Bread in all forms is so easily available in a city like London, why should anyone make bread at home? It's a comforting and comfortable pastime if you have a few hours. The biggest challenge might be collecting the ingredients in a strange kitchen. Flour - even the most simple basic grocery brand - is different from what is sold off the shelf in the Caribbean. This bread rose and baked over six to seven hours in between grocery trips and chores. And you don't need a bread pan, any iron pot will do. Once you get the feel for it, you don't need measuring cups; just a big glass bowl. All the quantities are approximate but a convenient ratio is two cups water to 4-5 cups flour.
The best thing about homemade bread: a "doorstop" slab slathered with butter and jam!
Flour
Water
Salt
Yeast
Oil
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| A pretty home-baked loaf |
In the large glass bowl, pour a few handsful of flour (about three to four cups), packet of yeast, salt and water (about 2 cups). Mix together into a paste. Cover and allow the yeast to bubble, an hour or two.
Sprinkle flour and mix (with a spatula or your hands) until it's a sticky dough. Cover and leave for another couple hours.
Add more flour, sparingly, until the doughball is barely sticking to your hands or the bowl.
Pour a slick of olive oil in your iron pot and swirl it up the sides. shape your dough into a ball and place in the pot. Flip it over so that oil shines on all sides. Press down lightly. Cover and leave until the dough is rising over the edges (about two or three hours).
Bake in a hot oven (200C or 400F) for about 45 minutes. After half hour, you can turn the bread out of the pot, put it back in the oven til it's brown all around.
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| How this loaf got its shape! |
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