Le Pain Quotidien #498

Here at Bethesdabakers every now and then we have to take time off from deep philosophical thinking on the nature of bread and politics to do things like write books, run courses, help people set up bakeries, encourage other people to make their own bread, etc., etc. – you’d really think someone would set up […]

Real Bread etc.

I’ve been thinking – must be the long winter nights or something. I have been known to have a pop at the Real Bread Campaign – they are a fairly easy target after all – so let’s have a go at being constructive. They got big bucks funding for a time-limited period and you could […]

Beyond Bollocks

I was idling through the Saturday Guardian yesterday with a nice big log fire roaring against the continuous icy deluge. I was flicking through The Guide when my eye was caught by what I took to be an advert for a tour by a stand-up comedian. Being of an earlier generation I never read these […]

A Self-Congratulatory Interlude

I get lots of positive feedback from people who buy my books but occasionally I get one that you couldn’t pay for from Saatchi & Saatchi. Matt from Canada bought both books just before Christmas and says: I just wanted to say thanks for the books! I really enjoyed your writing style. Where the narrative […]

Deconstruction

Funny how an email from someone who basically just wants to say hello can make you think through the fundamentals of what you are about. Got a very enthusiastic message from a guy in Ulster who has caught the baking bug and is thinking of going commercial. He likes what I do so he must […]

Bethesdabakin’ 2014

Ladies and Gents At last it can be announced!!! Bethesdabakin’ 2014 is to be hosted by Rick & Maggie at Mair’s Bakehouse 30/31 May/01 June. 20 bakers only – sign up soon

Reader, I Done IT!

Maryland crab cake on a fried slice of Brioche Antillaise (you have to have a poncey name).

Trust II

Teaching and working with other bakers is one of the great pleasures of this baking lark and fortunately 90% of these experiences are not like the situation in the previous post. Now, Gert and I have a relationship of trust. Gert is a chef who runs a B&B in Caernarfon and, since his restaurant burnt […]

Trust

So, a couple of weeks before Christmas, this guy phones up about courses. No that’s wrong. His mother phoned and I suppose that’s when the alarm bells should at least have given a little tinkle. Shortly after he managed to phone himself. Said he was a police officer who wanted to set up an artisan […]

Defrosted Crumb

There you are, Marcus. That’s what it looked like defrosted from the freezer (before breakfast).