after we made it back to the mainland, we wandered through the labyrinth of city streets until i found the central baking depot. alas, i only know its location in relation to the clarence street blood bank, but my cousins seemed happy to be led, and the kid, well, she wasn’t actually walking, so she had no vote.

we sat and ate an assortment of pastries, and when i finally established that my order of hot chocolate had never even registered with the guy at the counter, we started making the motions of leaving. this included buying loaves of bread to go.
i finally got the cherry, fennel and walnut bread.

it’s a somewhat lighter bread than i’d normally prefer, and for something that lists “cherry” way up front, it contains an almost imperceptible count of little bits of chopped-up fruit. see those two little pink flecks? they be the cherries. what it does have is a very agreeable, completely not overwhelming fennel flavour (from seeds, mind), made more pronounced when a slice, lightly toasted and buttered, is sprinkled with spiced sugar. mmm.

oh how i love fennelly, aniseedy things. like fennel, for example, finely sliced in a salad, or braised warm and floppy.

or these delicious spanish flatbreads i unsurfaced when i was in london a few months back. torta de aceite, they are called, crisp and flaky, rich with olive oil, dusted in sesame seeds and sugar, infused with the aura of anise, each one wrapped in waxed paper. a winning package all ’round! does anyone know where to find these in sydney? i have tried the spanish deli on liverpool street in the city, but… nada.

or these glassati anice biscuits that called to me from a large basket at my feet, at fratelli fresh. i eat more than i should of these crunchy little rings in one sitting, until my throat tightens with the assault of the sturdy sugar glaze. and then i eat a couple more.