For good or bad, one of the consequences of the global pandemic is that many people have had to rediscover their kitchens — and the pleasure of preparing their own meals from scratch. For many, enforced lockdown has also sparked a rising interest in home-baking, especially sourdough bread.
In Tokyo, few of us have ovens of suitable size and sophistication to produce bread of any serious quality. Fortunately, we’re blessed with a growing number of artisan bakeries around the city that can fill that pain de campagne-sized hole in our diets — plus many more in other parts of the country who are ready and willing to ship their wares.