Bread making is one of those pleasures that until recently was dying out in Britain. With so much cheap bread available, there is a generation that has never had to bake their own bread. If truth be told, it was something the Hippies did. I remember a friend at school, whose parents would make their own bread. I really found it quite strange when I was young. These days, though, I love making bread, and while I don't get perfect results every time, I am keen to develop my baking skills.

Dough, the bread book and DVD from Richard Bertinet, is an ideal introduction to making bread at home in the best traditions of French bakers. Richard started his career as a baker in Brittany, were he honed his skill. These days, he lives in Bath, England were he makes artesian bread and runs cookery classes in bread making. His classes are very popular, and he has been able to capture the essence of those classes within the book and DVD.

Being a keen amateur in the art of bread making I was eager to dive into the book and start making bread. Richard has divided the book into five chapters, covering White Dough, Olive Dough, Brown Dough, Rye Dough and Sweet Dough. Additionally, and more importantly, there is an excellent section on Dough. being the most important part of bread making. The whole section is on the DVD to reinforce the instructions in the book. While it won't win an Emmy, it does the job when it comes to making dough.

There are some fantastic beard recipes in the book, like Bread Shots, Pain de Mie, Course Salt and Rosemary Focaccia, Honey and Lavender Loaf and Orange and Mint Loaf. This is just a small selection from over fifty different recipes. The best thing about all these recipes are that they are designed to be cooked at home using a domestic oven, so you should be making you own bread in no time.