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CRUMBS BATH + BRISTOL NO.97 JANUARY 2020
A little slice of
What do you call the first drupe in space? A coco-naut!
AIN’T NUT’IN PERSONAL There is always much backwards and forwards between team Crumbs when we’re planning our Hero Ingredients for the year ahead. As well as making sure everything is bang in season, obvs, we want it to have plenty of timely relevance for home cooks and their ever-evolving shopping baskets. While coconut doesn’t have a UK season (it’s imported from much more tropical countries), it was a no-brainer for January, in our eyes. First, it’s evocative of sunnier, warmer weather – inviting beaches, blue skies and other exotic notions that we can but dream of in the depths of the British winter. By January, we need respite from our frosty temperatures, even if it is only by way of a tropical magazine cover. Talking of respite, loads of us seek a bit of a hiatus from certain foods for the New Year, having overdone it in December. Cutting out meat and animal products is an ever-more popular resolution – and coconut is a staple ingredient in lots of plantbased dishes and dairy alternatives, giving creaminess to everything from curries to cocktails, without the need for dairy. (All our recipes in the Chef! section this issue are aptly plant-based, FYI.) If you’re after even more good feels for Jan, we’ve got the low down on foodie Chinese New Year celebrations, and culinary resolution inspo from our most respected food pros. Happy 2020!
Jessica Carter, Editor jessica.carter@mediaclash.co.uk
We asked this coconut to come to the village fete with us, but it was just too shy...
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STARTERS 08 HERO Just a shy guy 12 OPENINGS ETC Hot gossip from the local food scene
ISSUE 97 JANUARY 2020
EDITOR
CHEF!
JESSICA CARTER jessica.carter@mediaclash.co.uk
22 Aloo gobi, by Vicki and Alan Mowat 24 Vegan chilli, by Dan Chappell 26 Tahini and date truffles, by Anna Sheperd
DEVELOPMENT EDITOR
MATT BIELBY matt.bielby@mediaclash.co.uk ONLINE EDITOR
DAN IZZARD dan.izzard@mediaclash.co.uk ART DIRECTOR
TREVOR GILHAM
ADDITIONAL RECIPES
ADVERTISING MANAGER
10 Butternut squash, sweet potato and coconut pie, by Freddy Bird 18 Potato pancakes with smoked trout, by Kate Young 33 Bún bò, by Noya Pawlyn 33 Crispy pork dumplings, by Noya Pawlyn 44 Satay prawn shooters, by Vanessa In 52 Char siu, by Larkin Cen
JON HORWOOD jon.horwood@mediaclash.co.uk ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE
RUSSELL SEALY russell.sealy@mediaclash.co.uk ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE
CLAIRE HAWKINS claire.hawkins@mediaclash.co.uk PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
SARAH KINGSTON sarah.kingston@mediaclash.co.uk PRODUCTION DESIGNER
GEMMA SCRINE gemma.scrine@mediaclash.co.uk
WHAT SUP?
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
JANE INGHAM jane.ingham@mediaclash.co.uk
31 THE DRIP FEED What’s new in the drinks world?
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
GREG INGHAM greg.ingham@mediaclash.co.uk large version
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32 THE WINE GUY Andy visits Noya’s Kitchen for a Vietnamese food and wine match
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39 THE SUPPER CLUB Lunch just reached a whole new level thanks to this Bristol start-up 46 THE WANT LIST Munch a better packed lunch
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MAINS 50 NEW TESTAMENTS Find out what top food pros have resolved to do differently in 2020 55 SPRING KINGS The Spring Festival – or Chinese New Year – has some pretty delicious traditions
AFTERS 60 Birch 63 Roots and Shoots 64 The Chequers
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MediaClash, Circus Mews House, Circus Mews, Bath BA1 2PW 01225 475800 mediaclash.co.uk © All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without written permission of MediaClash. MediaClash reserves the right to reject any material and to edit such prior to publication. Opinions are those of individual authors. Printed on paper from a wellmanaged source; printer is certified to ISO 14001 environmental management. This month we followed our noses around Bath and Bristol’s festive markets to find great eats (a comforting tartiflette was a highlight) and drink all the mulled things, and warmed up with several steaming bowls of noodles from Chilli Daddy (level fours, in case you were wondering).
Chinese New Year is all about the lucky foods – of which there are plenty 5 CRUMBSMAG.COM
Newton Farm Shop, Café & Butchery is an award-winning family farming business with a working farm located on the admirable Duchy of Cornwall Estate, just ten minutes from Bath.
What sets us apart; • All our livestock are born, raised and grass fed on our farm enabling us to offer the highest quality meats, with full transparency and traceability. • Our butchery is traditional in style with a modern approach. • Our staff are professional, friendly, knowledgeable and willing to offer excellent culinary advice. • The counter displays a superb range of freshly prepared cuts, joints, burgers, sausages & freshly made meals-to-go. • Open 7 days a week. Mon to Sat: 8.30am – 5pm, Sun: 9am – 4pm.
Newton Farm Foods, Newton St Loe, Bath, BA2 9BT newtonfarmfoods.co.uk - 01225 873707 - orders@newtonfarmfoods.co.uk
Welcome to Mantra, an Indian Restaurant in the heart of Bath, that specialises in serving progressive Indian food. Mantra is a family run authentic Indian restaurant. Our dishes are healthily packed with flavour, crunch, punch and zing offering plenty of choice to vegetarians and vegans. Inspired by seasonal ingredients, our food contains only the freshest produce prepared in a way that captures the amazing diversity of India’s regional cuisines and childhood street food memories. 5, Bladud Buildings, The Paragon, Bath BA1 5LS Tel: 01225 446 332 Email: info@mantraofbath.co.uk | www.mantraofbath.co.uk
STA RT ERS
INNOVATIONS, REVELATIONS AND TASTY AMUSE-BOUCHES
CH-CH-CHANGES
Want to learn something new, boost your health, or focus on giving back to the community in 2020? We have just the events for you... 8-22 JA N UA RY
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What do you get when you combine top fodder with hearty guffaws? Belly Laughs, obvs. Book your place to chow down on some of Bristol’s finest grub while trying not to spit it out as you laugh at the hilarious comedians who’ll be entertaining you. Restaurants across the city are taking part and all proceeds go to the Julian Trust night shelter. twitter.com/bellylaughs2
Forget dull New Year diets – the chefs at Yeo Valley will be showing guests how to rustle up food that’s nutritious and satisfying, to keep you fuelled up for the winter and get 2020 off to the right start. Tickets are £59 and include breakfast and lunch at the Blagdon HQ. yeovalley.co.uk
Explore the science and history of fermented foods and learn how to make your own at this three-hour workshop at Mivart Street in Bristol. You’ll take home some kimchi, kombucha starter culture and kefir grains, and get treated to a light lunch, as well as tastings throughout the afternoon. Tickets £45. coexistuk.org
BELLY LAUGHS
10 A N D 11 JAN UARY
WASSAIL
The Ethicurean sure knows how to throw a great wassail shindig, and its 10th is happening this year. Expect mulled cider, a traditional orchard blessing and live music. Go for the whole shebang and tuck into a seasonal feast over storytelling before the ceremony, too. Tickets are £20 for the wassail and £65 to include the feast as well. theethicurean.com
YEO VALLEY DEMI DEMO DAY
FERMENTED FOODS WORKSHOP
24 AN D 25 JA N UA RY
BURNS NIGHT WHISKY TASTING
If poetry and haggis aren’t your thing but whisky is, then Independent Spirit has just the Burns Night for you. The team are hosting their annual guided tasting at Miller and Carter on Bath’s Milsom Street; tickets are £25.
