Banneton

I have recently stared making sourdough bread. If you follow my blips you will already have met Homer my sourdough starter, and seen the results of my labours.

It seems that in this murky and frankly quite oneupmanship-ish world of cultures, moisture percentages and grignettes one must use a banneton, or mould, to form your loaf.

Now being a) impatient b) anarchic and c) a teensy bit of a curmudgeon I read a few blogs decided to wing all the moisture malarkey and got on with it. The results so far have been nothing short of fabulous, I am astonished that I am capable of producing such awe inspiring bread.

But... but... but... I feel I am letting the bread down if I don't make it as beautiful as possible (truly I do - a sourdough starter is like another pet, it has a personality). So far I've managed to make a reasonable hash of it with a pyrex bowl and some kitchen roll but today my banneton arrived.

It is a simple mould made out of cane but I was utterly unprepared for just how beautiful this simple thing is.