Real Bread Week 2024
Real Bread week – 17th – 25th February – is the international celebration of Real Bread (that is, bread made without chemical raising agents, so-called processing aids or any other additives) – and the people behind its rise!
During this week, the Real Bread Campaign encourages us to bake our own bread and buy Real Bread from local, independent bakeries (and good news – there are plenty of opportunities in Lincoln).
The Real Bread Campaign is about “finding and sharing ways of making bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet.
Labelling bread
So what’s all the fuss – how does Real Bread differ from any other sort of bread?
It comes as a surprise to many that the overwhelming majority of bread that most of us eat doesn’t actually meet the real bread criteria.
The confusion is partly because loaves are frequently labelled and marketed in ways that are misleading or dishonest.
For example, sourdough bread has no legal definition when it comes to labelling, so it can be hard for customers to distinguish between genuine sourdough bread – made with skills, time and natural fermentation by skilled bakers – from industrially produced loaves made with chemical additives and “processing aids” which aren’t listed as ingredients.
By the way, genuine sourdough is not a single style of bread, but a process that is used to leaven all sorts of breads.
Making bread at home
Making bread at home can be a reminder to slow down.
There is immense pleasure in the patient and multi-sensory process of bread making – and what can beat the convivial enjoyment of eating it? – especially warm from the oven with suitably delighted friends and family!
Real bread can include bakers yeast, by the way, which makes the process quicker – but making from scratch and looking after a sourdough starter can be satisfying.
With startling simplicity, you can make your own sourdough starter at home with just flour, water and patience, over a number of days. You will also find that sourdough bakers are often happy to give away portions of their sourdough starter!
Real Bread in Lincoln
If you don’t want to get floury yourself, there are a number of fantastic Real Bakers in Lincoln.
I recommend paying a visit to all of them, and enjoying the surprising diversity of real bread that is available on our doorstep, and meet some of the wonderful bakers. Bakers are nice. I don’t know what it is. In my experience, they are all lovely people!
Six places for Real Bread in Lincoln
Grain of Truth Bakery
Unit K, Peregrine Mews, Dowding Road, Lincoln, LN3 4PH.
- Open on Saturday and Sunday mornings at the bakehouse – and also:
- Forage & Fill, The Straight, Lincoln
- The Cheese Society, St Martin’s Lane, Lincoln
- Bread & Cheese van at Burton Road Orthodox Church farmers market (and other locations around the county)
Super Lincs
116 High Street, Lincoln
The amazing bakers in the bakery at the back of Super Lincs on Lincoln High Street bakes a wonderful range of breads from diverse traditions, (almost) all of them sourdough.
Rayan Food Store
115A High Street, Lincoln
Iranian baker, Taha, bakes flatbreads to order while you wait – eat them fresh and hot from the oven.
Vines Bakery
Although Vines’ former high street shop is now a barbers, you can still buy their bread from:
- Stokes, High Street, Lincoln
- Redhill, Bailgate
- The Allotment, Collingham
Bailgate Deli
Gordon Road (off the Bailgate), Lincoln
Barry sells real bread from the Welbeck bakery, just over the border in Nottinghamshire.
Your home! It takes a bit longer. Fine.
Buy locally stone-milled flour from Maud Foster Mill from Redhill on Bailgate, or Doddington Hall farm shop.
You can also get Lincolnshire grown, stone milled wheat flour online – try https://hodmedods.co.uk/products/yq-wheat-organic-wholegrain
#RealBreadWeek
If you bake some bread during real bread week, do send us a pic – you can tag us on Facebook/Insta @lincolnshirefoodpartnership or X @food_Lincoln and use the hashtag #RealBreadWeek
Is there a wonderful Real Bakery in Lincoln that we don’t yet know about? Let us know, and ask them to register on the Real Bread map https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/map/
Find out more https://www.sustainweb.org/realbread
Leave a Reply