Maori: One language is never enough. (traditional saying)

This is a variation on cheesy soda bread, made with sliced Spanish olives and fresh herbs.

The end of the week is looming; the pressure is on to close the deal, get commitments on paper, make reports, organise things for the following week and generally get working life into neat and eye-pleasing order.  It’s often all about speaking the other person’s language, and since bread is pretty much multilingual all on its own, I am sharing some of my favoured types here – take note though, these are all ‘three spoon’ rated.

Traditional scones   Buttermilk pancakes     Rye bread     Soda bread

Wherever I have travelled there has always been some kind of ‘bakery’ – from the exquisite emporia of France to the hand-pushed carts of rather less manicured locales. Typically, they sell the local staples, some the local delicacies, some just whatever they can get their hands on.  I have had great fun and enjoyment from trying them all!

Even when the fare offered is not recognisable as ‘bread’, it usually performs the equivalent function – fills the stomach and recruits your strength for whatever lies ahead. I’ve had a wonderful range of breakfasts on such days, not by asking for ‘bread’ but by watching what the local folks are buying and sampling the same thing – very often all done by using the international language of hand waving!

Of course, there was that one time on the Spain/France border where the nearest vendor was a boulangerie on the French side, serving croissants still warm from the oven and coffee fit to wake the dead …