Lifestyle

Do We Really Knead Bread?

When was the last time you tucked into a thick crust of homemade bread, topped with butter and jam, or cheese and homemade pickle?

Probably not since your granny made it for you? And for that reason, so many of us just don’t eat bread now – the stuff off supermarket shelves is not worthy of eating on its’ own, wouldn’t hold up to a thick spreading of lemon curd or peanut butter without turning into ‘pap’.

Luckily over the last 12-18 months artisan bakers have started to appear from nowhere. And the reason – bread is really simple to make. It only takes a few ingredients and a small amount of time, the rest of the time is spent waiting for the bread to ‘do its’ thing’!

And if you are worried about having after effects of eating bread (bloating, burping, flatulence or fatigue), it may be that the provers and methods of bread-making in shop-bought bread do not agree with you, rather than an intolerance to wheat. As with all food, making your own from scratch is a sure way of knowing and controlling what is going into your body.

I’m often asked what I think of bread-making machines. To me the best bit about making bread is the kneading of the bread – feeling that you are putting life and air into the bread, and then the magic of watching it expand and grow all by itself – it’s fascinating, but oh so simple.

And with all recipes, starting with the best ingredients will always give you a better result, so if you have a mill near where you live, go and visit to buy stone-ground flour – you will never look back! As for yeast, some bakers may sell you fresh yeast, even some supermarkets do – just ask. If not, dried yeast still works well, just lacks a little of the flavour of fresh.

There is so much history surrounding bread and I love that each country or region has its’ own variety – it’s amazing what can be done to change the result from so few ingredients. Barmbrack is a fine example, although there are some recipes that treat this as a cake rather than bread, omitting the yeast. It is traditionally eaten at Halloween in Ireland, with small items baked inside, each giving a message or prediction for the person that gets it in a slice – a ring will predict a wedding within the year, a coin is for wealth, a piece of cloth for poverty, a pea for plenty, a button for a bachelor, a thimble for a spinster and a matchstick to beat your husband or wife!

My advice would be to start with one of these simple recipes, then once you have the feel of how the dough should work, start to experiment with your own ideas – you will be amazed at the results.

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