Few foods provoke such a passionate response in women as the humble loaf. We’ll forgo dessert in favour of pain de campagne and debate the virtues of pumpkin seeds over poppy in our sourdough. We hunt out new varieties of flour, trawling artisan bakeries and local farmers’ markets to discover the perfect spelt or the finest bagels.

So what is it about this basic foodstuff that’s long had us so enthralled? Made simply with four basic ingredients – water, flour, salt and yeast – good quality, handmade bread is one of life’s simple pleasures.

One of the key attractions is the smell; freshly baked bread is undoubtedly one of the most delicious aromas on earth (and according to estate agents will increase the sale price of your property by a cool £1,000). But it goes beyond just making our stomachs rumble. A study published in The British Journal Of Social Psychology concludes the smell of bread baking is not just subjectively pleasant, it also triggers more positive, helpful, kinder, and more altruistic behaviour. Put simply, we’re nicer people when we’re around the smell of baking bread. So if you wish to be surrounded by charming people, start wearing Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau fragrance, which is laced with notes of bread fresh from the bakery.

Another reason we’re so consumed with bread is the sense of drama it evokes. Tearing into a fresh loaf or roll is theatrical; the firm outer crust is broken open to reveal the soft, pillowy texture inside. “We’re obsessed with bread because it’s sexy; it’s soft, satisfying, beautiful, interesting, unpredictable and it smells good,” says Bridget Hugo, founder of Brixton’s sourdough and artisan bakery Bread Bread. “Dough itself is like flesh; sometimes firm, warm and dusted, sometimes cold and damp. It’s alive; it can grow, it can collapse.” And don’t forget the most important thing of all; the taste. Whether it’s eaten alone, or with salted butter, cheese or olive oil, nothing beats the delicious flavour of a freshly baked loaf.

The Life-Changer

Bread thoroughly deserves to be the object of our affections as it has literally changed the way we live. As one of the oldest prepared foods, our connection to it goes back at least 10,000 years to when our Neolithic ancestors placed lumps of dough on hot stones. It’s credited with enabling humans to move on from their nomadic hunter and forager lifestyles and use grain to become farmers, leading to the formation of towns and giving rise to more sophisticated societies. In Egypt, where bread baking dates back at least 6,000 years, it’s synonymous with life itself. The Egyptian word for bread (aish) shares the same root as life (aisha). Fast forward a few centuries and bread in all its infinite varieties has become a staple food in a vast majority of diets around the world; from chickpea roti in Malaysia and corn tortillas in Mexico to dark rye pumpernickel in Germany and soft wheat baguettes in France.

For the love of bread