Foodie thoughts

K N E A D S M U ST F O R L O C K D O W N L O AV E S

One of the unexpected things to come out of lockdown is the urge to make bread. So much so that there’s been a spike in demand for flour and yeast. Folk who’ve never shown any interest in proving and kneading have developed a serious sourdough starter habit and are tending and feeding their culture like newborns and posting the (mixed) results all over social media.

I was drawn to a story about Sturminster Newton Mill, in Dorset, which became a working museum after ceasing industrial operations in 1970, but has started producing flour on a commercial scale to meet increased demand.

Miller Pete Loosmore has turned the ancient water mill back into a full-time operation after local grocers reported shortages. Usually the mill gets through a tonne of grain during the tourist season, but Mr Loosmore says, “this year we have got through the whole of that tonne in two to three weeks”.

I’m not a bread maker but my Panasonic is. Most attempts at handmaking wholemeal or even a straight white bloomer have proved pretty dismal, but then my friend, the food writer and photographer Joan Ransley, posted a picture of raisin bread made with a recipe by Michelle Stratford and my interest was piqued.

Planet Leicester Bakers was founded by Michelle in 2014 to harness the power of handmade bread to bring communities together and she’s made an easy-to-follow guide to this method of fermenting the raisins – the first stages of wine-making, essentially – that she found in her mother’s 1950s South African cookbook. I’m going to give it a go since it manages to combine two of my new-found interests – home baking and drinking.

Follow Michelle’s ‘how-to-make video’ at planetleicesterbakers on IGTV and drool over Joan Ransley’s mouthwatering photos on Instagram.