The chef has been a bit addicted to baking for the last few weeks. Rather than using store bought yeast he has been cultivating his own - the kitchen bench is filled with tupperware containers overflowing with bacterial goodness. The funny thing is that chefs traditionally name these petrie dishes - and traditionally they are either called 'the mother' or 'the bitch'. I find this terminolgy kind of interesting. I get the female metaphor - they are associated with growth - but the Madonna/Whore distinction is an interesting one. I'm not really sure if ours is the maternal kind, or the slutty kind - but we certainly have more bread than we know what to do with. No worries - the swans on the river are enjoying it.
