THe Creative Self

Yesterday my dear friend Rosalind wrote an article on her blog EARTHS IMAGINATION, called Musings on a sustainable life (very interesting posts, have a read everyone).

Among her musings she talked about Bread, and the current state of the nations daily loaf…………   I have a love hate relationship with bread, once it used to blow me up like a balloon, with a feeling like I had a brick in my stomach, that changed with seeing Katherine Boulderstone and her unique technique for aligning energies to wheat.    Also it seems my body doesn’t function well on carbohydrates, so over the past 7 or 8 years my intake of bread and rice (not keen on pasta) has been very minimal.

However, there is nothing nicer than a piece of sour dough bread, my preferred choice HOXTON RYE, lightly toasted with ice-cold lurpak slabbed on top, I dream of this and now again make the choice to treat myself to this delicacy !!  I am lucky enough to have a very creative Artisan Baker in Tunbridge Wells,  FLOUR POWER CITY.  I first came across Matt at Borough Market, many years back   and not long after he opened a shop in TW, sadly it wasnt there long , don’t think TW was ready for it and it closed.   However, all these years later, with and influx on new 30 somethings  from London buying up Tunbridge Wells and the fact they dont mind spending  upwards of three or four pounds for their daily bread , Matt has opened up his shop again.  This time its flourishing, and so it should, his skills as a baker are excellent and ingredients all organic.

Why though can’t this kind of bread be available to everyone, for some the price is prohibitive,  food has become elitist.  I dont mind paying for good food and make this a priority, albeit that I eat out a lot to the time, however there is an excellent fishmongers opened across the road from my office that sells “wild” fish and once or twice a week I buy myself a seabass, wild bream,  or a halibut steak.  BUT what does annoy me is these so called “farm shops” that sell food that’s kind of “gift hamper” shit that’s hardly your requirements for daily living.  My case in point was a huge shop that opened up, again just around the corner from my office.  It said it was gong to be the biggest shop in a town centre that would have local vegetable, cheeses and all manner of foods.  Excellent I thought, no supermarket shopping ever again.  When it opened, its biggest counter sold chocolates !! hardly a staple, vegetables were minimal, and everything else was jars and packets of food you may give as gifts not REAL food, its cafe very lack lustre and empty, after 6 months it closed…………  I am glad it did, although did have some feelings for the owners in that there hopes and dreams were dashed, but in reality they got it so totally wrong………………

More or less at the same time a young girl opened JULIET’S a wonderful eatery just down the road, with fresh inspiring salads, colourful, nutritious and oh so tasty, and she is doing really well, you can see her dream is being fulfilled, she undoubtedly prepares with LOVE and one can taste it!!!!

Oh well that’s enough from me today, off to the office now, creating space in the most wonderful of buildings in Leamington Spa, its going to be quite a challenge, but an excting one………..

Oh and Rosalind,  Matt uses the flour from SHIPTON MILLS not too far from you I believe!!