Mushroom & Spinach Soup with Garlic Bread

The first time I ate garlic bread (and indeed garlic) was in an Italian restaurant in Belfast. I was fourteen and thought it was fabulous - a fluffy warm baguette full of butter and nothing whatsoever to do with the original Italian peasant bruschetta, simple stale bread rubbed with garlic and soaked with olive oil. Like chicken tikka, another foreign creation of a non-indigenous dish, it became a popular and mistreated classic that is for some reason considered typically French.

Mi