Durban’s Glenwood Bakery rises to occasion with book for Christmas

IF you want a simple, fail-proof recipe for bread, look on any old flour packet – you won’t find it in A Book About Bread.

Thqt was the message author and master-baker, Adam Robinson told guests at the book’s recent launch.

Robinson, owner of the popular Glenwood Bakery, points out that cooking well, contrary to what many in the publishing trade or telly chefs will tell you, is “a devilishly complicated and wonderfully interesting mistress.”

Or at any rate, it’s exacting when it comes to the details, particularly as these apply to the sourdough specialities that come out of Robinson’s ovens in the south-central Durban suburb.

A veteran of the London restaurant scene who has lived in South Africa since 2003, Robinson has teamed up with local photographer-designer Roger Jardine to produce a handsome volume that takes a deep-dive into dough and its making and baking.

If you are already comfortable in the kitchen, or have at least dabbled in bread, this is the book for you. And you’ll find plenty to get your teeth into.
Robinson cites a number of influences, particularly 16th century physick Dr Thomas Muffett, as he breaks bread-making down to its essentials.
Learn about wheat and what makes flour good or otherwise; yeast, water, salt, baking and ovens all get their due. But it’s the dough, its handling and the
microbiology of fermentation where the real magic happens and Robinson explains some of its mysteries in his idiosyncratic, often wry style.

Then he serves up 10 recipes, or formulas (as he styles them) – many Glenwood Bakery favourites.

ALSO READ: Retired Durban teacher launches new book

All the formulas are accompanied by beautiful photographs, precise list of ingredients, times and temperatures (the author describes good bakers as “anal”)
and step-by-step instructions to help you get it right.

Robinson has been cooking in or running restaurants in his native England as well as France since 1981. It’s given him a rich store of anecdotes which lend the book a nice light crumb, as well as a good understanding of what makes food and baking work.

“I am not a fan of the science of nutrition and even less nutritionism (the idea that it is individual nutrients in a food that is alone important). Nor am I that interested in the health benefits of my work. It is about the taste.”

He concludes with a pithy essay on the pleasures and pitfalls of owning your own little bakery. Something to chew on for those of us who are weighing a career change or anyone who simply loves bread. The book retails for R225 and is available from the Glenwood Bakery, at 398 Esther Roberts Road, Glenwood. To reserve a copy call 082 617 9768 or email adam.jn.robinson@gmail.com.

It is also available at African Root (Umhlanga), Hope Meats (Durban North), Surf Riders (South Beach), Humble Coffee (Morningside), Dukka (Morningside), KZNSA (Glenwood) and Parc (Glenwood – next to the bakery).

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