Choosing a loaf: which bread for which table

Our bake list has four breads most days, and customers new to sourdough often ask which one to start with. It depends on what you will eat it with more than on taste alone. The country loaf is the all-rounder. A crisp, dark crust, a light open crumb and a mild tang. It makes the best toast, holds up to a fried egg and is the one to tear and dip into a Pondicherry fish curry or a bowl of rasam. If you buy only one loaf a week, buy this.

The seeded multigrain is for people who want a fuller slice. The soaked seeds keep it moist for five days, so it suits a small household that eats bread slowly. It is good with cheese, avocado or our mango jam, and makes a sturdy sandwich for a school tiffin.

The ragi and rye is our darkest bread. It is baked in a tin, so the crumb is close and even, and it slices very thin. Its earthy, slightly sweet flavour goes well with butter and honey, or with a sharp pickle. It is not lighter or diet bread, just a different one.

Baguettes are for the day they are baked. Buy them for a picnic on the promenade, for a dinner with soup, or to split and fill with omelette. By evening the crust softens; by the next morning use what is left for croutons or bread pudding.