independentspiritofbath.co.uk
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ETHIOPIAN COOKERY CLASS
Learn all about the fundamentals of Ethiopian food – a hearty and colourful cuisine that’s largely veganfriendly – and help cook up a host of dishes while improving those knife skills and your plant-based recipe repertoire at Demuths. This full-day course is £180 and includes lunch. demuths.co.uk
There are tonnes of ways you can make your eating habits virtuous – and have fun doing it
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THE VEGAN FOOD TOUR
The folks at The Bristol Food Tour often run special tours on top of their regular events – and this is one. Discover the finest plant-based food that the city has to offer and fill your face with more samples and tasters that you could hope for. Tickets £50. thebristolfoodtour.com 30 JA N UA RY
BOTANIST GIN MASTERCLASS
How’s your gin knowledge? If you know you like drinking it in fancy surroundings, this masterclass at The Bath Priory will be just the ticket. Guests will get an aperitif on arrival, then three gin-led concoctions, plus nibbles. Tickets £25. thebathpriory.co.uk
Hero Ingredients
COCONUT
Coconuts don’t grow on trees – well, they do, just not around here – and it’s not always obvious how to break ’em open. But that hasn’t stopped the world, always on the lookout for a new health craze, going mad for them. After all, this hairy tropical fruit has plenty to recommend it... 8 CRUMBSMAG.COM
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trange chap, the coconut. For one thing, it’s not a nut. For another, it’s so awash with cultural associations – we think of exotic beaches and cartoon emojis – that we sometimes forget what a delicious and useful food it is. At least, that was the case. In more recent years we’ve all gone a little coconutty, cooking everything in coconut oil and glugging coconut water like its some elixir of youth, convinced it’s good for us, but not entirely sure why. So why’s this big, hairy drupe – we’re not being rude; that’s what you call fruits where the fleshy part surrounds a single stone – having quite such a moment? Blame the internet in general, and (you guessed it) Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop wellness empire in particular. Gwynnie likes to detoxify her mouth by swilling coconut oil around for 30 minutes – an ancient ritual called ‘oil pulling’, though there’s little evidence it actually works – while investment-keen celebrities have been backing upstart coconut water brand Vita Coco, which now dominates the market. Overall, global demand for coconuts has been growing at 10 per cent a year, with the keenest advocates crediting it with everything from curing thrush to arresting dementia. Coconuts have, of course, been in our lives for quite some time. The name comes from a 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese folklore word, ‘coco’, which means ‘ghost‘ or ‘witch’, and it’s not hard to see why: skull-hard and of similar size, coconut is covered in a hair-like husk and there are three indents at one end too, resembling (if you squint) two eyes and a mouth. Magellan and other western navigators first came across coconuts during their Pacific explorations of the 16th and 17th centuries, but there’s evidence to suggest folk were scoffing them long before that. They were written about in 1st century BC India; traded by Sinbad the Sailor in One Thousand and One Nights around
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800AD; and mentioned by Marco Polo while in Sumatra, around 1280. There are two basic types of coconut: the Pacific version was spread by Austronesian sailors from the islands we now know as Taiwan, Madagascar, New Guinea and the rest all the way to the west coast of South America, while the Indo-Atlantic coconut was brought the other way from India, reaching Africa, the Caribbean and, eventually, Brazil. By then, the coconut had conquered the world, but it needed plenty of human help to do so – for though it’s true that they can drift for days at sea, they could never (as was once believed) have floated, rot-free, all the way across our widest oceans on their own. These days coconuts grow in over 90 of the world’s warmest countries, but it’s still hot, wet, tropical Asia where the bulk are farmed: over 70 per cent in Indonesia, the Philippines and India alone. Growing them’s an ancient, physical business and has spawned some appealing traditions, not least the trained Thai pig-tailed macaques that have been bounding up and down the trunks to gather them for 400 years. In countries where they’re common, virtually every part of the coconut palm is used in some manner or other. Coconut timber builds houses, bridges and boats; coconut leaves make baskets, brooms and roofing; coconut fibres become ropes, sacks and doormats; and dried coconut shells make handy cups and bowls. Even the roots are useful as medicines or toothbrushes. Closer to home, am dram has forever relied on two coconut halves clopping together to simulate horses’ hooves, while fairgrounds have long encouraged young bucks to throw balls at them, and gardeners string them up as a treat for greedy tits. No wonder they call it ‘the tree of a thousand uses’ or, more simply, ‘the tree of life’. The biggest use for coconuts, of course, is as food. Fresh examples often scare off home cooks, but they needn’t. You just have to show them who’s boss. Peel off the hairy bits, shrink the flesh from the shell in the oven (15 minutes at 180C should do it), then use a drill to bore holes in two of the three soft ‘eyes’ at the end to drain out the coconut water. Then crack the nut, either breaking it into pieces with the back of a large cleaver, or just putting it in a strong plastic bag and whacking it with a hammer. Now peel the flesh from the skin with a small, sharp knife. For cooking, you probably want to grate it; this will last for a few days in an airtight container, or – if you’re keeping your coconut in chunks – a similar time in the fridge under regularly changed water. Unbroken, a young, green coconut (heavy for its size, with plenty of water sloshing around inside) should be eaten within two or three days, but a riper one can last months. These have harder shells and contain more flesh, as the water solidifies over time. As for recipes, both sweet and savoury dishes work beautifully. Fresh or desiccated (dried, basically) coconut goes especially well with chocolate in desserts, but other sweet treats pair it with ginger, lemon, strawberries and
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raspberries in a host of cakes, trifles, biscuits, tarts, meringues, yoghurts, ice creams and delicious puddings. Then there’s the savoury stuff, chiefly mains like curries, rice dishes and fish stews. Lamb and coconut pair beautifully, but it does equally well alongside chicken, beef and prawns or, if you’re going veggie, everything from red lentils to cauliflower. In South India and Sri Lanka, coconut can easily sneak into every course, and a Hindu wedding is often awash with coconut dishes. So far, so good – but what about the oil, milk, water and that other trendy stuff? Coconut oil’s a greasy, sweet-smelling fat used for frying, baking, spreading on toast, adding to coffee, and rubbing into skin as a moisturiser or to alleviate conditions like psoriasis and eczema – some websites list over 100 uses. We like it best for frying at high temperatures, as it remains stable while hot; unlike olive oil, it won’t start smoking in the middle of your stir fry. Then there’s coconut milk, which comes in thick or thin versions, the first better for sauces and desserts, the second curries and soups. It’s made by grating and soaking the flesh in hot water, then skimming the cream off the top and squeezing the rest through cheesecloth. Lactose-free, but equally lacking many of the goodies of the fibre-rich flesh itself, it’s a useful cooking ingredient but no more. As it goes off quickly, it’s usually only found in cans – though these store for ages, in fairness. Then there’s coconut vinegar, made from the sap, and coconut flour, a usefully gluten-free, nut-free, grain-free alternative to regular flour. (It doesn’t rise like wheat flour, though, so isn’t much use in some recipes.) And beyond those, to confuse us all utterly, there’s the butter, the jam, the syrup, the custard and the cream. Many of these are only widespread in Asia, and they’re all extracted from coconut milk. Juicy, crisp, fruity, nutty, rich and sweet, there’s a lot to be said for coconut flesh, and though it’s full of carbs and protein it also boasts powerful antioxidants and other good stuff: manganese (great for bone health) as well as iron, copper, selenium, calcium and oodles of B vitamins. It’s definitely worth having in your diet – but keep portions small if you’re watching your weight. Coconut water we’re less taken with, chiefly because it’s been pushed as some sort of multipurpose miracle drink, when at best it’s just low in fat, mildly nutritious, and with slightly less sugar and fewer calories than most juices or soft drinks; as a natural alternative to sports drinks, it’s not all that, lacking sodium, a key electrolyte needed to make it especially hydrating. And that’s coconut all over, really. No superfood, but no super-villain either, it’s perhaps best considered as a tasty (if relatively expensive) alternative to other saturated fats. But there is another virtue, and that comes from just how delightfully unlike your standard British winter fare they are. The simple existence of these tropical ingredients makes us happy – and in the depths of winter that’s no bad thing. So grab your cleaver and crack on!
R E C I P E
Hero Ingredients BUTTERNUT SQUASH, SWEET POTATO AND COCONUT PIE Freddy Bird has been using this month’s Hero Ingredient in certain pastry-led endeavours of late
Strangely not a fan of coconut as a child, I have become quite the convert. (I think it may have been a deep-fried battered Bounty that changed my mind.) I use it a lot in sweet recipes and, more recently, in my granola at the restaurant. I don’t have much occasion for using it in savoury dishes, but have been working on one the last few months. Recently, I’ve been making pies commercially. We’re not talking posh pies but simple, top-quality, great-value versions that I’d like to eat at the rugby. (I’m always a little disappointed by the lack of filling and the slightly terrifying lumps of unrecognisable vegetables on match days.)
Having mastered a small selection of meat pies, I thought I’d better turn my hand to creating a vegetarian one. (As it happens, this one can be easily vegan too, if you swap out the egg wash and use vegan puff pastry.) I wanted something rich and almost ‘meaty’, and this butternut squash and sweet potato curry pie is just that. The coconut milk gives a creamy sweetness that helps create the perfect ‘gravy’ and brings all the flavours together. My pies are wrapped in pastry and meant to be eaten with your hands, but this can equally be served in a pie dish with a pastry lid. Shop-bought pastry is perfectly acceptable for home use!
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MAKES 6-8 INDIVIDUAL PIES 1 tbsp vegetable oil large pinch mustard seeds large pinch fennel seeds 1 red onion, finely diced 5 garlic cloves 4cm piece ginger, finely grated large pinch brown sugar 1 tbsp curry powder 200g butternut squash, in 1cm dice 200g sweet potato, in 1cm dice 1 tbsp sriracha (or to taste) 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk 250ml vegetable stock 300g-400g puff pastry 1 egg, beaten 1 Pour a dash of vegetable oil into a wide, shallow pan and place over a medium heat. When hot, add the mustard seeds and fennel seeds, toasting them lightly but being careful not to burn them. 2 Add the onion and garlic and cook until lightly caramelised. Then add the ginger and sweat this down for a few minutes before adding the brown sugar and curry powder. 3 Next add the butternut and sweet potato to the pan. Season and taste (bearing in mind you’ll be adding stock later), before adding the sriracha (it’s entirely up to you how spicy you like it). Pour in the coconut milk, then rinse the can out with the veg stock and add that too. 4 Simmer, uncovered, until the butternut and potato are cooked and the liquid has reduced to a thick gravy. (The potato will definitely be a bit mushy before the squash is cooked – but that’s a good thing!) Check the seasoning one last time. 5 Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. 6 Chill the mix before shaping into small puff pastry parcels, or simply pour into a pie dish and cover with puff pastry, sealing the edges. (I’ve got a rather fancy pie press, but this might be a little excessive for home use unless you intend to make a few thousand!) 7 Brush the pies with the beaten egg before baking for 25-30 minutes. littlefrench.co.uk
Openings etc MARKET RESEARCH
If this is Grandma’s curry, where’s ours?
BOLLY GOOD
Bandook has opened a second restaurant – in Bath. Like the original at Wapping Wharf, the new venue in Milsom Place offers a menu of Indian street food: think chilli paneer and Grandma’s curry. The concise bill of fare will change seasonally and features new additions of breakfasts and afternoon teas. The team are also well-known for their inventive cocktails, including a take on the Espresso Martini made with Belenkaya vodka, Tia Maria, chai syrup and coffee. (While we’re talking shots, the name Bandook originates from the Hindi and Urdu translation for ‘gun’ or ‘rifle’ and was a word adopted by British troops during the age of the Raj.) Co-owner Moe Rahman is also one of the people behind Mint Room, and is excited about this new Bath venture that’s been a long time in the planning. bandookkitchen.com
This pair are ardent fans of Steps – they have all their CDs
28 Market Place has landed in Somerton. Opening on 3 January, It’s the first solo venture from Ben Crofton (formerly of the Soho House group and Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons) and wife Vanessa – and has three separate strands: a 28-cover restaurant, a wine shop and a bakery, all housed in centuries-old buildings. Dishes showcase the best of the West Country bounty, supported by a wider selection of seasonal British ingredients. Ivy House Farm provides butter and dairy products, fresh vegetables come from Plotgate Farm (a community farm just over a mile from Somerton), and cider is made by Burrow Hill. Expect dishes like fallow deer with beetroot, red cabbage and preserved blackcurrant on the menu, as well as goods from the bakery like artisan bread, pastries and filled sourdough doughnuts. 28marketplace.co.uk
TIP TOP TOP-UP
Jar for the course...
