Return of the Bap

Hello, I’m Julia and I’d like to re-introduce myself to you as I haven’t posted anything on this Substack page for over three years… nothing at all! Not a sausage!

I’ve been a few things so far in my life — an industrial designer, an art teacher, then a baker, now a writer interested in food systems… but also still a baker. Some of you may have been following this page, now formerly known as The Bap, for a while for very little in return so thank you for keeping me on your reading list despite a severe content drought. I’d also like to announce that I’m back! Back to writing, back to baking, back to work, back on my bullshit. It is, if you will, the return of the bap… but not really, because I’ve actually decided to start publishing work, not under the pet-name for one of my favourite carbs (who doesn’t love a bread roll?) but under my actual human name.

This much overdue re-emergence comes after an unexpected 18 month long sabbatical to recover from illness, preceded by a chaotic, wibbly-wobbly 3 years which led me to close down everything that I was working on (a bakery, a restaurant, writing recipes, running supper clubs) and retreat. Since 2021, I’ve been quietly doing a bit of freelance baking and cooking, I’ve dabbled in food writing and I run a podcast in quite a haphazard way when I’ve felt well enough to put work out but, mostly, I haven’t worked much at all and this blog has just sat here, fermenting, marinating, stewing — just like me.

Through taking rest and recovery very seriously (which is hard not only during a cost of living crisis, but in world that requires you to do it all all of the time), I’ve managed to scramble my way back to myself — my brain and body work normally now, which feels splendid. So, from now on, I’ll be posting (free) articles and (also free) recipes for your perusal once or twice a month. My plan for the immediate future was to do a much needed re-fresher in how to bake, seeing as I seem to have forgotten how to make bread during my time off despite being in the industry for over a decade. I thought we might learn together, how does that sound? Aside from that, I’d still like to continue to explore issues surrounding food systems and the politics of food, in particular bread, and I may also tell you about some delicious things that I have eaten recently.

I very much hope you enjoy what I have up my sleeve, it is an absolute joy for me to be creating work again and I would like to cultivate as many conversations and discussions about bread, equality in food and beyond in the coming months.