It is just too bad. The cucumbers in the market are plentiful, small and cheap. San Diego Food Stuff just published her family recipe for Dill Pickles, with the elusive and vital information about how much salt to use, for this is not a vinegar pickle, no sir.¹ But have I got any dill? Well, yes...

Continuing to look for farina di grano arso, I've found somewhere that sells online, but availability is limited. Better yet, a friend over at The Fresh Loaf showed more initiative than me and actually looked in the Italian Wikipedia. There she found a detailed description -- ground from grains glea...

Ordering new supplies of flour yesterday, I came across something called farina di grano arso for sale. Suppressing a titter, I texted my compadre; nope, he'd never heard of it. Chatting to a chum over tea this afternoon, she suggested burned grain (past participle of the verb ardere). And she was bang on the money.

My breadchum Joanne took off for New York a couple of weeks ago, and before she left I persuaded her to lend me Hamelman's Bread to plunder. The first thing I did from it was a Semolina Bread with a soaker and fennel seed, made with commercial yeast. It was really good, and I planned to convert it...

Odd how some things make us reassess other things. A little notice on The Fresh Loaf informed me that Bernard Clayton Jr had died, and I realised I knew absolutely nothing about the person who wrote the book that first gave me a real idea of how interesting and varied bread and bread-making could...