“Half pound plain loaf” :- Halfa pound of flour, two tea-spoonfuls of Yeatman’s powder, a salt-spoonful ofsalt, and four or five teaspoonfuls of water. Work this as above*, reserving the baking powder to the last, set the doughin a tin, or form it in the well-known “cottage” shape and bake.
I furnish this recipe for its “found poetry.” At least that’s the way it seemed to me whenI first read it, half-asleep on the daybed near Andy’s crate yesterdayevening. The two martinis I drank alittle earlier at Paramour, the oddly named but excellent (as well as highlyanticipated and wholeheartedly welcomed) restaurant in the Wayne Hotel, mayhave contributed to my poetry – bread recipe reverie. Absolutely exhausted from a week of caringfor our recuperating dog (we first visited Paramour the evening before Andy’ssurgery, when everything seemed completely tenuous; we were already pastexhaustion then from worry), I fellasleep quickly (I think) and woke up with Wyvern’s verse - recipe still on my mind.
I wasn’t sure what a “cottage” shaped bread loaf was,well-known as it might have been to Wyvern. When I found pictures of one, I immediately recognized it as the type ofloaf the character Marcus used when he (accidentally) killed the pond duck in About A Boy. Although I normally strongly object to animalsbeing used as comic props in this way, the incident develops into a funny, touching scene in an excellent, sensitive film, and it's clear that no actual duck was harmed in production. I'm pleased to see that Nicholas Hoult, the young actor who played Marcus with such restraint and depth, is now definitely “hot,”"picked to click" and “poised for stardom,” as they say.
Andy is doing very well – growing stronger every day, balance clearlyre-balancing, attitude of a champion. I will do my best toemulate him.
*N.b., Wyvern’skneading instructions arerudimentary but, for the experiencedbread baker, intuitive. Essentially, hesensibly counsels against over-kneading and his loaves all seem to be of the “single-rise”variety. The Great Man seems to provide no bakinginstructions, unusual for him, but I must admit I haven’t read this section of Culinary Jottings From Madras thoroughly.
Another Great Man aka The Best Dressed Chicken In Town aka The Ital Surgeon aka Winston James Thompson
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