Читать книгу The New English Kitchen: Changing the Way You Shop, Cook and Eat - Rose Prince - Страница 12

Craft bakeries – Independent small bakers making bread using traditional techniques are still few in number but well worth seeking out. Don’t forget that bread freezes very well, so a journey to buy good bread is a worthwhile mission. Keep an eye on the food media – magazines, weekend newspapers, local press – for new bakery businesses starting up and give them a try.

High-street bakery chains – Home to the ubiquitous jam doughnut and bizarrely decorated buns and biscuits, the chains on the high street vary immensely but I have bought excellent bread from some of these shops. They can be a source of good everyday bread sold in whole loaves that can be sliced and bagged the moment you buy – a preferable alternative to ready sliced and wrapped.

Farmers’ markets and other specialist food markets – Worth visiting for good bakery stalls.

Urban local shops and delis – Many corner shops now sell French-style baguettes and loaves ‘baked on the premises’. The dough is made elsewhere, though, and the lack of labelling leaves you wondering how. But these Continental loaves often contain an element of authentic sourness, and I’d choose them over sliced and wrapped any day.

Food chains and smaller supermarket chains – Shops such as Marks & Spencer, Waitrose and some Spar stores have responded to the demand for craft-made breads. While never as good as true artisan-made bread, because they are produced in considerable quantities, there are some imaginatively made loaves with plenty of flavour and a good crust.

Supermarkets – The vast majority of bread sold in the Big Four supermarket chains (Asda, Morrison, Sainsbury’s and Tesco) is sliced and wrapped but again they are making inroads to supplying traditional-style bread and flour and need your encouragement. Your questions and demands concerning bread and flour will be heard. Vote, as always, for good food with the power that your own money holds. Choosing craft bread over sliced and wrapped will send messages to the industry that it has no choice but to absorb.