Go Dough Nuts

Bread has gotten a lot of bad press in recent years. Women describe it as a vice in an: “Oh I know it's wrong but sometimes I just go crazy and have a slice of bread,” kind of way.

One of my friends informed me proudly that she hadn't eaten bread for a month and well, if Gillian McKeith says it's bad for you then it must be true. Ahem.

So when I went to try some bread in the world famous Poilane bakery recently I felt a little bit naughty. But the delightful Sloane Square bakery is a firm favourite of celebrities from Nigella Lawson to Robert de Niro so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

As the scent of bread wafted in, a part of me just took in the fact that I felt like I'd stepped out of London and into the south of France. But then a small, very silly, part of me looked at the rows of delicious loaves and imagined how many hours of cardio would be needed to work off this lot.

However, one taste of this superb bread favoured by a number of Michelin star restaurants will have you forgetting about all that. Poilane is particularly famous for its sourdough bread which is made fresh in a giant oven downstairs and has a signature P carved into the bread after other breadmakers tried to replicate the Poilane recipe.

My personal favourite from the bakery however is the rye and raisin bread which is so tasty I finished my loaf more quickly than is probably acceptable.

But, despite what we've been led to believe about the perils of bread I didn't feel bad. Okay I did a bit. It was a whole loaf but still. Firstly it is well known that rye bread is a healthy alternative to those with wheat intolerances and also keeps blood sugar levels steady for longer keeping hunger at bay.

For those with a penchant for wheat (I made my way onto the sourdough loaf after the rye and raisin) you will be delighted to hear Poilane bread has been proven to have a number of health benefits. The sourdough loaf with its unique baking process is easier to digest because of its slow 6-hour fermentation process with leaven.