread’.
And that is when it hit me – one more blog! I have long been passionate about bread and I make it anyway. Why not record and share my adventures baking through ‘Brilliant Bread’ as well as other sources of inspiration. I am sure I will have fun and learn in the process. And, hopefully, eat some scrumptious bread. Thus, here we are – at the start of Bread Lover’s Adventure Log.
Bread Lover's Adventure Log 