@bax did you ever frequent Chinese Home Cooking in Marchmont in the 1980s?
Oh. Ho.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure
(OT) loaf in the time of corona
(78 posts)-
Posted 4 years ago #
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I have a bag of sweetner mixed with granulated sugar which is available for trade (or free). A supermarket sent it instead of Caster sugar a few weeks ago.
Posted 4 years ago # -
OT but that reminds me of the time a few years ago when we ordered 6 litres of milk as part of a Tesco online shop. They had no milk so they substituted 6 litres of ....... yoghurt.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@Frenchy: Moredun Morrisons still had decent stocks of flour this morning. And 500g bags of caster sugar; I must admit I'd never noticed before how expensive it is compared to granulated - I just bought it because the missus asked for it. I shall discuss this new information with her later.
No yeast though. Or gram flour, which a self-isolating friend is getting desperate for. I may try the Refillery later for the gram flour.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@ejstubbs
If you want to try sourdough in place of yeast a sample starter is yours for the asking.
Posted 4 years ago # -
@IWRATS: That's very kind of you to offer. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure that my bread maker* can't do sourdough. I also suspect that a live culture would survive about two minutes in my rather less than tender (i.e. slipshod) care.
* Yeah, I know, I'm lazy - but it's still better than pappy supermarket bread, whether trucked in or baked on the premises. And I'm nowhere near enough of a foodie to be able to bother myself with anything more complicated than measuring stuff in to a tin and pressing the 'go' stud.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Packets of a variety of bread flours including wholegrain and tins of yeast at Sainsbury's Meadowbank yestereve. Both major types of the household's preferred yoghurts, my usual coffee and both counties of Cauldron pseusages also in stock.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Sod all flour or yeast at Longstone Sainsbury's yesterday. I do wonder whether this is to do with the demographic in the local area served by a particular store? As opposed to just randomly rubbish stock control (which is a bit of a Sainbury's trait anyway TBH.) As another example, the Moredun Morrison's has bread flour (but no yeast last time I was there) but not the Hunter's Tryst one.
The Hunter's Tryst Morrisons did have plain and self raising flour which had obviously been decanted from larger bags/sacks by the folks in the bakery department (the bags used were the same ones they they use for the baked goods they prepare on the premises). That store also had a sign up saying you could ask for fresh yeast at the bakery counter.
Don't spread this around, but Karine's deli in Morningside is doing 100g bags of dried fast action yeast for £1. That's actually cheaper than Allinsons or Doves Farm usually costs in the supermarkets (they'll never stay in business if they can't learn to price gouge like everyone else). Another local shop coming up trumps when the big boys trip and fall. And rest assured there's nothing at all suspicious about nipping in, handing over cash (remember that?) and coming out clutching a small plastic bag of brown granules and looking unreasonably pleased with yourself...
Posted 4 years ago # -
Mrs G reports that Colinton Tesco on Tuesday had 16kg bags of flour. I must confess that I've already bought a 16kg bag online, because we've made our own bread (with a bread maker, I'm not proud) for years, and I was getting fed up with being unable to find any flour and having to eat bought bread...
Notably, the 16kg in Tesco was Allinson at £21/bag, which was cheaper than I could find it online.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Snail 1 - you hungry?
Snail 2 - yeah, do’you fancy a snack at Gembo’s cafe or three courses at Greenroofer’s restaurant?Posted 4 years ago # -
The Refillery had dried yeast yesterday, 12p per 10g (20% more expensive than Karine's but still on par with supermarket prices so not price gouging). The beardy fellow I spoke to said that they get it somewhat sporadically.
They're asking everyone to wash their hands before browsing the shop. The trick is to suss out how to make the tap work! (Hint: reading the fairly clearly posted instructions does help. Who'd have thought...)
I got some fresh yeast from our local Morrisons yesterday. As advised by the notice in the baking ingredients shelf area, I asked for it at the bakery counter. This seemed to take them somewhat by surprise (it was around 6pm so perhaps most of the regular bakery staff had already gone home) but after a while a helpful fellow did emerge from behind the scenes with a goodly-sized chunk in a plastic bag. He said he had no idea how they arrange to charge for it (there was no barcode or anything) so I might as well just take it. Which I gratefully did, with effusive thanks.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I am looking through Shipton Mill store as we are going to place another order.
"Soft Cake and Pastry Organic White Flour
Made from English organic wheat, which because of the cool maritime climate and the lower natural soil fertility is seldom rich in protein."Interesting!
Posted 4 years ago # -
It's fairly well known in UK breadmaking circles that British wheat is lower in protein than that from warmer, sunnier climes. It's why the Chorleywood process was developed in the late 50s/early 60s, to reduce the UK's dependency on imported wheat (particularly from the US and Canada) at a time when (despite what MacMillan tried to tell people) it was still expedient to try to keep the volume of imported goods in check*.
See also Chorleywood: The bread that changed Britain
* This is also frequently put forward as one reason why the UK was so slow to switch from steam to diesel traction for the railways after WWII - because oil was imported. Though it doesn't explain why electrification wasn't adopted more expeditiously: that had got under way pre-WWII and would have used British coal for generation at the time (with the option to switch to other forms of generation in the future). Railway electrification was being widely adopted across Europe during post-war reconstruction and arguably should really have been the objective for the UK at the time as well.
Posted 4 years ago # -
I hadn't realised that was the origins of chorleywood. I have been lead to understand that the reason the supermarkets still use it is because it maximises weight of water and therefore reduces cost. But perhaps that was just propoganda.
Posted 4 years ago # -
Tom Baker was narrating a programme about Bread on the BBC4 the other night. All bread is good said a talking head baker Boffin chap.
Explains also why Canadian White Flour is Super Strong
On narrators Vic Reeves is doing a mad Flower Sculpture Show on the Netflix. Sometimes straight but in the episode I watched a bit of, also taking the P-P
Posted 4 years ago # -
Thanks @ejstubbs. That's very interesting.
In Poland we call this bread 'toast bread' but it's not your daily bread really. People buy fresh bread, buns and rolls daily. Bakeries open as early as 5.30-6am, fresh baked goods get delivered to local shops early enough so that it's a big thing to get fresh baked goods for breakfast. My mum used to go and get them every (or nearly every) day for us when we were at school!
Posted 4 years ago # -
Everyone in admin in the BAR-L had toast made for them by he passmen every morning as a comfort
Posted 4 years ago # -
In warm weather a proper baguette only remains edible for a matter of hours. Folk buy in the morning and after work.
Posted 4 years ago #
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