The Scottish Bread Championship

Fond of your daily bread? Do you enjoy your loaf as well as using it? On Saturday a treat awaits.

Get yourself to Bowhouse, between Elie and St Monans in Fife, for the Scottish Festival of Real Bread. There will be bread stalls, there will be workshops, there will be events for children: and there will be the awards ceremony of the Scottish Bread Championships. If you haven't been to Bowhouse before, do visit. It will give you a taste for their fabulous monthly markets.

But if like me you are an amateur baker, a word of caution. It will make you realise that not only is your bread not in the Champions League, it is scraping to get into the Second Division. But, like any lower league player, take inspiration from being on the field with the big boys.

I've never been terribly happy with my own sourdough. It's OK, but... I can tell you that Tony, my 19 year old starter, is about to be cranked up and put to work. The bar is to be raised. No, of course I'm not entering. Anyway, entries closed on February 20th. But maybe one day.

Entering for what? There are in fact eight categories. Some are obvious - classic and enriched sourdough loaves, for example -  or pastries such as croissants or Danish. Others are more esoteric. Class 4, entitled Bread reflecting Scotland's food culture can include international influences and traditions, such as Italian, Ukrainian, Asian or Nordic. Confused? Me too, but I bet they'll all be delicious.

UK wide this is Real Bread Week. What is meant by that? Linguistic cynics may identify the adjective real as one of the most meaningless in the English language. Real men smoke Marlboro cigarettes. Or use Dove soap for real beauty. You know the sort of thing. Well, no such criticism can be levelled here, as the criteria are very specific.

Real bread, the organisers state firmly, is made without the use of processing aids or any other artificial additives. Make your own at home? Look closely at what you use. Most bread mixes will contain ascorbic acid or added enzymes. Instant yeast (and this came as a surprise to me) also contains additives. Even if you're adding what you believe to be natural ingredients such as seeds or dried fruits, care must be taken to ensure that these contain nothing artificial. In other words, this is a competition whose organisers can truly justify using the word real.

The organisers are Andrew Whitley of Scotland the Bread and Wendy Barrie of the Scottish Food Guide. They have impeccable food pedigrees and both have featured in this column. Whether you make a fantastic loaf, or whether you would just like to pluck up the courage to try, get yourself along to Bowhouse at the weekend. I'll be there. Come and say hello.

Exciting News from Belly Dance

Just a few weeks ago we featured Hannah and Harriet, founders of Belly Dance soft drink. Things are looking so promising that just this month the ladies have given up their jobs to go full time in the business. That's exciting, but also quite scary. I challenge all Tom's Food! readers to help getting them off to a flying start by placing an order. Don't know if you'll like it? You can get a Taster Trio box for just a tenner. (Note that at the moment to find this you have to click the View All button on the website.)

And there's more. A special 20% discount for readers of Tom's Food! To take advantage of this fantastic offer, quote BELLYDANCE20 when placing the order online. Please note that this discount offer can only be used once. Thanks, ladies, and good luck.

On The Side will be back in a fortnight