Breaditation

Author Manuel Monade is the current chair of the London borough of Southwark Refugee and Migrant Project, an organisation he has been working with for the past twenty years. Having helped people facing stressful situations in the course of his charitable work, and also having experienced the sense of achievement of his breadmaking students, he is interested in the therapeutic potential of baking. Here, together with psychotherapist Caroline Harrison, he shows how breadmaking can help anyone to enhance their mental wellbeing.

An introduction explains the concept of 'breaditation' - breadmaking as therapy and the benefits it can bring for good mental health. Advice on essential equipment and the fundamentals of baking follows: understanding the dynamics of breadmaking; then the stages - kneading; shaping; proving; and baking.

The book includes twenty-one straightforward recipes from different parts of the world, all of which give a sense of achievement in making them. There is nothing too technically demanding meaning that there is an immediate reward in starting and finishing the recipes. The book ends with some sourdough breadmaking for people looking for something a little more challenging.

The recipes include: ciabatta; focaccia; grissini; bagels; muffins; pitta bread; lavash; white country loaf; wholemeal loaf; granary loaf; classic bun dough; brioche; scrolls; puff pastry; sweet pastry; shortcrust pastry; crackers; shortbreads; white, spelt and rye sourdoughs.

About the Authors

Manuel Monade moved to the UK in 1987, from Paris, where he was studying archaeology and art history at La Sorbonne. In London, he opted for a more hands-on vocational path, first becoming a qualified chef then moving on to baking in various West End restaurants in the exciting London food scene of the 1980s and 1990s. His defining moment came when he joined the original team at St John Restaurant in Smithfield. Fergus Henderson, the head chef and proprietor, insisted on having real artisan bread freshly baked in-house for each service. Dan Lepard was the main baker and he introduced Manuel to breadmaking. When Dan left, Manuel took over the small bakery and never returned to working as a chef again. He baked not only for the restaurant but also for the local community in Farringdon and Clerkenwell.

Manuel returned to France to train at L'Institut National de la Boulangerie Patisserie in Rouen before returning to work in London. For many years he worked with Matt Jones at Flourpower City Bakery, before becoming a teacher at Bread Ahead baking school. Manuel is the current chair of the Southwark Refugee and Migrant Project, an organisation he has been working with for the past twenty years. Having helped people facing stressful situations in the course of his charitable work, and also having experienced the sense of achievement of his students, he is interested in the therapeutic potential of baking to enhance wellbeing.

Caroline Harrison is a BABCP-accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Processing) therapist and supervisor with over twenty years' experience in the NHS, working in a range of adult, child and adolescent therapeutic services.