Heard of Bristol-born app, Refill? It allows you to pinpoint restaurants, bars, cafés and local businesses that will refill your reusable bottle for free, so you’ll always have access to a supply of fresh drinking water. (It’s estimated that the app will have saved over 100 million single-use bottles from entering our waste stream by the end of 2019. How refreshing.) Now, the organisation behind the Refill campaign, City to Sea, has announced plans to extend the app to include refill options such as hot food and groceries and, lucky for us, Bristol will be one of the first cities to trial it. You could soon be firing up the app to find a local restaurant that will serve you a takeaway in your own container, or a shop where you can buy produce by weight. Local businesses like Better Foods, Chilli Daddy, Zero Green and The Greenbank pub have all signed up for the three-month pilot. citytosea.org.uk
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S T A R T E R S
SHOP TALK
ASK YOUR WAITER
Oh hey, Attila Hikadi – aren’t you the general manager at The Scallop Shell?
Did you know that Castle Farm’s shop has had a bit of a revamp? The café and restaurant in Midford – housed in a repurposed tractor shed on a working farm – has always had a little shop, selling bits and pieces from the farm, depending on harvests. Now, though, it’s become much more of a focus, with lots of lovely food lining the shelves, as well as homewares. Expect to find chocolate, fudge, tea, coffee and snacks to buy, and don’t leave without refuelling with something from the café, either. castlefarmmidford.co.uk
BAR NONE
Casual bar and restaurant outfit Bocabar has opened a third venue. Joining the likes of Spicer and Cole, Café Matariki and Left Handed Giant, it’s located in the Fermentation Buildings (part of Bristol's Finzels Reach development) that once housed the production of drinks like Courage beer. The new ground-floor venue, underneath Channel 4’s new hub, offers stone-baked pizzas (which the existing sites in Paintworks and Glastonbury are known for) as well as small plates, burgers and lighter lunches. To wash it down, expect cocktails, specialist gins, local craft beers and wines. The new site also has a partly covered terrace that can accommodate 70, for those lazy summer lunch breaks that last perhaps longer than they should (pro tip: invite the boss and you might just get away with it). bristol.bocabar.co.uk
So, Attila, how long have you been working in hospitality? It’s 20 years, now. And where did you work before The Scallop Shell? Sotto Sotto, also in Bath. What sort of customers do you get? A real mix, from locals to those who’ve heard about us from friends and tourists from around the world. What are the bestselling dishes right now? Hot mussels with garlic, shallots and parsley butter. What’s your favourite seafood to have with your chips? It’s got to be turbot or lobster. And what do you recommend to drink with it? A glass of something sparkling like our Camel Valley Cornish fizz, or a Butcombe ale. What makes the restaurant a special place to visit? Our fresh seafood, landed and delivered daily, which is all served in the relaxed restaurant with an open kitchen, buzzy atmosphere and a roll-top bathtub filled with the catch of the day. If you were a customer today, what would you order? Cockles to start, whole grilled Dover sole for mains and apple and berry crumble for dessert. Where have you visited locally where the service was spot on? Menu Gordon Jones. It feels very personal as the restaurant only has 24 seats – the waitress explained each dish on the set menu really well, and I got some great food and wine recommendations too. Where do you like to eat on your days off? In Bath my favourites are Raphael, Amarone, Pintxo, Beckford Bottle Shop and Clayton’s Kitchen. In Bristol, Casamia is the very best, in my opinion. I only get to go for very special occasions, but it’s always an unforgettable experience. thescallopshell.co.uk
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Staying off the sauce, going vegan or trying to shop more sustainably in January? Check out this month’s foodie haul... 1 Chic P Houmus, £1.99/170g This young company set out to tackle food waste by making products – namely, hummus – out of surplus veg. The dips are free of dairy, gluten and nut, and come in four flavours including pumpkin and chilli, and (perhaps our fave) beetroot and horseradish. Saving ‘ugly’ veg from going to waste by making delicious dips? There’s nothing we’re not on board with, there. Buy online from Ocado. chicp.co.uk 2 Relish Individual Bakewell Tarts, £3.40/each Gotta love a Bakewell – that quintessentially British teatime treat. Bath-based Relish makes some great local ones, which also happen to be vegan. In fact, these are bestsellers, and after
munching our way through a couple, we can see why. A layer of cherry jam sits between nicely thin shortcrust pastry and almond sponge, the ensemble offering no hint that there’s not a jot of dairy involved. Find them at Cascara and the Society Cafés in Bath. relishvegan.co.uk 3 Æcorn Aperitifs, £19.99/50cl This is a real first: a range of aperitifs, designed specifically for pre-meal sipping, minus the booze. They come from Seedlip, a producer known for its elegant ABV-free spirits. There are three varieties, named after their characteristics – bitter, dry and aromatic – made from grapes and flavoured with herbs, roots and botanicals. We love their complex flavour profiles and grown-up
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feel; try them over ice with tonic or sparkling water. Available from Waitrose and online. aecornaperitifs.com 4 Butter Bike Co Smoked Chilli Peanut Butter, £5/285g Butter Bike Co is a young business, making top-drawer peanut butters in the South West. Vegan-friendly, they’re also free of palm oil and added sugar. This chilli-spiked number is one of the most popular, and we’re fans of its smoky heat, which comes courtesy of smoked paprika and chipotle chillies. It’s delivered by bike (hence the name of the biz) around the producer’s local area in Devon, but us lot up the M5 can order it online from Good Sixty or direct through the maker’s website. butterbike.co.uk
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Ki tchen Library Get all the comforting foodie feels with this new batch of recipe books...
Five Ingredient Vegan Katy Beskow (Quadrille, £20)
Still on a mission to prove that vegan cooking can be simple and approachable, Beskow is following her three 15-Minute Vegan books with this number. Get the right produce and use it well, and you can have a decent plantbased meal with just a handful of components, she argues. The book invests time in making cooking as stress-free as possible, running the reader through staples to keep stocked up on (cans of beans and pulses, dried grains and seasonings) as well as the basic equipment that will make your life that bit easier in the kitchen. There are five chapters on soups, lunches, suppers, sweets and basics, featuring the likes of black bean jambalaya, simple bolognese, coconut and squash traybake and zesty bread and butter pud. If you’re a greedy guts, like moi, then don’t take the fiveingredient limit too seriously – I’ll probably be bulking some of these recipes out with sides. Nevertheless, this is a great way into vegan cooking for those that lack the time, confidence or inclination when it comes to plant-based cookery. JESSICA CARTER
Marcus Everyday
Marcus Wareing (HarperCollins, £25) It seems to me that Marcus Wareing – rakishly grey-bearded chef-owner of three London restaurants and MasterChef: The Professionals judge – always gets the balance right with his books: a little bit of family life for colour, solid background and tips for each dish, and lots of
impressive, tempting but achievable recipes. In this, his third, they’re more accessible than ever: lots of mid-week suppers, plenty of inspiration for using up odds and sods around the kitchen and fool-proof masterclasses for everything from omelettes to steaks. Marcus has a new house with a kitchen garden, which provides direct inspiration for dishes like his parsnip, rosemary and horseradish gratin or celeriac, ham hock and barley hotpot, but there are also chapters on simple meals to eat alone (we’ll have the butter-roasted cauliflower with capers and parsley, please), home baking with the kids (the lemon curd madeleines look ace), family-sized feasts for the weekend (spice-roasted quail with pistachio and lime pickle, perhaps), and more. Just top-notch home cooking, basically, and another winner. MATT BIELBY
The Self-Care Cookbook Gemma Ogston (Vermillion, £14.99)
Plant-focused chef and author Gemma Ogston’s book is based on the belief that it’s the mind as well as the body that determines our health: eating nutritious food (here, it’s all plant-based and colourful) while also giving our brain the nourishment it needs (by resting, getting outdoors and so on) is the way to a balanced, healthy state. Ogston, who has studied nutrition, equips us with methods for everyday staples – nut milk, vegetable stock, cashew cheese spread – before kicking off her carefully organised collection of recipes. The book is divided into self-care focused chapters, like ‘Restore’, where you’ll find ‘mindful ramen’ with miso and tofu, and
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fiery bean stew; ‘Reflect’, which promises the likes of harvest crumble and roasted golden quinoa pilaf; and ‘TLC’, made up of brownies and superfood smoothies, for a lift when you really need it. The self-care angle might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but being reminded to slow down or spend time with people you love while flicking through nourishing plant-based recipes is hardly going to hurt. JESSICA CARTER
Dirty Vegan: Another Bite
Matt Pritchard (Octopus, £20) Matt Pritchard is such an unlikely-looking vegan that he’s making quite the career out of it: covered in tattoos, he appears more like an extra from Sons of Anarchy than a ‘typical’ vegan, and indeed, in a previous life was a pro skateboarder and one of the founder-stars of Dirty Sanchez, the Welsh TV lunacy-fest full of self-destructive stunts. His take on plant-based cooking, however, is easy, hearty, healthy, and revolves more around beer and barbecues than sandals and hemp shirts. No humourless hippy, Matt has an engagingly no-nonsense approach, and you can’t say the 80 or so recipes here don’t look tempting. Popeye pie (full of spinach and kale), fresh stinger fritters (the new Matt suggests wearing gloves to pick the necessary nettles, but I doubt the Dirty Sanchez version would’ve bothered), and Peking crispy jackfruit pancakes would all make good midweek suppers, and if you’ve got pals around, the beetroot Wellington reveals a rich red centre to rival the rarest meat version. MATT BIELBY
S T A R T E R S
Book of t he Mont h
try this recipe!
