spice really is nice

One of the most heady scents, in equal measures of aversion and attraction, belongs to cheese. What more when it is pungent gruyere being baked to brown perfection.

The second attempt by the D goddess at the much-appreciated Gruyere and Cumin Bread was an olfactory attack.

But out of the oven, it was a proud moment, like a parent seeing a suspiciously errant child become a worthy character.

Punchy in flavour, pricelessly chewy in texture, photogenic in the morning light ... those uncertain, erratic experiments with dough had reached a next level.

Consistency is all.