I had a glamorous moment at the Real food festival when I bought bread at the same time as Trudi Styler. She has an organic farm and had just taken part in the festival panel with Zac Goldsmith, of the Ecologist, who also chanced by.
So there I was checking out Craig’s organic bread at Judges stall and suddenly I was surrounded by celebrities.
I’ll do the goss then get on to the bread.
Judges is owned by Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley. Their relationship gave birth to Green & Black’s chocolate – it’s a great story, soon published.
Before marrying Josephine (a top editor), Craig made healthy eating accessible. You could buy wholefood peanut butter in the supermarket in the 1980s thanks to his company, Whole Earth.
My gratitude goes back to 1968. I was a teenage Londoner who went to Seed, Craig and his brother‘s macrobiotic restaurant in a Paddington basement.
Later, (and living communally) I could buy brown rice from their organic and wholefood shop, Ceres, in Notting Hill Gate.
Later again (now with a child in 1978), I would buy the most delicious health-giving bread ever from the Sams’ bakery.
That brings me to the present. The Sams’ bread today is just as bread should be. Real, substantial, and tempting.
No wonder it has flavour and texture. Judges’ organic loaves rise slowly overnight before being baked.
(Most commercial bread is whipped into a frenzy with air and additives).
Slow dough breads are easier on the digestion too. During the slow rising, enzymes have a chance to start breaking the bread down.
The pic below is of two Judges’ loaves from the Real food festival at my friend’s breakfast table.
It reminds me how at home I felt there. (We go back to the 1970s too.)
Real Food Lover 