Getting up your nose!

The smell from a loaf of home baked bread, as it wafts throughout the house, is a sublime gift for the senses. Whether at home or abroad, that doughy fragrance lifts your spirits and makes you feel good.

As I was growing up, the smell of home cooked chips signalled someone busy in the kitchen on my behalf. I’d burst into the house, throw my satchel on the nearest surface, and take in the glorious sight of golden chips, eggs sizzling on the pan and a bottle of ketchup on the table.

Basil, my black and white moggie, lifts his head and sniffs the air whenever a tin of tuna is opened – however surreptitiously – which engenders a look of pure feline greed, followed by pitiful begging mewing.

The whiff of perfume, as a beautiful woman passes by, is enough to excite even the most temperate of straight men while the delicate hint of a good after shave, can make the strongest of us go weak at the knees.

But, if any us had to choose, the aroma of freshly baked bread emanating from the heart of your home would surely come top of the list. Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, that clever duo, have devised a system whereby you can bake your own artisan bread in double quick time. No excuses then, to creating a bouquet for the senses, with your own two hands, that will lift everyone’s spirits.

Every Saturday morning, my good friend Dermot gets himself into action in the kitchen where he makes enough bread to last his family for the entire week. First he goes for an early swim in Sandycove, buys the Irish Times on the way home, has a well earned breakfast and then gets stuck in: all the ingredients come out of the cupboards, then the weighing and measuring, and finally, the therapeutic kneading for a full ten minutes. And rest. The dough sits and rises during the afternoon while Dermot gets on with taking the lads to football. On their return, muddy and full of their exploits on the field, Dermot sets to and gives his dough a final brusque kneading and shapes it into separate loaves, one for every day of the week.

Inspired? Well, if you are keen to give baking your own bread a whirl then roll your sleeves up and get started. If you have never tried your hand at kneading bread then YouTube has a wide variety of techniques to watch. My favourite is the French baker, Simon, who demonstrates his own particular method: noisy but effective!