Date: 17/04/14
Location: Shelton
Interviewer: Hilary Hughes
Permission given to use interview for website, exhibition and Staffordshire archive: YES
Question asked “What do you remember about bread or bread baking”.
Well we did it at school in them days we did, then I used to watch me mother, then I helped. We used to make dough, then kneading and then putting it in the bread tin, it's all flat when you put it in the bread tin in the oven, and when you pull it out of the oven, it rises. Years ago when we used to have a piece of that bread we used to call them noggins 'cos they were very thick, in them days we put jam on because other things were expensive. That was in 1952, when we made bread in school, something like that, cookery lessons, baking, cakes and that. I can remember making bread. But mainly watching me Mum and doing some meself, doing the flour and everything, kneading it. No we didn't have a recipe, all I remember is the flour and butter, yeast and warm water or warm milk. The dough, you knead it like that, keep doing it.
'Cos in them days then years ago when we used to make it there was no slice bread out, in other words we used to call it a noggin when it was cut. No slice bread at all in them days. Cut them with a big knife, a carving knife. We used to tear it off for lobby.
The best of it, you talk about bread, was bread pudding. You can't beat your mothers bread pudding, soak it overnight, instead of throwing the bread away. Raisins, line a dish with it and use the bread for the walls. We used to have a piece of bread pudding and go out in the street eating it, lovely. I wasn't much for dripping, lard. Lard on toast me other brothers and sisters had it. I wouldn't have margarine, I had to have this butter. I eat mainly Flora now, years ago it had to be the best butter. Embreys, Champions, Mothers Pride, Hovis, Warburtons, Chatwins, Harrisons as well, Burgess's. Really years ago it was just, it was all the loaves what you cut up.
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