Adrienne beamed at them. Clearly they were going to be the class swots, thought Hannah rather uncharitably, given that for most of her life she’d been exactly that.

‘Thank you. Yes. Soda bread is the easiest bread you’ll ever make but no less tasty for it. The joy of soda bread is that you can make it quickly and eat it fresh when you want it. Whereas sourdough is a little more complicated because you need a starter. That’s a natural fermentation of yeast found in flour that you make with flour and water, and that’s what we’ll be starting with today.’ She beamed at the small pun and went on to explain the processes that were involved. ‘Basically it’s like having a pet. You have to feed it each day and look after it. And,’ she paused, ‘you have to give it a name.’

Behind her, Hannah heard Jason swear, while Meredith and Alan were already discussing names.

‘That’ll be a euro in the jar.’ Adrienne picked up an empty Kilner jar from the front bench and shook it at Jason. Clearly she had bat ears. Although Jason rolled his eyes, he dug in his pocket and sauntered to the front to drop the coin with a clink into the glass jar.

Then they were off and by ten-thirty, the first coffee break, they had mixed up their sourdough starters, all duly named. Hannah had settled on Herbert as she sealed the jar with the unprepossessing mixture. Didn’t you make glue from flour and water?

They’d also made a soda bread with buttermilk and, as Adrienne had promised, it really was very easy and seemed a lot more practical than the seven days of faffing with flour and water that the sourdough required. After that they made a white loaf with yeast. Who knew that kneading bread dough was such hard work?

‘When I knead dough, I like to really take any frustrations of the day out on it. The harder you work it, the more you release, warm, and stretch the gluten to give you a nice elastic, springy dough. I always think it’s a great way of balancing out any negativity.’

‘I always imagine it’s my ex’s head,’ announced Meredith with gleeful venom.

‘Yes. Me too,’ said Fliss. ‘Why are men – present company excluded of course – such bastards?’

‘We’re not all bad,’ protested Alan.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ piped up Jason with an evil leer that made them all burst out laughing.

Never having kneaded anything in her life, Hannah found it hard to get into the natural rocking rhythm that the others all seemed to have. Luckily Bronagh, her kitchen assistant, was on hand to show her the technique. It was a relief when the required ten minutes was up and she could relinquish the dough to prove.