My sister Mary wanted to come and see us at two day’s notice and, given the vagueries of North Wales bus services, would only be able to stay for about three hours. Sounds like pizza to me, Hadn’t baked pizza for a few weeks and went for the Pinsa dough posted some time back – […]

Starter not ready, underfermented, underproved – sometimes a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do … Sometimes it seems things become more tricky when you revert from being a small bread producer back to being strictly amateur. Could always be my age of course. When you’re a producer you have your own […]

Maryna’s a baker in Kyiv and she bakes bread every day. I started corresponding with her after the Russian invasion but I find it hard to know what I can say, what I shouldn’t say and what is helpful to say. So I constantly feel I’m not a lot of use. But bread is a […]

Today, completely unplanned, I made a seafood paella with stuff from the freezer – raw crevettes, a squid and a bit of cod fillet + prawn stock – always make some when you shell prawns. Plus a couple of new acquisitions: caramelised piquilo and ñoras, both as a paste. Teaspoon of each in your soffrito […]

50+years ago I was labouring in a small works gang for John Laing. One day the agent, who was an obnoxious little man, said to one of the brickies, “What the hell’s wrong with you Jock? This week you’ve dropped more bollocks than a second hand truss.” What made me think of this? In the […]

How’s an old gel supposed to stay cool in this weather? You spend hundreds on a deck and parasol: But today she prefers her Old Rosie box (her downstairs one – she’s also got one up on the landing) Legs recommends Old Rosie boxes …

Learn Yourself Milling is progressing slowly. This loaf is a first attempt at sifted and blended flour – I think 85% extraction. Added a couple of hi-tech devices to my kit; two sieves, 80 & 60 microns. The mill is beautifully simple. The top section, which acts as a hopper for the grain, unscrews to […]

Like a lot of other things I haven’t done lately, I haven’t made wheat tortillas. There always used to be a pile of them in the freezer. But the last few times I’ve made them I’ve been dissatisfied – they seem too dry to me and tend to crack when folded. Previous version and story […]

Brioche Buns – I used to sell these in packs of four occasionally but there’s more profit and less work in selling the full loaf. These are light and delicious and robust – they don’t fall apart as burger buns and are just what the tired baker needs for a weekend brunch. Hadn’t baked them […]

Yeah, it’s another boule BUT this one’s historic! Aah, retirement … I’m not sure if it’s possible for real bakers to retire. Even if they stop selling to customers they get the itch to be trying something new. Earlier in the year I started researching coca doughs and the furthest I got was to assemble […]