The Little Library Year Kate Young (Head of Zeus, £25)
Oz-born, Brit-based bookworm, blogger and cook Katie Young came up with an excellent formula for her award-winning debut tome The Little Library Cookbook: in it, she wrote with honesty and invention about her twin loves, good food and good books, and it really struck a chord. With her follow-up, The Little Library Year, she takes us through the seasons, from long, dark January to the run-up to Christmas, through a combination of reading lists, reminiscences and recipes. A wintry Narnian fish supper at Mr and Mrs Beaver’s house gets her cooking roasted mackerel, a herby fish pie and grilled sea bass; we have The Tale of Peter Rabbit to thank for springtime country garden treats like asparagus and herb risotto or pork and broad bean burgers; and later, around Halloween, Bram Stoker’s Dracula inspires the beef, red pepper and bacon skewers she calls ‘robber steak’ for the meal Jonathan Harker enjoys on the road to Transylvania. This is a beautifully presented, written and illustrated book, which gives real insight into the author and her love of the English seasons, and should inspire anybody to both cook and read more. (Here at Crumbs, of course, these are two of our favourite things already.) MATT BIELBY
POTATO AND THYME PANCAKES WITH HOT SMOKED TROUT I started making these pancakes as a vessel for leftover mashed potato, but I’ve recently taken to making them from just-cooked potatoes, which gives them a wonderful lightness. If you want to make them from scratch, three medium mashing potatoes (Maris Pipers are good) should give you enough potato to be getting on with. SERVES 4 For the pancakes: 80g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 250g mashed potato 2 eggs 125ml milk 6 sprigs lemon thyme 30g butter 1 tbsp vegetable oil To serve: 4 eggs 2 fillets hot smoked trout fresh thyme leaves
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1 To make the batter, sprinkle the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt over the mashed potato. Whisk together the eggs, milk, and thyme leaves. Pour over the potato mix, and stir to combine. 2 Pop a small saucepan of water on to boil for the eggs. 3 Melt half the butter in a frying pan, and add half the vegetable oil. Spoon dollops of the batter into the pan, and fry over a low heat until bubbles are popping on the surface. Flip them over, and give them a minute. Keep them warm in a low oven until you’ve cooked all of the batter; add more butter and oil to the pan when needed. 4 While the pancakes are cooking, gently lower the 4 eggs into the pan of simmering water and cook for 6 minutes. Then, run them under cold water, crack the shells all over and peel them off. Serve a stack of the pancakes with flakes of the trout, some more thyme leaves, and a lovely runny egg.
TOP RECIPES FROM OUR FAVOURITE LOCAL FOODIES
CHEF!
HIGHLIGHTS
22 CURRY IN A HURRY This Indian-style dish makes for a speedy dinner
24 FEELING HOT, HOT, HOT
Vegan chilli with all the trimmings
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These date and tahini truffles are right up our street 21
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Humans have been eating dates for 8,000 years, it’s believed
C H E F !
Vicki and Adam are Bath’s busy Riverford reps
ALOO GOBI SERVES 2 2 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped 4-5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated 1 tsp black mustard seeds ¼ tsp ground turmeric ½ tsp ground cumin ½ tsp ground coriander 1 small green chilli (deseeded if you prefer less heat), chopped 6-8 curry leaves 1 small or medium cauliflower, broken or cut into large bite-sized florets (keep any light-coloured inner green leaves to use, too) 1 tomato, diced ¼ lemon, juice only, plus a little extra to finish 400g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into even chunks handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
CAULI-POWER
Recognise the words ‘aloo gobi’ from your local Indian takeaway menu? Alan and Vicki Mowat at Riverford Bath share this make-at-home version This filling dish is packed with veg and spices – a warming, nutritious version of that curry house staple. And it’s completely plant-based. “Aloo gobi – ‘potato cauliflower’ in Hindi or Urdu – should not be confined to the takeaway,” says Vicki. “It’s easy to make it yourself and makes a good, inexpensive vegan supper.” One to add to the weeknight meal rotation then, we reckon. Just make sure you use waxy or all-rounder potatoes so that they hold their shape.
1 Heat the oil in a large heavy-based pan. Add the onion and fry on a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then to stop it catching. If it does start to catch, add a splash of water and turn the heat down. 2 Add the garlic, ginger, mustard seeds, turmeric, cumin, ground coriander, chilli and curry leaves. Turn the heat up a little and fry, stirring, until you hear the mustard seeds pop. 3 Add the cauliflower florets and leaves, the tomato and lemon juice and a splash of water. Cover and cook on a very low heat, stirring now and then, for 10 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Add a splash more water if the veg starts to catch on the bottom of the pan. 4 Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling water for 8-10 minutes, until just tender. Drain and set aside. When the cauliflower is almost tender, add the potatoes and stir to warm them through. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the fresh coriander, season with salt and add more lemon juice to taste.
riverford.co.uk
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This should brighten up the dinner table on grey winter days
MEXING IT UP
We’re feeling chilli – for dinner this weekend, that is – and it’s thanks to this all-out version by Dan Chappell
There’s spice, there’s crunch and there’s tang – this chilli has it all
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C H E F !
Dan has been cooking up a storm on G-Road since last summer
1 x 400g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes 3 tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp Marmite 8 squares good quality dark chocolate, grated 250ml veg stock 2 limes, cut into wedges Tabasco, to taste vegan cheese, grated, to serve bunch coriander, leaves only, to serve For the tortilla chips: 8 100% corn tortillas 200ml vegetable oil For the onion relish: 4 red onions, peeled and finely sliced 1 large knob vegan butter alternative 2 tbsp oil 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
Dan joined Suncraft last May and has fully submerged himself in the plant-based, gluten-free cooking that the Gloucester Road spot is known for. “Everyone who I’ve worked with here has brought their all to the table, shared knowledge and been part of a great environment to learn, create and explore interesting cuisine,” he says. Suncraft is a vegan restaurant and café, created by the same people behind The Gallimaufry (which was named Best Foodie Pub at the last Crumbs awards, don’t you know). Having opened in 2018, it serves up colourful dishes inspired by cuisines from across the globe, to eat in or take away. This is an example of the comforting, veg-packed food you can expect there.
CHILLI SIN CARNE SERVES 6-8 4 tbsp sunflower oil 1 small butternut squash, diced into 1 cm cubes 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets 1 x 400g tin jackfruit, drained and rinsed ¼ tsp smoked paprika ¼ tsp garlic powder ½ tsp chilli powder 1 large red onion, thinly sliced 4-5 garlic cloves, minced 1 ancho chillies, blitzed in a food processor 1 chipotle chillies, blitzed in a food processor 2 yellow bell peppers, diced into 1 cm cubes 2 tsp ground coriander 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp ground black pepper 3 tbsp tomato purée, diluted with 6 tbsps water 1 tbsp tamari
Suncraft, 39 Gloucester Road, Bristol BS7 8AD; 0117 450 9600; suncraft.co.uk
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1 Pour 2 tbsp oil in a pan and place over a medium-high heat. Sauté the squash and cauliflower with a pinch of salt, stirring frequently until browning and beginning to soften. Then add the jackfruit and continue to cook for 5 more minutes until it has just started to fall apart. Add the paprika, garlic powder and chilli powder, mixing thoroughly. Remove from heat after 5 minutes. 2 Pour the remaining oil into another pan, and place over a medium-high heat. Sauté the red onions, garlic, chillis and bell pepper, stirring frequently until the onions are soft and the smell of raw garlic dissipates. Add the ground coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper and black pepper, stirring frequently for 2 minutes, then add the diluted tomato purée and stir. 3 In a large pot, combine the contents of both pans and add the tamari, kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, maple syrup, cinnamon, Marmite and chocolate, and stir. Then add the veg stock and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Season to taste with Tabasco, salt and lime juice. 4 For the tortilla chips, cut each tortilla into 8 triangles. Prepare a bowl lined with kitchen paper and heat the oil in a heavy-based pan to 180C. Carefully drop the triangles into the oil and gently move them around with a metal slotted spoon. Cook until crisp (about 5 minutes), then remove and place into the lined bowl (you’ll need to do this in batches). Season with salt while still warm and toss in the bowl. 5 To make the onion relish, sweat the onions in the butter and oil over a gentle heat until they are very soft and tender. Then increase the heat slightly and stir the onions until they are golden. Add 1 tsp salt and some pepper, followed by the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then add the vinegar. Simmer, stirring every now and then, until the onion relish is sticky and reduced. 6 To serve, divide the tortilla chips between the bowls, top with a ladleful of the chilli and a dollop of the onion chutney. Garnish with the cheese, coriander and a lime wedge.
C H E F !
Anna hosts vegan supper clubs at her Bristol home
These truffles only have four ingredients, so they really couldn’t be simpler to make. Better still, they make great gifts. And yes, they’re vegan. “Truffles are traditionally made with lashings of cream or butter, but the dates mimic the rich, satisfying texture of dairy fillings with a lighter end result, and have the added bonus of tasting like caramel,” says Anna. “I usually halve these and serve them with coffee after a meal, or when I need something sweet in the afternoon.”
