News & Opinion - Use your loaf
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Mon 1st Dec 08 Use your loaf
"If you don't give a Frenchman his bread 'e is not very 'appy" so concluded Raymond Blanc during one episode of the recent series of BBC2's The Restaurant. In this particular episode one of the hapless couples had decided (or more likely forgotten) not to have bread available for their customers and this was on the very same day that Monsieur Blanc visited. When he searched his table in vain for his pain he was not impressed with the would-be restaurateurs having committed one of the gravest of hospitality errors. Nil point!
In France bread is so, so important that even in the smallest of villages there's usually at least one boulangerie selling a delicious array of breads and cakes. Back across the Channel and all but a handful of independent bread shops, selling their own produce, have disappeared as we as a nation turned away from local shopping, preferring to spend half our leisure time in the all-consuming hypermarkets.
And in these shopping monoliths whilst 'real' bread has made a come-back, by far the most popular variety is plasticised, sliced carbohydrate masquerading as bread; it may contain flour, yeast and salt (along with a multitude of preservatives and raising agents) but bread it ain't. In fact it's so bad we ought to come up with a new noun so that we don't confuse the pre-packaged pap with the genuine article.
So, imagine the delight when I recently walked into The Loaf, a recently opened bakery, deli and cafe in Crich, in rural Derbyshire (made famous as the fictional village of Cardale in the TV series Peak Practice). Before I had tasted the coffee or sampled their pains aux chocolates I had been by seduced by the bright, fresh red and cream interior, resplendent with beech furniture, complemented with dark brown leather banquette seating -- a welcome departure from frilly tablecloths, doilies and Victoriana, which works in only a minority of coffee shops.
I ordered black coffee and a pain au chocolate, and then went to a table and sat down. If this cafe had only one selling point that aced the high street coffee chains, it was that I didn't have to wait like Oliver in the queue for his gruel.
My personal bug-bear of the Caffe Costabucks is that you must stand in line and wait for your drink, having been cross-examined about your need for "any pastries with that?" (No!, I would ask if I wanted anything else) and then you have to carry your order over to a table (if you can find one available) having fought over 6 square inches of work surface in order to dispense sugar and milk. A relaxing experience it isn't.
Back in The Loaf I sat and took in my surroundings; the multitude of fresh loaves that were on display behind the counter -- all having been baked on the premises in the early hours. On another wall was shelving filled with a wide range of pre-packed teas and coffees, and finally the mouthwatering deli counter.
My coffee was a delicious aromatic blend, enjoyed black and unadulterated and my pastry was divine; fresh and flakey as you would expect. The experience was over all too quickly.
As I paid for my breakfast I bought a baguette and a small round loaf, both were wrapped in paper; as I walked back into the cold nothing could wipe that smile off my face.
My only regret is that I don't live in Crich.
C'est la vie!
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