B(re)aking Bread in Bath

Last Saturday I boarded an Easyjet flight for my first visit back to the UK since February. I hadn't quite appreciated how long it had been since I'd been 'home', but I really noticed it on landing. Perhaps flying into the home of the West Country accent had a large something to do with it, but on the train to Bath I was sat along from a group of rather drunk lads with thick accents, and I don't think I've been more content for quite a little while. Smiles all around, apart from those sitting opposite them I imagine.

Anyway, why was on my way to Bath? Well, for one, it ranks as my favourite English city, despite the fact that it's been a number of years since I was there last and I've never been there for more than a day at a time. So it was great to be able to spend four days there getting to know it a little better. Bath is one of those places which appears to be effortlessly charming - like a lot of European cities, and it's a pleasure just to stroll around and sit outside watching the world go by (and there appears to be a lot of the world in Bath).




But the main reason was to bake bread. As you'll probably have gathered, I have a weakness for all things dough, so I was there to attend a two-day bread baking course at the Bertinet Kitchen, run by this very affable Frenchman.


And fantastic fun it was too. I had absolutely no idea what to expect as I've never done anything like it before, was I going to be the youngest? The least, or the most, experienced? The only one? As it turned out there were about 11 of us each day of all ages and backgrounds. I was in fact the youngest, but only by a year, which doesn't count. It was interesting seeing how to bake bread 'properly', and I was quite amazed at what we managed to turn out at the end of each day before sitting down to lunch to munch on it all.



His method is fantastically messy, and I ended up with a worrying amount of dough in my hair on the first day. But it was all great fun and it's given me the confidence and enthusiasm to try some new things when I get back home. Highlight of the two-days though had to be the doughnuts that we made, they're definitely going to become a staple.

The course was actually four-days, so I missed the final two, and after having such a great time I was considering staying on, but as I was going up to Cambridge, it would have been quite a commute each morning, so I'll have to go back at some point this Summer to finish off. It would be nice to head back to Bath as well. On the Sunday I found a National Trust walkway around the city called 'Bath Skyline' which was remarkably poorly signposted, but provided a really nice ramble through the hills around Bath and some great views.


It all reminded me how lovely our country is and how much we don't always appreciate that. It's been easy for me to be blown away by some of the things I've found here, but on my way back to Utrecht yesterday I met a Dutch guy who'd been in Cambridge who was lamenting the blandness of everything in Holland compared to the UK. I guess it's a case of the grass always being greener, but Britain can be a lovely place, and I think Bath provides a perfect example of that. Perhaps next time I'll have to take to the skies for a better look.


So I don't think I could have asked for a much better reintroduction to the country, aside from a dodgy moment in a Starbucks on arrival where I started to ask for a drink in Dutch, and the fact that I'm still not sure which ways the cars should be coming from.