Award-winning bakers Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan from Bath-based eco-artisan bakery The Thoughtful Bread Company are set to appear in a three-part BBC2 series beginning 7pm Monday 5th December.
The Big Bread Experiment sees Duncan and Patrick take part in a unique social project to re-unite a town through bread and bring freshly baked artisan loaves back to the community.
Bedale, a small town in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, was once a thriving farming community for generations of villagers. Now, most residents commute to work spending little time getting to know their neighbours.
Local curate, Cath Vickers – a real-life Vicar of Dibley – takes on the mammoth task of bringing community spirit back to the town with the help of Duncan and Patrick to generate enthusiasm and train the group up to their exacting standards.
Shot over eighteen months, the series follows the start of an inspirational journey and as the community bakery slowly takes shape, the residents learn ‘there’s something a lot deeper about bread’.
London-born Duncan Glendinning met Irish chef Patrick Ryan when they were working on an eco tourism project in Fiji, and it was there the idea for The Thoughtful Bread Company in Bath was formed. Their breads can now be found everywhere from Michelin-starred restaurants to children’s lunch packs and the business has won a host of accolades including Gold at the Great Taste Gold Awards and Gold, Silver and Bronze at the Taste of the West Awards.
Duncan and Patrick’s first book, Bread Revolution contains more than 65 easy-to-follow recipes for everyday breads, delicious flavoured loaves, sweet treats and accompaniments and will be published by Murdoch Books in March 2012.
