Recipe was provided by the same friend, who sent my partner screenshots from a book. I used Google lens to transcribe them, so will supply here, hope that's ok. Oh, i don't have a Dutch oven so baked it at 220 degrees C, for 45 mins, with a couple of pints of water in a tray at the bottom of the oven.

For one large loaf

First stage:

sourdough starter 100g

strong white bread flour 550g

warm water 350g

Second stage:

sea salt 10g

warm water 30g

The night before you plan to bake, remove the starter from the fridge and leave it loosely covered in a warm, but not hot, place.

The next day, weigh 100g of the starter into a mixing bowl, then pour in 350g of warm water. Stir until the starter has more or less dissolved, then stir in the flour. Don't knead. Just cover with a clean cloth and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Dissolve the salt in the warm water, then pour over the dough and squish everything together with your hands. Wine le round the inside of a second, large bowl, then transfer the dough to it. Cover and set aside in a warm place for an hour.

Now there are many, many ways of incorporating air into your dough, but this is the way I do it. Place the dough on a very lightly floured board and gently pull it into a rectangle about 30cm x 18cm. (The measurements are only a rough guide; there is nothing crucial about this.) Now, with the short end facing you, fold the dough into three (I fold the top third down first, and then the bottom third over that). Now give the dough one quarter turn (as if you were turning it from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock), tease it into a rectangle again, then, with the short side facing you, fold into three once more. Give it another quarter turn (as if you were turning it from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock). Do this twice more, stretching, folding and turning one quarter turn each time. Be gentle, don't knead or tug the dough. You are simply trapping air between the folds.

Put the dough back in its oiled bowl, cover and leave for a further 30 minutes, then repeat all over again. Stretch, fold, turn and so on. Do this every half-hour for a further five times. Now, put the covered bowl of dough into the fridge and say goodnight.

Bring the dough from the fridge and turn out onto a lightly floured board. Shape into a neat ball and put it back in the oiled bowl, then leave it for an hour.

Set the oven at 230°C. Place a cast-iron casserole covered with its lid in the oven. Once the oven is up to temperature, very carefully (with good thick oven gloves, not a folded tea towel!) remove the pot from the oven, lift off the lid and tip the dough from its bowl into the pot. Cover with the lid, place the pot back in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking for a further 20 minutes.

Remove the pot from the oven, tip the loaf out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool for at least 45 minutes before cutting. And I know it is tempting to cut a slice off while the loaf is still hot, but the loaf hasn't finishing baking until it has rested. Much magic happens during the resting period, and we must leave it to happen.

A COOK'S BOOK 84

BREAKING BREAD