Hairy bikers get back on the road

9:49am Monday 7th July 2008

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Filming has begun on The Hairy Bakers, a brand new series for BBC TWO to be screened this summer, with a Christmas special to follow later in the year. As the UK tightens its collective economic belt, what better way to lift the spirits than a spot of home baking? The perennially popular Hairy Bikers, Dave Myers and Simon King, become Bakers and take to the road to explore in their inimitable, anarchic way our timeless love of bread, cakes, pastries and pies.

Riding the popular wave, our Hairy Bakers get on their bikes to find the very best – from gourmet bread-makers, pie-makers and the designers of ornate wedding cakes to ordinary people passionate about endless varieties of baking. Each episode will be a freewheeling journey of discovery, with recipes and tastings, meetings with experts and artisans, beautiful locations and stunning countryside, all set in their historical and social contexts.

The bread market is worth £2.9 billion a year; that’s almost 12 million loaves a day, but only 3% is produced by regional artisan bakers. The Hairy Bakers take to the road to look at the history of bread. We have become a nation that routinely consumes ciabatta, focaccia and naan, but how many of us can turn out a decent loaf? Our biking Bakers will show just how easy and rewarding that can be, baking a healthy white roll for the perfect bacon buttie. They commandeer a windmill in Lincolnshire to mill their own flour – think Windy Miller meets Motorhead – and make a fermented country wholemeal loaf to go with their unique take on the perfect ploughman’s lunch. The Hairies conjure up homemade naan bread on the shores of a midge-infested lake, and a curry to go with it, whilst back in the warmth of Dave’s kitchen they bake a fantastic cheese and beer bread, served with an apple and onion soup.