In the sixties when there began to be a fashion for making “Gateaux” as against Cakes (at the same time, ironically, the French culinary elite were making “Le Cake” in place of Le Gateau ).
These Gateaux tended to be doused in expensive liqueurs
As we are, by geography, adjacent to a parsimonious nation, cheaper alternatives to these flavourings soon became available. These tended to be both chemical and slightly off the flavour they were supposed to replace. The worst of them was a rum alternative which was called on the (miniscule) bottle “Art Rum Flav” This fairly foul essence was easily detectable at 20 paces and because cheap was much abused in this country. Indeed some of our hotels and more restaurants than I like to admit thought it the bees knees (or as my (honorary ) nephew Tadhgh would say “the dogs bollocks.”)
That is all in the past now and I doubt (please tell me that I am right) whether Art Rum Flav is still available.
A couple of days ago I gave you my recipe for my current favourite brown bread. As this is favoured by Sile as being healthier I don’t get to make my current favourite white bread as often as I would like.This is my Sun dried Tomato Bread which recipe will follow.But first I have a confession to make.
Recipes bore me.
I rarely if ever follow a recipe. I do of course try and keep to the correct proportions of the important ingredients but I nearly always manage to insert something new. Often I do this from the highest of motives, a reluctance to see any thing go to waste for instance, but equally it could what they used to call in Cork “complete blagarding”. In other words I will throw in something just because I come across it or because it seems for a moment to be a good idea. Today’s effort with the Sun Dried Tomato Bread is a good illustration of just this.
It started when I was looking in the fridge for the Sun dried Tomatoes. I came across a vac pack of Black Nicoise Olives which had been in the fridge for ever. I checked the best before date, May 2004. Oops. Open them up , they smelled perfect but I felt conscience bound to use them up as soon as possible. In today’s bread for instance? Perfect.
Next surprise find in the fridge was a half finished plastic pack of Pesto which I had been given a present of as a sample by Oliesto foods in Castle Leslie last week. I had used a half of it in a dish of courgettes (just cut them in strips, fry them in olive oil and toss in the Pesto at the last minute. Delicious.) And as it was a particularly good Pesto I didn’t want to waste it so, I had another candidate for the bread.
As I finally closed the fridge door. ( a slight pause here to admit that looking in the fridge for sun dried tomatoes can only be described as ill-advised as they are always kept in the dry goods cupboard, which was where I found them a minute later) as I left the fridge however I spotted a large bunch of Parsley which I had intended to use with some new potatoes I cooked this week, at the last moment I had roasted the potatoes so, these also needed using up. We now have far too many Basil plants on the window sill because have decided that the ground is still too cold for putting them out, so I thought I should cull off some of the leaves from these to throw in with the parsley. The astute reader will have guessed where this is going at this stage. You are of course correct. We are heading fast towards the Mediterranean. To Italy or Provence, or more truthfully to a platonic ideal of those places.
No self respecting French Boulanger would dream of putting Sun Dried toms, Olives, and Basil in the one loaf. Thus the title; Artificial Provencal Flavour.
To get back to the recipe however in all other respects I kept faithfully to the following recipe. Well nearly. I had also found a jar of forgotten poppy seeds in the dry goods cupboard and noticed some home made mayonnaise (which my present weight does not allow me to eat) in the fridge.
Just to add the last touches of gilt (should that be guilt?) to the bread I painted it with some of the mayonnaise and then sprinkled over the poppy seeds before I put it on to prove.

Underneath follows the recipe.
Should you be tempted to add any (or all) of my extras this is when they went in.
I added the parsley and the basil to a third of the flour, along with the tomatoes and whizzed in a food processor until the tomatoes and herbs were chopped.
I carefully and labourously stoned and halved the olives (they weighed in at 150g with their stones in) and added them to the dough at the same time as I added the olive oil and the pesto(there was about 2 tablespoons of this.)
I omitted the sesame seeds (for a wonder!) and painted with mayonnaise and then sprinkled on the Poppy Seeds instead.

By the Miracles of modern technology aided by the digital camera I am able to give you a photo of the bread as it came out of the oven.
It looks great doesn’t it. It tasted even better.
As authentic as the smell of the market in Vaison la Romaine.

Sun Dried Tomato Bread
(For 3 X 450g -1lb.- loaves)

1.4kg (3 lbs.) Strong White Flour
2 X 7g Sachets Fast Action Yeast
1 teaspoon Salt
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
175g (6 oz.) Sun dried Tomatoes
850mls (30 oz.) Warm Water
1 Egg
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds

Put the flour,yeast, and salt in a large bowl.
Cut the tomatoes in small dice. (If they are in oil you can use some of it in place of some of the olive oil) and add them to the flour.
(A simple method of doing this is to add the tomatoes to one third of the dry flour in a food processor and whizz together until the tomatoes are chopped)
Add the warm water and the olive oil to the bowl and blend all the ingredients together with your (spotlessly clean) hands.
Knead the mixture in the bowl until the bowl comes fairly clean then put it out on a lightly floured counter.
Now you want to knead it for at least 6 mts.
(If you have never kneaded bread before the idea is to flatten the ball of dough with the ball of your hand , draw it back into a ball, give it a half turn, and repeat.)
As you knead the dough will get noticeably smoother and less sticky.
Oil your three tins well and, if they are not well seasoned (or Non-stick) it is a good idea to line the bottom with some tinfoil or greaseproof paper.
Divide the dough between the tins, paint the tops with some egg wash and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
Put these in a warm place for at least an hour (if not warm enough they can take a lot longer,I sometimes light the oven to its lowest and put them in the grill space over the oven) They should rise well over the tops of the tins .
Pre Heat the oven to Gas 7, 220C, 425F.
Cook the loaves at this temperature for 30 mts.
Shake them out of their tins and put them back for another 10mts to crisp the base and sides. Let them cool before eating or freezing.