Photo by Patricia Niven
A title of a book is not everything, but I have to admit that the words Bread and Butter are hard to beat: I knew this was a book meant for me. But I have to admit that when it arrived my immediate response was one of murky guilt. Let me explain: about ten years ago, I was planning a book on bread — social history, symbolism, and recipes beyond the loaf — and although I have merely parked it, rather than given up on it, seeing this one now did spark in me a certain rueful sense of shame. I’m glad to say, though, that was immediately dispelled through pleasurable immersion in this book. It is a celebration of one of life’s most joyful simple pleasures, and a tender guide as to how to enjoy making, as well as eating, these two ancient foods.
And while this perhaps might seem a book for the food obsessive, there are recipes for those who are not quite ready to bake their own bread or churn their own butter. And it’s one of these I’ve chosen to share with you here. I can never resist a treacle tart, and one made with sourdough breadcrumbs in place of the regular white breadcrumbs that traditional recipes use, seemed simply irresistible. The deep tang of sourdough is exactly what the intense hypersweetness of a treacle tart has been crying out for all along.
