British Expatriate Network

Damn right.....British bread is the bee's knees wink

To anyone whom bakes their own bread (debsowerby maybe?) be it bread machine or your own fair hands........
Have you got a recipe for Naan bread?

I want the recipe where you mix the wet ingredients together and let start bubbling before you put the flour etc in.

I know there are recipes out on the WWW, but I was wanting a tried and tested one.

Thanks
Mandy

Exactly. But most people don't live round there, so your view is the exception, not the rule -so to speak-, so it's not really valid to present your experience as the North American experience which is what you imply with your "No Way" statement. :roll:

I don't want to sound rude and disagree with you but I lived in Orange Country and the surrounding areas for a while and it really didn't seem any different to anywhere else in America. Maybe your taste buds have been Americanised :shock: as I have yet to meet another Brit here who thinks the American Bread and Bakery Products are better than British ones. I think it's just a common fact that it isn't, as true as the Grass is Green, British Bread and Bakery products are simply just much better.

Wow, if ever there was a thread for everyone to add IMHO to everything, this is it :twisted:

Everything that follows is IM not so HO.

I don't consider the plastic stuff that comes sliced and wrapped, to be bread. Bread is baked and has a crust. There are peasant breads, Italian mostly but some country French. These are sort of coarse, larger air spaces, some too large. There are sourdoughs which can have a fine or coarse texture depending on the kneading and rising, There are French breads, baguettes or boules, these are fine textured but should be eaten right away or frozen because they have no fat. British bread can also be fine or coarse textured, generally it is of fine texture. The mix is similar to Italian bread but is kneaded a little longer and is not allowed to rise as much as for a peasant bread. There used to be a British bakery near here that made bread occasionally, but I think he moved to Boston. His business name here was "British Bakery" Other than that, I bake it myself.

[highlight=yellow]All of these breads can be good, although they may be not to your taste.[/highlight] A focaccia is great for dipping in flavoured olive oil, but I wouldn't want to try it with a fine textured bread.

I shop at Genuardis, which was a local chain but sold to Safeway and has gone downhill since but they have "Artisan Breads" that are good, I usually get a wholegrain, but sometines a Country French or sourdough.

I keep shopping there because they have a good selection of organics, Red mill grains and flours, the best meusli ever (not sweetened), a couple of lines of organic soups that are better are than any homemades that I have had. I buy "Cage Free" organic eggs. They are no good for frying though, the yolk almost always breaks.

You know, Orange County ain't exactly the hotbed of organic farming....(no you don't sound rude and there's nothing wrong with disagreeing either)

Midge - Sad to say but no, my "taste buds" haven't changed (what an odd statement - I used to be a chef so I tend to stay current as I cook every night, food from all cultures).  How many Brits have you met that actually chat?  To be honest when another Brit hears another Brit most of them shut up so they won't be discovered...Sorry but British foodstuff ain't all they're cracked up to be...  Yes, when you find the independent producer in the UK then it's no different than here (in California/Central Coast/Bay Area), but breads and cakes are really not any better.  You need a trip out here mate.  We have some of the best bakeries, breweries, vegetable and meat/poultry producers in the country....

To Monster, you may have a point, and I think to some extent where we live (the area from say Eureka in the north down as far as San Luis Obispo/Cambria) we have some of the best produce in this country.  I wouldn't say the exception, only because the vast majority of people who are on this board are in the MidWest/East Coast and generally speaking (from my forays into supermarkets) have to some extent put up with a lot of produce that is shipped from here (CA) and doesn't look at perky as it does here. (I did think it was sad when we were in Atlanta and I wanted a real Georgia peach and couldn't as the only ones they had were form CA - made me sad).

...and to Myasibe - Imake my own the old fashioned way, with a starter (for sourdough) or proof yeast, but both with the elbow grease method...No bread machines here...

As for the Grass is Green statement (huh?).  Couldn't careless.  I find the best sources for food here (we have some wonderful wholefoods markets in Santa Cruz/Capitola and it's so much better than what you can ever get back there unless you used the boutique shops that sell these things in the UK, whereas here they're just sold in good supermarkets (we never shop for food at Safeway's or suchlike)

Andrew :)

Well, I still think that British Bread/ Bakeries and Dairy Products are much better than American ones. I am sure that if we did a survey over 90% of Brits would agree with that.

You can always do a poll on here! Look below the text box when you start a new topic, above the submit button :D

I dont mind the whole wheatbread from of the shelves here , my wife makes bread a lot expecially at weekends .
nothing tastes like english bread IMO i liked the *split tin* loaf the nice crusting outside was my favourite .

french bread is when freshly made is my fvourite here .

'Freedom' bread? :shock:

Found this recipe for Naan bread here.

I've never made it myself but the photo looks good and authentic. Let me know how it turns out if you decide to make it!

Debs x :smile:

Thanks Debs )
Our local kmart used to sell lovely flat bread but now dont sell it anymore so I am going to have to make my own Naan now.
Mandy