EMLI BENDIXEN
TAHINI AND CHOCOLATE DATE TRUFFLES MAKES 10 10 Medjool dates, unpitted 5 tsp tahini 150g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids) ½ tsp flaky sea salt
TRUFFLE SHUFFLE
Want to partake in Veganuary but aren’t keen on the thought of depriving yourself of treats? Food pro and supper club host Anna Shepherd has just the recipe
Anna is a recipe developer, food stylist and private chef; annashepherdfood.com
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1 Place the dates on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to make an incision from one end of each date to the other. Gently lift out the stones and discard them. 2 Spoon ½ tsp tahini into each one and push down with the spoon to fill the gap left by the stone with the tahini. Then, place the filled dates in the freezer for 20 minutes. 3 While the dates are in the freezer, break the dark chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and suspend over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the surface of the water. Remove from the heat before the chocolate is completely melted and stir until the chocolate is smooth and glossy. 4 Take the tray of dates from the freezer and use a spoon to turn each one in the bowl of melted chocolate to cover completely before sprinkling with flaky sea salt. Repeat with the remaining dates, chocolate and salt. Place the tray in the freezer for 30 minutes. The dates can be eaten straight from the freezer or kept covered in an airtight container for up to a week.
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You could make these little treats as gifts – or just to gobble yourself on the sofa
I DRINK, THEREFORE I AM
WHAT SUP? PAR FOR THE SAUCE
There are many people off the booze for January, while an increasing number stick to softies year-round. Fiona Beckett’s timely new book shows that going alcohol-free can be pretty darn delicious…
Bristol-based Fiona is a nationally known food and drink writer and journalist, and has penned many a cookery book in her time. Her latest literary offering – out on 2 January – comes in the form of How to Drink Without Drinking, which is all about homemade booze-free thirstquenchers (this being a subject that we all take much more interest in when the New Year rolls around…). This sharbat recipe is taken straight from its pages. You can buy sugar syrup, but, as Fiona shows you in the book, it can be easily made at home by mixing equal volumes of water and sugar (or go for less sugar if you want a less intense sweetness), and heating until all the grains are properly dissolved, before cooling and bottling.
APPLE AND SAFFRON SHARBAT SERVES 3-4 small pinch saffron threads (about 10) 3 tbsp warm water 450ml unsweetened cloudy apple juice (or juice from fresh apples) 1 lemon, juice only (about 1 tbsp) 1 tbsp sugar syrup (approx.) generous splash sparkling water ice cubes thyme sprigs, to garnish 1 Put the saffron in a small bowl, cover with the warm water and leave to infuse for 15 minutes or so. Strain and leave to cool. 2 Pour the apple juice into a jug and add about 1 tbsp each of the saffron infusion, lemon juice and sugar syrup, adjusting the mixture to taste, although be cautious with the saffron, as it’s easy to overdo it. Add a good splash of sparkling water. 3 Fill 3 or 4 glasses with ice, pour over the sharbat, garnish with sprigs of thyme and serve. From How to Drink Without Drinking by Fiona Beckett (Kyle Books £15.99);
photography by Nassima Rothacker
This recipe is based on a drink Fiona discovered in a Persian restaurant in London
BEER + COFFEE + WINES + SPIRITS + MORE 29 29
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THE KINGS ARMS
M O N K T O N FA R L E I G H Under New Management Experienced Head Chef Open from 12 noon Every Day Food Served Tuesday – Sunday Great Selection of Drinks 01225 859761 info@thekingsarmsbradford-on-avon.co.uk
W H A T
THE DRIP FEED
TECHNO TIPPLE
Bristol’s Circumstance Distillery has teamed up with the technology scientists at Tiny Giant and Rewrite Digital for a world-first: a gin created by artificial intelligence. The distillery team worked with the scientists to create special software (a neural network, for any coders out there) capable of grasping thousands of botanical combinations. After much testing, Ginette was born (well, switched on) and she’s named her new gin Monker’s Garkel. This is a fragrant number with juniper, coriander seed, angelica root, raspberry leaf, gooseberry, prune, clementine and orange zest and marigold, and an initial batch of 1,000 bottles is available to buy from Circumstance Distillery’s online shop. Even the label was created by tech wizardry, with a set of styles, colours, textures and fonts all loaded into an algorithm by local Bristol artist Tie Sutcliffe. circumstancedistillery.com
MY L OC A L
Crumbs’ development editor Matt Bielby has been with the mag since issue one, and in all that time his local has remained the same My local is St James Wine Vaults, on the edge of St James’s Square in Bath. The vibe here is friendly, mixed, occasionally rowdy; I like that all human life is here, and we all talk to each other. I’m drinking London Pride, a good solid pint. Occasionally the new manager, Yassi, will
S U P ?
NEWS + BREWS + BARS + TRENDS
VINO VENDING
It’s all about choice at wine bar and shop Le Vignoble, which has just launched a new site at Finzels Reach. Already popular in Bath for its self-serve wine dispensing machines, the brand is offering up to 64 wines by the glass in its new digs, which happen to be its largest to date. Those fancy Enomatic dispensers, which keep each wine in its ideal condition, are operated using cards that you can charge up with your English pounds. Very futuristic, hey? Just browse the wines on offer behind the glass, pick one you fancy and insert your prepaid card. You’ll be able to choose from three measurements including a taster serving, so you can make sure that you like something before committing to a full glass. Nibble requirements are fulfilled by a French-style small plates menu, many of the ingredients being imported directly from Paris. levignoble.co.uk
appear with one of her random cocktails, in my experience usually revolving around Baileys. And to nibble I’ll have a packet of Quavers (this is the opposite of a foodie pub). You’ll find me sitting anywhere I can find a space down the left-hand side, away from the pool table. The crowd is ace – regulars of all ages and sexes, ranging from scientists to students, builders to bread makers. The best celebrity spots here tend to be actors and musicians, either locals or escapees from the Royal Crescent Hotel; years
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ago Johnny Depp was the big rumour, but I never saw him. The pub’s best assets are the location (on my way home!) and the staff: they regularly book interesting music acts, and they often have my pint underway before I’ve even got to the bar. If I could steal something from the pub it would be Mandy, the old manager and still a local. She always makes me smile. Basically, you should try my local because although it’s rough around the edges, it gives a rare old-school local experience like little else. stjameswinevaults.co.uk
Andy and Noya, hanging out with wine and dumpings – a standard Thursday afternoon for our Wine Guy
The Wine Guy SOUL SURVIVOR
Forget the New Year detox, says Andy Clarke, we need hearty and exciting food to feed the soul if we’re going to make it though this month – not to mention some belting wines to match…
F
or years I made myself a slave to the January detox, only allowing myself to eat and drink plain misery. But as you become older, you become (debatably) wiser, so these days I’m all about keeping things as exciting as possible when it comes to food in this otherwise dark and gloomy month. So, I want to tempt everyone out of boring culinary New Year traditions by focusing on colour, flavour and variety – the perfect tactic for blowing away the winter blues. My favourite food at this time of year is from the Far East – its fresh flavours and textures are the perfect antidote to the rich Christmas classics we shovelled down our necks in the name of silly season. And on these cold winter nights, there’s a certain Bath resident who is creating exactly that sort of food.
Noya Pawlyn was born in Vietnam but left aged seven for a Hong Kong refugee camp, along with her family. From then on, she cooked for her four siblings and, when her family moved to the UK, she began to share her Vietnamese culture with others through her cooking. Friends were so impressed with her food that they encouraged her to give cookery classes, which she began doing in early 2013. Later that year she started pop-up supper clubs, then in 2017 she opened her first restaurant, Noya’s Kitchen, in Bath. Noya is one of those people who, when you very first meet them, makes you feel as if you’ve known them your whole life. Her warmth and personality are infectious – and also filter into her incredible cooking. Noya cooks in a spontaneous way, writing her menus based on ideas that have come to her and simply what she fancies cooking 32 CRUMBSMAG.COM
that day, and it all comes together in a festival of colour and flavour. I’m a sucker for crispy pork dumplings and Noya’s don’t disappoint. Hers are made with Vietnamese flavours, fried, and served with a spicy dipping sauce. Another of my favourites is her beef bún bò, a rich yet punchy broth from Hue, Vietnam’s old capital (it’s one of the area’s most celebrated dishes). Both are perfect for filling you up and making you smile in the darker months. But what to drink with these beauties? Walking distance from Noya’s Kitchen are the two branches of Corkage, where you can sit in with, or take away, some cracking bottles of wine. Right now they have some of the greatest whites I’ve tasted in the last 12 months on their shelves. With this sort of food, you need wine with bright character and a dash of sweetness in order to stand up to all the intense Far Eastern flavours. To go with the pork dumplings, I’ve got something quite unique from Spain. Oveja Blanca 2018 (£10) is a dry Muscat made from grapes grown near Madrid and has an aromatic peachy nose, which is incredible with the aroma of lime, chilli and ginger of the dipping sauce. There’s a lightly floral orange blossom quality to the taste, which works well with the minced pork and the chestnuts in the dumpling and evolves into a saline, grapefruit zest finish that’s just divine with the garlic and fish sauce. As for the bún bò, well, it’s not always easy to find a wine to go with broth or soup, and because this dish is deep, rich and spicy, it makes finding a match even more intriguing. There are so many different types of Riesling out there, many of which complement this style of cookery, but I’ve found one from Germany’s Mosel Valley that is just lush. Dajoar Riesling 2018 (£17.25) has a slightly petrolled nose with luscious green apple thrown in there too, just
W H A T
BÚN BÒ SERVES 8 2 large onions, halved 2 garlic bulbs, halved 2kg beef bones 4 ½ ltrs water 1 ½ kg beef brisket joint, cut into 100g pieces 3 sticks lemongrass, bruised 2 inches ginger, sliced 20g salt 100g granulated sugar 150ml fish sauce 500g vermicelli noodles 5 spring onions, finely sliced 300g bean sprouts 4 chillies, finely sliced fresh leafy herbs (I use Thai basil, Vietnamese hot mint and coriander) 2 limes For the chilli and lemongrass oil: 3 lemongrass sticks (with 2 inches of the root part), finely chopped 4 garlic cloves 100ml veg or sunflower oil 2 tsp chilli powder 2 tsp caster sugar 1 tsp salt
amazing after you’ve hovered over the bún bò bowl and taken in its aroma. The flavour has so many layers and the underlying hint of candy floss is perfect with the balanced backbone of lemongrass that permeates the unctuous beef bone broth. This sweetness is offset by green-apple freshness and a streak of lime, which is great with the Thai basil leaves and Vietnamese hot mint, as well as the chilli oil. And just as important as all that flavour is the texture of this wine – it’s not thin like some easy-drinking whites, which means it’s perfectly capable of standing up to the noodles and the beef brisket too. So, remember, interesting food and wine isn’t just for Christmas – give yourself something to look forward to this New Year. Bland Jan is so 2019.
