IT was a matter of kneads must when Kath Berry decided to make a special contribution to a Bolton exhibition. Kath is curator of zoology at the town's Museum and Art Gallery, where the "Quernstones to Quorn" exhibition is all part of a popular focus on food there.

She was buying items for the exhibition when she came across a type of flour called Spelt. This was ground down from Spelt wheat, once used widely by ancient Romans in Europe, but now only cultivated for special types of flour.

She felt that this would complement a sample of Spelt wheat which Bolton Museum has kept in its collection since the Museum opened in 1939.

But, when she bought the wheat for baking, Kath decided to follow a recipe on the back of the pack which outlined how to make authentic "Roman Army Bread."

The resulting "loaf" was then hollowed out and air-dried over a radiator to keep it preserved before putting it on display .... where it is attracting plenty of interest.

Kath points out that Spelt flour is gluten-free and available in most health food shops.

If you'd like to make your own ROMAN ARMY BREAD, here's the recipe:

Take: 500g Spelt flour; 1 teaspoon sea salt; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 15g fresh yeast; 1 teaspoon honey; 400ml warm water (37 deg C).

1. Place the flour into a large mixing bowl.

2. Blend the yeast into half the water and roughly mix into the flour.

3. Dissolve the salt into the remaining warm water and add to the flour. Then add the oil.

4. Mix the dough vigorously for four minutes using a wooden spoon.

5. Grease two large baking trays and turn out half the dough onto each. Dust with a little flour.

6. Leave to rise in a warm place for 20-30 minutes during which time, the dough will form a large flat slipper-shaped loaf.

7. Cook in an oven pre-heated to Gas Mark 5, 370 deg F, 180 deg C.

8. Cool loaf on a wire-rack.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.