I actually don’t love bread the way some people do. I don’t insist on it at every meal and rarely buy it. If I do buy a loaf it’s got to be something interesting, dark and hearty, homemade especially.
I like to make bread though, and mom was also into bread making. She went through a sourdough phase, and then later she got a bread machine, which I wasn’t impressed with.
I didn’t make it often but every once in a while would get a craving and look up a recipe. Usually it’s challah. I made it a few times in Erbil, and in January 2020 I decided to embark on sourdough, inspired by another food-making friend. When I ended up in Tbilisi as the world wide lock-down began in March 2020, I started another one, and kept it up for a while, dividing it and experimenting with it, learning more than I ever needed to know about it.
We have my brother’s starter here in Vermont now and make bread fairly regularly.