Fresh bread making rises in popularity
There has never been a better time to start using your loaf.
Picture a quiet Sunday morning: the aroma of ground coffee is drifting from the kitchen, mingled with the smell of fresh, home-baked bread.
It's not impossible, it only takes about ten minutes to mix all the ingredients up and the rest of the bread-making process consists of waiting, drinking coffee, and watching.
But for Sue and William Hudson, making bread is more than a Sunday hobby.
It represents a shift in thinking, a way of eating that is healthier than grabbing a piece of the supermarket's best sliced Hovis and is also more environmentally aware.
It all started when the Hudsons started reading the labels on the back of bread packets.
Mr Hudson, director of the East Anglia Food Link, said: "Sometimes, you can know too much. There is one emulsifier which is made from pigs' guts."
Many hot cross buns, for example – and take a deep breath as you glance at your half eaten Easter treat – are glazed with shellac. This is a resin secreted by the lac bug which is also used in making high gloss varnish and sanding sealer.
"There is three times more yeast in bread than you need – it is all about profit and speed," he said.
A solution, an idea cooked up by Mrs Hudson, is to get people to bake their own, realise what is in most bread brought in a supermarket and to think about what should be in it instead.
"I like baking something that works, and this works," she said.
"And it uses local ingredients which is part of the point."
Modelled on the Tupperware party, where a host invites friends along to their house to learn how to make bread, Mrs Hudson is offering bread baking classes at a cost of 15, in conjunction with the Diss Community Partnership.
The lessons last from about 10am until 4pm, with a lunch laid on by the host and guests, accompanied by freshly made bread with ingredients provided by Mrs Hudson.
Over a cup of coffee or two, Mrs Hudson takes me through the steps for making a loaf of mixed wholegrain.
Mix together flour, warm water, oil, sugar, yeast and some seeds. Knead the mixture for ten minutes, put it back in a bowl covered with cling film, leave it to double in size, and have a cup of tea.
Knead it again for one minute, let it rise for 30 minutes, then bake it for 30 minutes at 200C.
You should give it a try. You might think it really is one of the best things since sliced bread.
For more information or to book a lesson, call 01379 688374.
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Weather for Diss
Thursday 02 September 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