Fresh and spicy, this is exactly the kind of warming food we need to get us through January
Andy is a freelance TV producer and writer; follow him @tvsandyclarke
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/ gas mark 6. 2 Place the onion and garlic on parchment paper in a baking tray and roast in the hot oven for about 45 minutes, adding the beef bones in for 30 minutes, until charred. 3 Pour the water into a pot and add the roasted bones, onion and garlic, along with the beef, lemongrass, ginger, salt, sugar and fish sauce. Cover with a lid, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for 3 hours, skimming the impurities from time to time. 4 Meanwhile, make the chilli and lemongrass oil. Blend the lemongrass and garlic together into a fine paste (or use a pestle and mortar). Warm the oil in a small pan and, once hot, turn off the heat. Add the lemongrass and garlic paste and stir for 20 seconds. Then add the chilli powder, sugar and salt. Mix well and allow to cool slightly before pouring into a jar. It will keep for 1-2 weeks in the fridge. 5 After 3 hours, remove the brisket from the pot and cool, covered, in the fridge before slicing thinly. Simmer the liquid for a further hour to develop the flavour, then remove the onion, lemongrass and other large chunks and strain through a fine sieve into a pot. 6 In a large bowl, pour boiling water over the noodles (making
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S U P ?
sure they are fully covered) and allow to soak for 3 minutes exactly. Drain in a colander, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for 15 minutes to dry out, turning the noodles (which were sitting at the bottom of the colander) to the top, halfway through. 7 To serve, place a handful of noodles into a large bowl, add the beef slices, spring onion, bean sprouts and 1 tsp of the lemongrass chilli oil, and ladle the hot broth over until the noodles are covered. Add the herbs and a squeeze of lime.
CRISPY PORK DUMPLINGS MAKES 30-40 500g minced pork 225g water chestnuts, chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tbsp ginger, finely chopped 4 spring onions, finely chopped 1 tbsp sugar 3 tbsp fish sauce 1 tsp pepper ½ tsp salt 30-40 frozen dumpling wrappers, defrosted For the dipping sauce: 1 tbsp caster sugar 3 tbsp light soy sauce 1 rice vinegar 1 lime juice 1 red chilli, finely chopped 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped 1 Mix all the ingredients, except the wrappers, together in a bowl. 2 Separate the dumpling wrappers and lay them out on a clean surface. Put a heaped teaspoon of the pork mixture into the centre of each wrapper, making sure you leave space around the edges. Moisten one side of the wrapper with water, then fold the other half over the filling, pinching around the mixture to form a semicircle. Wet one edge, push the bottom of the filling up with your thumb and wrap the 2 corners together to form a tortellini shape. 3 Heat a deep-fryer or pour 4cm of vegetable oil into a heavybottomed pan. When the oil is a steady 180C, fry the dumplings in batches until golden brown (3-5 minutes). Then remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with kitchen towel to drain. 4 For the dipping sauce, place all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously to mix. noyaskitchen.co.uk
The Catherine Wheel, Marshfield. A 17th century country pub with real ales, great food and accommodation. The southern gateway to the Cotswold hills, designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Marshfield, Bath SN14 8LR | 01225 892220 roo@thecatherinewheel.co.uk | www.thecatherinewheel.co.uk
To book, call 01225 632577 or go to www.thebotanist.uk.com/locations/bath
Introducing our new...
Winter Warmers menu Launches 6th January 16 St. Stephens Street, Bristol BS1 1JR. 01179276869 thecaptain@theclockworkrose.com
CHOOSE YOUR WEAPONS
KITCHEN
ARMOURY The Ion8 Leak Proof is available in a range of colours; so’s the smaller Ion8 Leakproof Slim. They’re £13.89 and £8.99 respectively, find ’em online; ion8.co.uk
THE LIQUIDATOR
We all know we should be drinking more water, says Matt Bielby, but we don’t always do it. Perhaps the trick is to make it sexier – and here’s how… Let me tell you something odd. If I have a glass of water, I drink some of it. If I have a bottle of water, I drink all of it. And the bottles tend to be bigger, too. Weird, isn’t it? But you’re not alone in thinking – or acting – like this. We’re all meant to be glugging more water, and anything that makes that easier has got to be a good thing. Hence your water bottle – and all those other water bottles that litter the desks at work. They don’t do a different job from the old tech – a glass, say – but they do seem to make a massive difference. But why? It’s a good question, and the jury seems to be out. Some say the water tastes
better, because it has a lid on it so it doesn’t go stale. Others say the sheer size of these things is the joy, so you only have to fill them up once. Some even think that sucking on the little tubes at the top is reminiscent of a mother’s breast – sort of comforting. You’ve not met my mother. Maybe one day that delight will be mine.
ideal daily water intake. This here’s a particularly good one, with a 100 per cent leakproof lid so it’s safe to keep in your bag, and a textured grip so you’re unlikely to drop it. Called the Ion8 Leakproof, its USP is its innovative ‘OneTouch’ lid, so you can unlock and drink one-handed. Perfect if you’re out on your bike, or simply catching up on social media.
So what size should I get? Some water bottles are like beer barrels. About a litre seems right – it means the bottle’s not too bulky to hump about all day, and that by guzzling one bottleful before lunch and another after it, you’ll hit what’s generally considered the
Sounds good! And it’s made of BPA-free, phthalatefree, odour resistant Tritan (a sturdy, heat-resistant plastic), so it’s good for hot drinks too. There’s also a half-size 500ml version – you’ll just have to fill that up four times a day, is all.
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NEW MOON TAPAS Small Plate Dining
Discover our exciting menu featuring well-known and loved classics served with a modern and elegant twist. We believe that delicious food is best enjoyed when shared with friends and family. That is why we designed our menu in a way that engages our guests and creates a social experience. Opening Hours: Monday Closed, Tuesday - Wednesday 5pm - 10pm, Thursday - Friday 12pm - 3pm & 5pm - 10pm, Saturday 9am - 10pm, Sunday 9am - 4pm
How to ďŹ nd us: Kiosk 3, Hannover Quay, Bristol BS1 5JE
How to ďŹ nd us: 9 The Mall, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4DP
Telephone - 0117 927 9689 Email - hello@newmoontapas.co.uk
Telephone - 0117 239 3858 Email - hello@newmoontapas.co.uk
Supper Club
THE LUNCH BUNCH Say goodbye to soggy sarnies: there’s a new lunch in town. When we heard about it, we headed straight to the source to get the low down (and a good feed, of course) WO R DS BY J ESSI CA CARTER PHOTO G R APHY BY ALI C E WHI TBY
This was one of the more delicious liquids Jess has been presented with in a shot glass in her time...
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No, we’re not jealous of Vanessa’s lovely bright and airy flat, either...
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S U P P E R
C L U B
Don’t say you’ve forgot the punchline now, Laura
L
unch is the most important meal of the day, in my book. Especially during the week. Mornings are not my forte – it’s all I can do to get myself dressed and out the door pre-8am – so breakfast usually happens by way of a banana at my desk, mid-morning. (Poor effort, I know. Sorry, mum.) Dinner holds much more promise, but unless I’ve been organised by planning ahead and getting shopping in at the weekend – which is, I admit, rare – weekday evening meals (when I’m not out gallivanting around local restaurants) are often a rotation of oldfaithful recipes that require little more than storecupboard staples and half an hour of my time, post-commute and dog walk. (Frozen peas are my most-used-in-an-emergency staple, by the way, for a twist on pesto, quick veggie sides and summery salads and soups.) Lunchtime, then, often brings with it the most culinary potential during hectic working weeks. But choosing well is a challenge: go too light or too small and by 3pm productivity is rock bottom with your brain too preoccupied by that moaning, empty stomach – but too heavy and you spend the last three hours of the day trying to resist slipping under your desk for a nap, feeling far too lethargic and regretful to be of any professional use. Thank goodness, then, for entrepreneurs like Vanessa In. This Bristol local set
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We tried convincing Vanessa this lunch party should be a weekly event
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up Lunch Club in 2019 to get wholesome, delicious meals out to the city’s workers. It’s a pop-up affair, appearing regularly in offices and co-working spaces across Bristol, like Framework, Gather Round, St Nicholas House and Origin Workspace. The menu changes up weekly – satay butternut squash with crunchy Thai noodle salad, and Mexican-spiced chicken with herby couscous and tomato salad are on the go on the week that I’m writing – and dishes are £6.50. Sounds good, doesn’t it? That’s exactly why, when Vanessa invited me over to her gaff for lunch one day, I practically bit her hand off. When I rock up to her flat – which is all white walls and big sash windows, set in a lovely Georgian townhouse – the other guests have already congregated in the front room. This was a bit of a social event for members of The Coven in Bristol – an online community of female entrepreneurs and freelancers. On the guestlist are jeweller (and founder of Skin and Bone) Jess Grant, freelance graphic designer Beatrice Menis, photographer and artist Laura Mallet, and Bristol Film Festival producer Catherine Gillott. No time is wasted in tucking into the canapés: satay prawn shooters. Shot glasses are layered up with chopped nuts and peanut sauce, with plump, marinated prawns poking out the top along with crudites of carrot and cucumber. This, Vanessa says, is a take on a regular Lunch Club dish, which is usually served with a Thai noodle salad. Much of Vanessa’s food has an Eastern feel, with lots of Thai and Chinese influences. This has a lot to do with her family’s roots, she explains, but also how well this style of cuisine lends itself to healthy but filling midday meals. “The foundations of my food ethos for Lunch Club were built on my Chinese heritage and the kind of food I grew up eating – fresh ingredients, cooked simply. “I find healthy eating can sometimes be unsustainable as the options out there either are not actually very good for you once you add the dressing, or leave you feeling hungry. In Chinese culture, the idea of detoxing or starving yourself is crazy – food should always be enjoyed and celebrated!” So, she thought there must be a way to create meals that are delicious and filling, but also make you feel good after eating them. “Oriental cooking is good for this, as it uses a lot of herbs and fragrant vegetables which are flavoursome in themselves and don’t require much seasoning to be added,” says Vanessa, noting that it works very well for people with specific dietary requirements. “Most Chinese people are lactose intolerant to some degree, so this kind of food is naturally dairy-free.”
