Villa Vil - Homemade bread

I helped a bit.

With the family where I stayed during my time in Villa Vil, I had the opportunity to learn about making bread in a traditional oven.

Before the pandemic, there was a delivery man that brought bread to the village and people were buying directly from the truck. During the months when the country was shut down with very strict restrictions, the lady started making homemade bread. She learned this traditional method from her parents who learned themselves from their own parents. She provided the village with bread since the delivery truck wasn't coming anymore.

Since the end of the restrictions, she continues to make bread since the people like it so much that they now prefer to buy this traditional bread instead of the one from the delivery truck that finally resumed his rounds.

A good fire to heat up the oven.

Kneading of the dough. It between beteen the rollers between 40 and 50 times.

This contraption was built by the lady's grandfather.

From the dough rolls, the cob loaves are cut.

The cob loaves are ready to be baked.

The oven is hot, it is time to clean it.

The cob loaves are put in the oven one by one.

The earthenware oven keeps its heat for a long time. The warm bricks are enough for baking the bread.

The oven is sealed shut to conserve the heat inside.

After 40-50 minutes, the bread is ready.

Once ready, the cob loaves are removed from the oven and cleaned with a simple cloth since there is a bit of ash under it.

The neighbour came to help.

Here we are, the bread is ready. In total, the lady prepared two full trays of bread.

This small parrot was watching us work.

The village of Villa Vil.