BREAD & OTHER BAKED THINGS
I COULD EAT TOAST ALL DAY
Suggesting I give up bread would be like suggesting I give up breathing. When Kirsty Young asks me that question on Desert Island Discs (anyone else daydream about being on TV/radio shows? I’m definitely going to get invited to be on Strictly this year). Anyway, when she asks me what luxury I’m taking with me, I think it might be bread.
BREAD
The kicker for me was how often I chucked away uneaten sliced bread.
The pesky bags would lurk at the back of the cupboard and make a moldy reappearance weeks later. So much plastic. And so much food waste!
But really, trying to find a more sustainable loaf has mostly just been an excuse to only buy delicious sourdough bread from Brick House Bakery. The trick is the planning. I stock-up every other week and freeze the loaves in halves, or sliced, for a constant supply of the freshest bread for toast. Zero packaging. Zero food-waste. Maximum bread love. Win.
As the BBC would say, ‘other local bakeries are available’.
PASTRIES
All I have to say here is that pastries freeze brilliantly!
Make a beeline to your local bakery, or the in-store bakery bit at the supermarket, and fill up your cloth bag. Or, if you’re lucky, you’ll have a supermarket or bakery that uses paper bags. (I spotted that Waitrose have recently changed their paper & plastic film ones for just paper ones. Hurray for every small victory!)
Sling the pastries in the freezer then re-heat at 170-degrees for about ten mins. I promise they will taste every bit as good as the day you bought them.
cakes
I’m a newly recruited uber-fan of the pockets of independent food shops and street markets I have near me.
A mooch along Lordship Lane in East Dulwich can pretty much sort my weekly shop, with minimal dodgy packaging.
And a dangerous ten minute stroll from home takes me to The Dulwich Bakery, home of piles of these enormous ring donuts. It’s lucky I’m vegan, or this would be A Problem.
My roundabout point is there are lots of plastic free treats to be found when you simply avoid the supermarket and explore the littler shops you probably have nearby.
Remember to keep a cloth produce bag with you for sprinkle covered ‘emergencies’.
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