Post-canapés, we take a seat at the large dining table in the centre of the plantbedecked room. (If you like the look of Vanessa’s foliage, it came from Wild Leaf Bristol in St Andrews, who’s also just done the plant landscaping for The Wave.) Soon, we’re taking delivery of our lunch from the kitchen hatch. Deep bowls are piled with cardamom and lime soba noodles, topped with hunks of juicy sweet chilli chicken, roasted broccoli, fresh coriander, radish and sesame seeds. On the side comes a lime, ginger and soy dressing, which, after a taste, is swiftly upended over my bowl in all its fresh, zingy deliciousness. This is just the kind of food that Vanessa cooks for Lunch Club, she says. “I generally stay away from recipes where you buy a load of obscure ingredients, use them once, and then they sit in the cupboard going off, so I tend to use a few of the same ingredients across all of the dishes,” she explains, describing the building blocks of her cookery as herbs and spices, citrus and fragrant vegetables. Reg the Veg in Clifton is a favourite of Vanessa’s for all those greenery needs, and her meat comes from Wood Family Butchers in Shirehampton. (“A friend recommended them and they are the loveliest people who offer incredible value – it’s how I’m able to control the costs for Lunch Club while still using quality meat.”) Dessert has been created by Anna Cake Couture – whose shop is dangerously close to Vanessa’s flat – and takes the form of perfectly light macarons. I’m the first to drag themselves away from the table (and with half a bottle of wine still sat in front of us, too – sometimes I really outdo myself ) to get back to my desk. I’ve got lots to get done, and this working lunch has got me pretty fired up for the afternoon...
“Look over there!” Vanessa cries as she swipes the last salted caramel macaron
lunchclub.co
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S U P P E R
C L U B
SATAY PRAWN SHOOTERS WITH PEANUT SAUCE
MAKES 12
For the prawns: 1 inch ginger, grated 2 garlic cloves, grated 1 lime, zest and juice 1 tsp clear honey 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mild curry powder 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter 1 tbsp vegetable oil 170g large raw prawns, peeled, tails left on For the peanut sauce: 1 inch piece of ginger 1 large garlic clove 4 tbsp peanut butter ½ orange, juice only 1 lime, juice only 2 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp honey 3 tbsp toasted sesame oil ½ tsp cayenne pepper ½ tsp salt To garnish: 1 carrot ½ cucumber 30g peanuts, chopped and toasted
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1 First, marinate the prawns. Mix together all of the ingredients and ensure the prawns are thoroughly coated. Cover and set to one side. 2 Add all of the ingredients for the peanut sauce into a blender and blitz until completely smooth. Taste and add more salt if needed. 3 Slice the carrot into matchsticks approximately 5mm thick. The length of these will depend on how tall your shot glasses are, but aim to cut them long enough so that they are sticking 1 inch out of the top. Cut the cucumber into quarters lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Slice thinly to the same size sticks as the carrot. 4 Heat a heavy griddle pan until searingly hot and add the prawns, ensuring they are evenly spread out. Keep the heat high and turn the prawns after 1 minute. Cook for a further 1 minute and remove from the pan. 5 Add the peanut sauce to the bottom of the shot glasses so they are one-third full then insert the carrot and cucumber sticks, one or two pieces of each. Pierce the prawns with a cocktail stick and gently place on top of the shot glass. Garnish with chopped peanuts.
Tel: 01225 585 100
rob@claytonskitchen.com
15a George Street, Bath BA1 2EN
www.claytonskitchen.com
ClaytonsKitch
claytons_kitchen
BOOK NOW FOR THE NEW YEAR GALA DINNER AND LIVE PIANIST £85 per person
N E W : P R I VAT E D I N I N G R O O M
LUNCH MENU
Opening Times
2 courses £20 | 3 courses £25
Mon to Thu: 1200-1430 & 1800-2130
Monday – Saturday from 12pm.
Fri: 1200-1430 & 1800-2200
Main menus and more can be found on our website: www.claytonskitchen.com
Sat: 1200-1500 & 1730-2200 Sun: 1200-1500 & 1800-2100
K I T C H E N
A R M O U R Y
T he Want W List Inspired by this month’s Supper Club, we’ve been on the hunt for the hottest lunch vessels…
Kokeshi Bento, £20.95 Designed in the style of a maneki-neko (beckoning cat), this Japanese-inspired lunch box has three-tiers, including a bowl to eat from. Find it at Harvey Nichols. harveynichols.com
Reusable food wraps (set of three), £19.99 These eco clingfilm alternatives by Bee’s Wrap help keep food fresh and can be used time and again. Buy from Lakeland in Bath and Bristol. lakeland.co.uk
Bento Lunch Box, £17.95 This comes complete with leak-proof lid, handy knife-edged fork and compartment divider. From Rossiters. rossitersofbath.com
Round Lunch Stacker, £20 From Bristol-founded My Cleverbox, these stainless steel containers handily stack up, tiffin-style. Buy online. mycleverbox.co.uk
Bric Bag, £28 Made in Bristol, this cotton canvas food bag comes with a washable cloth food wrap. Your sarnies have never travelled in such style. Buy online. bric-company.com
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EATING-OUT INSPO, INSIDER KNOWLEDGE AND FOOD PIONEERS
MAINS
HIGHLIGHTS
50 NEW-AGE EATING
Our foodie royalty spill their New Year resolutions
55 LUCKY CHARMS
Chinese New Year foods to bring luck in 2020
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Almost everything on the table at Chinese New Year dinners has symbolic relevance
NEW TRICKS Bored of New Year resolution talk? Us too – unless it involves food, of course. We asked some of the region’s most prominent foodies what changes they want to make for 2020 – be it going green or just pronouncing their restaurant orders right...
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M A I N S
“Last year our family ditched supermarket shopping for Lent, but this year we’re giving the full 12 months a go. I’m not promising that there won’t be the odd 9pm sprint up the road to the Co-op for a lemon, but we’re refilling bags and jars with dry ingredients at a store up the road, shopping at local markets and grocers for fresh stuff and sorting a glass bottle milk delivery. We have such an extraordinary wealth of producers and suppliers right here on our doorstep in the West Country that it really shouldn’t be too difficult.” – Jenny Chandler, author and cookery teacher “I don’t follow food trends, but there are lots of reasons to get behind minimising plastic. Next year I really would like to go plastic-free, and also be sure to support more small and local producers. It’s so much better for the economy.”
“We have always had a zero-landfill policy at Box-E and push to create minimal waste. Recycling is good, but we are working with our suppliers towards packaging-free deliveries in returnable and reusable crates and boxes. Both Psychopomp and Espensen Spirit take their empty bottles back for refilling and it’s progress like this, alongside other initiatives like the Bristol Cheesemonger’s milk dispenser, that we’ll really be advocating in 2020.” – Tessa and Elliott Lidstone, owners of Box-E
“As sustainability becomes an everincreasing priority, the team are going to explore and improve our sustainable credentials by working closely with our producers, suppliers and organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society.” – Hywel Jones, executive chef at Lucknam Park
– Romy Gill, chef
“I’d like to explore fermenting my own drinks. I had a Malaysian friend who introduced me to pineapple Champagne that he made using pineapple offcuts, which I love, so I might start doing that next year and serve it at my supper club (Ping’s Makan Club). We have to do more to tackle food waste, so my aim is to explore inventive ways to do that!” – Ping Coombes, cook and MasterChef winner
“This will be the year when I actually start saying ‘no’ to bread when offered it in restaurants. We are blessed to have some amazing bakeries in the region but it has its downside as I’m addicted to the stuff, which isn’t great for my expanding waistline. A typical day might see me consuming toast in the morning, bread before lunch if I’m reviewing a restaurant and quite possibly bread before dinner. I must be scoffing a loaf a day and it’s time to show some willpower before I really do need elasticated trousers!” – Mark Taylor, food journalist and restaurant critic
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“I love cooking, but I find myself opting for the same recipes time and time again. So, I’ve decided that this is the year that I make myself try a new recipe every week. I don’t always follow recipes word for word – I like to find ingredients in shops and delis, or even in my store cupboard, and then think about how to incorporate them into my cooking – but I need to be more adventurous with experimenting with flavours, that’s what 2020 will be all about!” – Andy Clarke, food TV producer
“I want to be able to spell and pronounce ‘quinoa’ and ‘kombucha’ without having to hesitate first. And I want to learn to like keen-wah and kom-boooch-ah. And I really want to be able to order both of them without wanting to order chips and a Diet Coke, just in case I lose my adventurous side halfway through. Also: fish. (Eating, not spelling).” – Mark Olver, comedian and Belly Laughs founder
M A I N S
“I’m going to increase my meatfree cooking – I’m pretty sure that more of our guests will follow a flexitarian diet. We’re becoming more informed about what effects our food consumption has on the planet, and with that comes the opportunity to make better decisions on what food we eat, how often we eat it and where we buy our produce and ingredients from. I’m looking forward to the challenges 2020 will bring.”
