You may remember my tale of some young bakers who were 'run out of town' recently. Their old bakery has now been taken over by newcomers.
I say newcomers, but in fact they are existing bakers from our nearby village of Montcabrier.
We used to visit this old wood-fired bakery many years ago when it was run by a comely elderly lady who would often be found in Winter, snoozing with her feet warming inside the opened over door. It was always an all sourdough bakery; as it is now by the present owners.
Anyway, they have decided to expand, and now have a second branch in our nearby village/town.
They are sticking to their 'all sourdough' policy, which suits us well.
Lady M has just come home with the above; a couple of Boules which Madame kindly sliced for us on a noisy ancient machine.
We are very happy; their bread is superb.
That bread looks so good.
ReplyDeleteIt's excellent. It doesn't have the same sourdough taste that we're used to, but it's very good. I suppose all sourdough starters are different.
DeleteIt could be just a more youthful starter, with the taste not fully developed
DeleteHere too there are some good little bakeries. To me there is nothing more delicious than bread and butter.
ReplyDeleteGood quality bread is a real luxury.
DeleteThat is a nice boule, but I can't crack the mysteries of sourdough.... it just doesn't rise for me.... but I now incorporate it into the ordinary dough I [sorry, the PanikSonic] makes.... and then cook it as normal. I don't use the machine to make bread anymore, except in dire emergencies!! Can't stand the huge hole in the bottom that the paddle leaves.
ReplyDeleteWe have a new boule-arranger in our village, too. And they are very good...
Classic sourdough has a slightly vinegary flavour which I find wonderful; it also often has a texture that you don't get in yeast breads.
DeleteMmmmm! How did you add smellavision to your blog? I can sense the aroma of that rustic loaf from Yorkshire.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it came through. For a while I feared my expensive plug-in 'Arom-Ah' was simply a con.
DeletePlease don't blog from "the small room"!
DeleteSadly in our part of the world small local bakeries are almost extinct, driven out of business by the mighty Greggs and the superstores.
ReplyDeleteWe rely mostly on the Panasonic, the hole in the bottom from the paddle doesn't bother me at all.
Small bakeries seem to go in and out of fashion. You'll possibly have half a dozen spring-up any day.
DeleteI am interested why were the young couple run out of town .
ReplyDeleteJealousy, nastiness, competition; you name it... the other bakery had it in for them. They even slashed their tyres on the day they were leaving.
DeleteLooks good, best wishes to them. Here I would love for the baker to slice my bread thicker, they don't appear to be able to do anything but sandwich size and I like chunky but my homemade slices are too often triangular.
ReplyDeleteThese slices are a bit thinner than I would have liked, but the machine has only one setting!
DeleteThat is always the problem with the machine the slices are too thin , but when i slice it its allways wedge shaped lol
DeleteThat looks like bread should look like.
ReplyDeleteI remember my Mum sending me to the bakery for a loaf and eating a fair chunk of it on the way home, it was delicious. That was when bread was bread.
Briony
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When I was small I was often sent to buy bread... I seem to remember that a large loaf cost a shilling.
DeleteThe picture itself was enough to set my mouth watering.
ReplyDeleteI shall be having some in a few minutes time... I'm already looking forward to it.
DeleteWe have, or used to have before COVID a boulangerie. I mostly like sourdough but at times the sour can be a little too strong.
ReplyDeleteI like a slight vinegary aroma to sourdough; but not too much.
DeleteSmall bakeries are going away here and the virus has only made the situation worse. It is very hard for them to compete with the large grocery stores and one stop shopping, especially now.
ReplyDeleteBread is a religion here. Very few people would buy bread from a supermarket or local shop. Great pride is taken over having the 'right' bread.
DeleteMost grocery stores here have large bakeries with all the bread and pastries made in their kitchens. However, they cannot replace the warmth one gets when going into a local bakery and knowing the baker.
DeleteI love sour dough bread. I hope the new people have success although I'm not sure VdP is big enough for two bakers, especially through the winter.
ReplyDeleteWe shall frequent them. Frankly I find the other one a bit on the 'old misery' side!
DeleteShe used to scare me!
DeleteLooks delicious
ReplyDelete...looks delicious!!...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child, my grandmother stopped at Hough's bakery and bought her bread for the week. She had them slice it all.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw the photo I saw a close up of a Pinecone. What is the stem? on the bottom of the bread?
ReplyDeleteI think it's just the final small slice.
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