Bakeries / Places

The book that made me a better baker

December 5, 2012
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A few months ago Ibán Yarza, the talented Spanish writer and baker who translated Dan Lepard’s The Handmade Loaf book into Spanish asked me what books I would recommend.  I would say the book that introduced me to the science behind baking influenced me greatly, it filled-in the gaps and was a great partner to […]

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The Loaf in the Box – Dan Lepard’s Pop-Up Bakery San Sebastian

August 9, 2012
The Loaf in a Box - Dan Lepard's Pop-Up Bakery San Sebastian

San Sebastian in July and August feels like a capital city, a vibrant and lively place with traffic congestion to match it.  I can’t think of a better city with its culinary reputation to set up a pop-up bakery in, The Loaf in a Box is the brainchild of  Dan Lepard.  Those who are new […]

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Motorbike trip to San Sebastian day three – The Loaf in the Box

July 27, 2012
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We arrived in San Sebastian yesterday met up with Dan in his pop-up bakery. In the evening we went for a beer and some pintxos and watched the rain pour down on this packed city.   Pintxos The river looking towards the sea. Today baking at The Loaf in the Box Dan has a team […]

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Motorbike Trip to San Sebastian day one

July 25, 2012
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We’re off to visit Dan’s pop-up bakery in San Sebastian on bikerboy’s KTM.   I had to pack 10 days clothes in one of the pannier and they didn’t believe I could since I’m not known for travelling light. Last time I wore full gear was 3 years ago but it wasn’t in the 30C […]

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If This Is Artisan Baking Give Me Supermarket Bread

July 5, 2012
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The selection of breads above and below came from a stoneground mill bakery.  I apologise now for the poor quality of the photos, it’s not my intent to make this bread appear inferior to prove a point, originally I didn’t plan to write about it and the camera photos were only for record keeping.  I […]

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Ladurée Macarons Are Worth Seeking Out

April 1, 2012
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This was my breakfast this morning, entirely for research purpose obviously!  I say this with tongue-in-cheek as I must be one of very few people around the world who’s not into the mac craze.  I find them too sweet, often tasteless with odd colours.  I get they’re cute and dainty but they’re expensive for something […]

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Roland Feuillas, Les Maîtres de mon Moulin

October 26, 2011
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Roland Feuillas runs courses on his ancient grains through his mill in Cucugnan, contact him, contact@farinesdemeule.com, 00 33 4 68 33 55 03 or via his website  here.  If passing that part of the world visit his bakery and taste the bread baked in his special wood-fire oven. Words I associate with Roland are; passion, mission, generosity, kind, […]

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Baking with Roland in Cucugnan

October 24, 2011
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A week ago today I arrived in Cucugnan to bake with Roland Feuillas in his bakery  and learn about what this man so highly spoken of by Jean-Philippe de Tonnac was doing in a small village in the South West of France.  I didn’t have a clue what to expect since Jean-Philippe said very little […]

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King of Wood Fired Ovens in Cucugnan

October 20, 2011
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In Roland’s small bakery  taking up most of the space is this monster wood fired oven.  You can see this is no-model-kit oven, it took 2 men at a time working on it who came from Spain, Ecuador and Colombia a year to build, it has something like 30 or 40 thousand kilos of clay. […]

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Cucugnan Medieval Village, South of France

October 20, 2011
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Here I am, months after my first conversation back in June with Jean-Philippe de Tonnac  in Paris while searching for good bakeries, I’ve finally arrived in Cucugnan.  Back in Paris on pressing Jean-Philippe to tell me what his favourite bread was he had one name for me; Roland Feuillas. Roland embodies the purest form of […]

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Holtwhites Bakery in Enfield

September 2, 2011
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Richard and Kate are living my dream running a small artisan bakery, Holtwhites in North London Enfield.  Richard was a teacher who decided like many of us halfway through our working lives that life is too short and we should live the rest of it doing something we’re passionate about…while we’re still young enough.  After […]

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Breakfast this Morning at Princi – Soho

July 31, 2011
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After being told I should try the bread at Princi in Soho, London we decided to have breakfast there this morning.  We’ve been having Sunday breakfast in different places with the 4 year old over the last few weeks.  This Sunday before breakfast we wanted to drive past Big Ben to show her how big […]

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Paris – In Search of Bakeries

June 23, 2011
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Yesterday I had a fantastic day in Paris visiting bakeries, a favourite pastime of mine and in the company of the charismatic Jean-Philippe de Tonnac.  What more can a girl like me ask for? Walking from Gard du Nord we started in a bakery in Montmartre called Coquelicot, where I tasted with my first coffee of the day one […]

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