Not one to go soft like a cougnou, Frédéric Swinnen set out to earn his daily bread the rebellious way, by making Mons residents’ lives a little sweeter. The result? Rebel Bread, a micro-bakery where the former industrial technician is betting on naturally leavened loaves made with Walloon flours, turning out breads with strong personalities – bold scoring, dense crumb and flavors that surprise the uninitiated. Take the loaf loaded with hazelnuts, lemon, dried apricot and poppy seeds, or a rich wholemeal bread packed with wheat bran, or a kanelbullar spiced just right with cinnamon and cardamom. Insider tip: get there early if you want to get your hands on one – production is limited and the loaves sell out fast. Proof that buying bread can (still) be a deliberate, almost political act. · Blanche Cardamome

THE HIDDEN GEM: The sechskornbrot – bless you! A dense German loaf made with organic wheat and rye flours, packed with six different seeds (€4.70 for 500g).