During World War 2 food was scarce, and could not be wasted. Stale bread was dried in the oven to be eaten later. My family called it "crunch". Fresh crunch is delicious if it has been made recently. It cannot be made from fresh bread.

The bread for crunch should be the sort that gets stale quite quickly. Soft and grainy breads are no use. Ordinary white and wholemeal, 'French sticks' and the paler brown rye bread are all good.

Cut the bread very thinly, no thicker than a one pound coin (about 4 mm or 1/8 inch).

Spread it out on a baking sheet and dry it in a low oven until quite crisp and very slightly browned. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes. You can do it in a hotter oven, when other things are cooking, but it needs to be watched very carefully.

Cool it on wire racks. It is best when freshly cooked, but keeps for months in an airtight tin.

The little bits make excellent 'dried' bread crumbs. When these are called for I collect the pieces at the bottom of the crunch tin.