At Herefordshire: Flavours of Herefordshire

The Swift family bakery has been creating crusty artisan loaves since 1863.

This is John. He is the fifth generation of Swift bakers. The 'inhouse' secrets of the Swift loaf is something that was born 150 years ago. You could argue, that the secrets are out of the box, given that the bakery has published a book revealing their recipes to their creative crusts. I would beg to differ. There is more to artisan bread making than meets the eye.

When John's great, great aunt, Hannah Swift began kneading dough in 1865, she had a sleight of hand, a method of mixing, a toss of flour, a dusty apron and a floury forehead A sight, a witness, her daughter Harriet copied. Copied and reproduced, a style, a method, baking evolving through the hands of following generations.

John, a proud and passionate businessman and baker, talks enthusiastically at the 'Flavours of Herefordshire' exhibition. How wonderful that despite the odds the family have pulled together to keep their passion alive to this day. British food heritage under one roof and in one loaf. Priceless....x