Give us this day our daily bread

There can’t be many civilisations in the world that don’t in some way or another depend on bread, well ok, China and Japan maybe and a few other parts of the far eastern continent, but for most of us, certainly in the west, a ritual and daily habit is the consumption of bread. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner usually consist or are accompanied by some kind of bread. The French and Italians are certainly obsessed by it, I think you could say most of central and eastern Europe has a keen interest in bread too, the Mediterranean, northern Africa and the middle east all have delicious varieties, the Americans can boast some original forms and even us Brit’s wouldn’t get far without a doorstop sandwich. It’s on offer everywhere, from street corners to supermarkets, cafes and restaurants (By merely lowering one’s posterior into a chair in any given restaurant a flurry of activity not only produces a menu but an offering of bread) home made, artisan baked, soughdough or yeasty our daily bread is indeed a blessing.

I started baking shortly after the birth of my son. It was in the lonely early morning hours, usually around 5am, nappies changed, baby bottled and now gently rocking in his chair fully awake and expecting that I, as a way of entertainment, started to make bread. I found that I could steal enough time in between the baby’s needs to do a bit of kneading myself. He seemed happy to gaze and gurgle as I mixed and kneaded the dough, I seemed to have an hour to spare whilst the dough was proofing so we could play and so on. Everyone was happy and I think my son found the running commentary and movements as entertaining as anything the teletubbies had to offer. By the time the rest of the household was stirring warm fresh crusty bread was sitting proudly on the kitchen side and a pot of fresh coffee brewing in the corner.

Baking bread is in essence pretty simple: flour, yeast, sugar, water a little salt and there you have it, the makings of the world’s most basic foodstuff. There are of course as many different varieties as there are techniques, many time consuming and complicated, but for me just the same level of pleasure and satisfaction is attained from the baking of a simple loaf as is derived from a protracted and convoluted procedure. Either way there is nothing quite as intoxicating and hunger making as the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven.

Recipe for Focaccia Bread

• 1kg tipo ‘00’ flour
• 21g dried active yeast (easy bake)
• 30g sugar
• 25g salt
• 625ml tepid water
• Rosemary sprigs
• Sea salt
• Olive oil

Mix the yeast and sugar, add to the water and allow the mixture to stand until frothy. Put the flour and salt in a food processor or mixer with a dough hook, mix briefly to distribute the salt, then add the liquid and mix until a soft dough is formed. Some flours will absorb slightly more or less water but you want to have a loose but not wet dough. I allow the dough to mix for at least two minutes in the machine before turning it out onto a floured surface .

Pull, stretch and knead the dough until it's really soft, this takes about 5 mins. If it gets sticky then dust lightly with more flour. Form the dough into a ball, slash with a very sharp knife to ‘relax’ the dough and place in an oiled and floured bowl covered with a damp cloth. The proofing process will take about an hour depending on the temperature but you're looking for the ball to have doubled in size. When ready, turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured surface and bash it a few times to deflate it, then form into another ball.

Butter and flour a deep sided tin, about  20cm x 30cm, and gently press the dough roughly into the shape of the tin. Now drizzle with olive oil and push your fingers right down into the dough making a uniform pattern of indents. Drizzle oil over so the holes you’ve just made are filled and place a small sprig of rosemary into each hole. Sprinkle with sea salt and cover with a sheet of cling film and leave in a warm draught free place for another hour or so. This second proofing gives the bread it’s texture and improves the taste so don’t be hasty. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. When the volume of the dough has doubled again, gently remove the cling film and place the tin in the oven and bake for about 18 minutes until the top is golden dark brown. The bread is cooked when having removed it from the tin it sounds hollow when tapped with the back of a spoon.

Allow to cool on a rack.

Recipe for White Tin Loaf

• 1kg white bread flour
• 21g dried active yeast (easy bake)
• 30g sugar
• 25g salt
• 625ml tepid water

Follow Focaccia recipe above through to end of 2nd stage

then ...

Butter and flour a 1kg bread tin, or two smaller tins and either divide the dough equally or place in one tin, cover with a sheet of cling film and leave in a warm draft free place for another hour or so. This second proofing gives the bread it’s texture and improves the taste so don’t be hasty. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees. When the volume of the dough has doubled and it risen up above the rim of the tin, gently remove the cling film and place the tin(s) in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until the top is golden brown. The bread is cooked when having removed it from the tin it sounds hollow when tapped with the back of a spoon.

Allow to cool on a rack.