That's why I knead all that dough

For five weeks towards the end of last year I was one of 12 students up to my elbows in bread dough for fours hours on Saturday mornings. It was wonderful. As an antidote to the hassles of high speed modern living, kneading dough must rank up there with the best stress busting devices available. Even better, I had something to show for my efforts, as each week I went home with an impressive-looking bag of warm, aromatic loaves. My class was all-female, ranging in age from mid-20s to mid-40s. But there is a fair representation of men among the 84 students attending this series of bread-making courses run by the National Bakery School of Ireland at the Dublin Institute of Technology in Kevin Street. The head of the bakery school, Derek O'Brien, decided to run courses for nonDIT students because of strong demand - coupled with falling numbers of young students signing up for bakery courses.

"In the past we simply didn't have the space or the time to cater for outsiders, but with the young student numbers dropping we had the resources available and we decided to test the water and offer courses in speciality cake baking and real breads. The response was terrific. The courses filled up very quickly and we have ended up with a waiting list," Derek O'Brien says. According to O'Brien, the range of breads available in Ireland is tiny by comparison with the rest of Europe, where small bakeries still thrive. The choice of breads used to be wider in the past, but with the rationalisation of the Irish baking industry bread options have become increasingly limited unless one buys speciality products. "Bread lovers are aware that they are not being well catered for here and quite a few of them seem to have decided that if they want really good breads they will have to learn to make them themselves," O'Brien adds. "We think it is a pity that baking skills are being lost and that people are being given so little choice. Hopefully, our courses will go a small way towards keeping the bread-making tradition alive and maybe even revitalise the interest in making and eating real breads," he says. Both the bread and cake courses are totally "hands on" and aimed at amateur and more experienced bakers. Everything is supplied and all you have to buy in addition to paying the course fee is a white coat. The courses are modular in structure and comprise four modules. Each module consists of five classes (one per week) and each class is of three to four hour's duration. The classes are offered at different times during the week and modules cost £70 each. Those who complete the full course are awarded a certificate and it may be possible to use these courses as a stepping stone to a career in the bakery or food service industries. Ultimately, O'Brien hopes to be able to offer full DIT certification to students who successfully complete practical and theoretical strands. "I enjoy baking and making my own bread and I was looking for a course which would build on this while also fitting in with my lifestyle," says Suzanne Scroope. "I have three small children so being able to do the course on a Saturday morning was ideal - and the big bonus was having lovely bread to bring home, so the whole family benefits. My kids won't eat anything else now. "I thoroughly enjoyed the course. It was very professionally run and our teacher, Robert, was excellent. He got the technical and practical information across very well and made everyone feel confident about their ability to turn out perfect bread. The course demanded your full concentration for the four hours, but at the same time it was very relaxing and the level of personal satisfaction was very high. I think everyone went home every week feeling really good about what they had achieved."

John Connolly has always been interested in cooking, but his interest turned to passion following a week-long course in fish cookery with Darina Allen at Ballymaloe. "My wife gave me a present of the course and I enjoyed it so much I went back eight or nine times over the next few years to do all sorts of different courses," he says. "I'm interested in all aspects of cookery. I grow all my own herbs and I've even had a go at sugar paste, which I found very creative and challenging." Connolly is a clinical psychologist who was forced to retire from practice in 1997 because of illness. Since then he has stayed home to look after his family of five children and he has also taken on the role of chief cook. "Those most pleased by my doing the bread and cake courses at DIT are the kids - they mob me when I come home to get hold of the goodies," he says. "I am really enjoying the courses and I've been most impressed by the calibre of the teaching staff and the professionalism and efficiency I've experienced. I wasn't very well during the term and they phoned me up to see how I was and to let me know that I could make up the time. I was staggered to find a third-level institution with this level of personal interest in its students." Module one of the bread course covered basic breads such as Granary pans, Irish batch bread, rolls and milk pans. Successive modules move on to more complicated procedures including San Francisco sourdough breads, aromatic breads, baguettes and croissants and if they are as much fun as module one, I can't wait. For information about the courses mentioned here call the National Bakery School on (01) 402 4676.