When you ARE the baker
I found myself regularly doing things I did not know I could do while living in Uganda. I did not know I could make French bread, but you can too! One for you and one to share!
In our area of Uganda, it did not seem people regularly ate bread. There was a white bread sliced option, but sorry, it was not so great long term for our family. We did get tired of it and a lot of times it was one click above card board. We did love chapati, which is like Indian tortillas. BUT, it's made with lard, so we could not eat that regularly and feel good about ourselves. Let's face it, each country can claim a specialty and Africa is not where you go for bread.
Now, there was a bakery in town, but no competition. So, no offense my Kabale friends, but it was hit or miss at best. If you were fresh off the plane and coming after a few weeks in Kampala and desperate for western style bread, then yes, it was a great option. People trekking from the tip of Africa who have spent weeks on the road and look like they escaped the gulag also enjoy this bakery. When I saw mouse droppings and other things that I did not want in my bread, I somehow became inspired to bake this bread. I also had a lot of time on my hands. Eventually, I taught the gals who helped with our house, so it was a fun process....eventually!
You will notice the baguette option and that was a fail. I never could get that down. Even though it is hard to find a true baguette outside of France, I am content to get mine from the local bakeries and have not even attempted to make one here.