“As a freelance cookbook author, I am always cooking (and writing) at home, generally on my own. As much as I enjoy my own company, my goal is simply to get out more. Specifically to meet fellow food freelancers over lovely food and drink at Bristol’s veritable feast of good places to hang out.” – Genevieve Taylor, author
“I’ll be doing my best to stay ‘mindful’ in 2020 – mindful of the planet and my bank balance. So, I’m keeping my eye on good bag-in-box wines – their carbon footprint is 10 per cent that of wine in glass bottles, and lower transport costs mean they’re generally good value – as well as ‘refill stations’, such as at Better Food stores, where you can refill your own bottles with decent wine from a box. More Wine and When In Rome are good local BIB companies to look out for.”
– Niall Keating, head chef at Whatley Manor
“The main thing I want to focus on is getting back to baking for pleasure again, as a lot of what I make now is for work. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but I really want to make more treats for my friends and family, as well as baking more with my daughter, Nora.”
– Kate Hawkings, drinks writer and consultant
Pw U Y
T H
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– Briony May, baker and Great British Bake Off contestant
Want to cut out single-use packaging and food waste at the same time? Fish out that Tupperware and hunt down refill stations at your local shops, or head to one of our turf’s dedicated packaging-free grocery stores. The Little Eco Shop, Couch Lane, Devizes Smaller Footprints, Regent Street, Bristol Zero Green, North Street, Bristol
Eating vegan more often is made super-easy (not to mention appealing) by local plant-based gaffs like these. Eat Your Greens, Wells Road, Bristol Koocha, Zetland Road, Bristol Nourish, London Road, Bath (...as well as all the others scattered throughout this here issue, of course.)
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Get inspired for expanding your horizons in the kitchen: these cookery schools have all kinds of food and drink courses to get your creative juices flowing. Demuths Cookery School, Terrace Walk, Bath Square Food Foundation, Daventry Road, Bristol Vale House Kitchen, Loves Hill, Timsbury
Kick start the New Year with our
V���N����T��G���N� Friday 10 th, 17 th, 24 th & 31st January Saturday 11th, 18 th & 25 th January 6 Courses £45 - Pre booking is essential! Our main menu always includes 4 main course options suitable for vegans.
Best Western Plus Centurion Hotel Charlton Lane, Midsomer Norton, Nr Bath BA3 4BD 01761 417711 centurionhotel.co.uk
@seanhorwood
centurionhotel
Tel: 07854239926 info@cliftonwineschool.com
A very warm welcome to Clifton Wine School! We are a local wine school hosting events in Bristol and Bath. Choose from our Cheese and Wine Matching night, a Fine Wine tasting, Wines of the World evening courses, Gin tasting, and so much more. We also do unforgettable hen parties and corporate events. We don’t sell wine, we sell confidence in wine knowledge from a DipWSET qualified teacher.
You can purchase any course or tasting as a Wine School Gift Voucher starting from ÂŁ25 the perfect present for any wine lovers!
Proud Crumbs Award Finalist 2019! + Crumbs Award Winner 2018!
www.cliftonwineschool.com
S P R I N G
F E V E R
Chinese New Year – also known as the Spring Festival – is steeped in culinary tradition...
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C
hinese New Year for 2020 falls on 25 January, the Year of the Rat kicking off with the new moon (it’s a lunar thing, see). These celebrations – which are also known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year – are the most important in the Chinese calendar, lasting for 16 days. And food, you won’t be surprised to hear, is central to the festivities. The people who are eating the meals are of particular importance too; it’s a time for friends to come together and families to reunite over food. It’s not just about assembling the clan for a shindig, though; this group feasting is significant because the plenitude of the spread that’s prepared for feeding everyone is a good omen for abundance and wealth in the year ahead. Symbolism like this comes into play a lot in traditional Chinese New Year feasting. Within the meals eaten during the festivities, many traditional dishes carry distinct meanings of their own. “We like to serve specific foods at this time of year because they are homophones for things like happiness, luck and prosperity, and by consuming them, we
If you see any lettuce hurtling towards you during a lion dance, you’ll do well to try and catch it
ensure that we shall have all these things in the coming year,” explains Joe-Wah Chow from Wai Yee Hong, a long-established, family-run Chinese supermarket in Eastville. “For instance, it is common for families to give each other large clementines for the New Year because their name in Chinese sounds like ‘lots of luck’. By gifting them to others, you are wishing them good luck and prosperity for the coming year.” Foods whose names sound lucky, then, are likely going to be on that table – and, happily, there are plenty of them. For instance, whole fish is a very traditional New Year dish, ‘fish’ being a homophone for abundance in Chinese, while black sea moss is popular because its name sounds like the words for prosperity and wealth, and lotus roots are included as their name is similar to the term for having plenty. “I most enjoy sharing these traditions with the children,” says Joe-Wah. “We go through each dish on the table and explain that we have prawns (haha) to make us smile the whole year through, we eat fish (yú) so that every year we shall have abundance and we serve a whole chicken to represent the completeness of life. The original symbolism remains deeply ingrained in our culture.”
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Dumplings are also significant over Chinese New Year – but not, interestingly, because of their name, explains Larkin Cen, founder of the Woky Ko restaurants and MasterChef finalist. They have more of a visual connection to bringing prosperity in the year ahead. “Dumplings represent wealth because of their close similarity in appearance to Chinese traditional currency, which were oval, boat-shaped hunks of gold used in Imperial China. Families typically wrap their own dumplings and continue wrapping until midnight to signify leaving the old year behind. Some families will hide a coin in one of the dumplings, and whoever receives that dumpling is believed to have a prosperous year.” Over the 16 days of festivities, there are a couple of meals that are particularly important: the ‘reunion’ dinner, which happens at the very end of the old year, and the ‘open year’ dinner, which welcomes in the new, says Joe-Wah. “It is important for family and friends to begin and end the year together – this signifies the completeness and unity of life and family. “We will always ensure that we have leftovers at the reunion dinner, as this
M A I N S
C H RIS C O O P E R
means that we shall have plenty of food each year.” At the end of the dinner, Joe-Wah’s family always have tangyuan (which must be eaten in pairs). These sticky rice balls are served in a sweet ginger syrup, their spherical shape symbolising the family remaining together: “I remember making these as a child, with my grandma. We would fold the soft squishy dough around traditional fillings like chopped nuts and sugar or sesame paste, and then also make some special ones with chocolate spread and peanut butter.” The Spring Festival isn’t solely centred on the dinner table, though: public celebrations include lots of entertainment like traditional dance. “Lion dances are performed at Chinese festivals or big occasions to bring good fortune and chase away evil spirits,” explains Larkin. “The lion dance is one of the most important traditions at Chinese New Year.” And yep, you guessed it, food plays its part in that, too. During the performance, the beast – played by dancers wearing a custom-made costume – is offered a lettuce, which it ‘eats’, scattering the leaves over the ground in the process.
“Phonetically, the word ‘lettuce’ in Chinese also means ‘good fortune’ or ‘prosperity’,” says Larkin. “That is why it is important to catch the lettuce if you ever see it being thrown at you during the lion dance!” This month, both Woky Ko and Wai Yee Hong are hosting Chinese New Year celebrations. Woky Fest, founded by Larkin, will be returning to Wapping Wharf, promising more of that lion action, as well as a series of events including special set New Year feasts and cocktails (keep an eye on Woky Ko’s social media pages for updates). Wai Yee Hong is also planning a suitably festive knees up to welcome the Year of the Rat. A free-to-attend, family-friendly event is planned for 25 January at its Easton complex. Expect performances of dance, martial arts and singing, as well as an Asian street food market featuring the likes of Eatchu, She Sells Sushi and Desy Thai. The event raises funds for Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, too. Find out more at waiyeehong.com and wokyko.com
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CHAR SIU Fancy cooking up a sharing feast this Chinese New Year? You could do a lot worse than this sweet-and-salty pork affair by Larkin Cen... SERVES 4
½ tbsp light soy sauce, plus extra to finish 1½ tbsp dark soy sauce ½ tbsp Shaoxing rice wine 140g hoisin sauce 1 tsp sesame oil 3 tbsp soft brown sugar 1 clove garlic, roughly chopped 400g pork belly, rindless, sliced with the grain into 5cm strips 3 tbsp honey 1 In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together, except the honey. Add water to the mix until the pork is almost submerged. Cover and chill overnight. 2 The next day, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with non-stick paper and place a rack on top. Arrange the pork on the rack (reserving the leftover marinade for another time) with at least 2cm between each strip. Roast the pork for 40 minutes. 3 Drizzle with honey and finish with a few drops of light soy sauce. Serve with pickles and rice, drizzling the pork’s cooking juices over the top.
R U : 9’ YO ER S1 B FF RD O O UM % T R 10 RS ‘C FI TE O U
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Wholesale Sourdough bakery 07542457965 • info@pistrina.co.uk • pistrina.co.uk
Reach the best in the west Affluent, active and influential and just a call away Call Crumbs 01225 475800
AFTERS
NEW AND NOTABLE RESTAURANTS, PUBS AND CAFÉS
The Chequers might be a local boozer, but that doesn’t mean its food can’t be fancy
HIGHLIGHTS
60 WORD OF SOUTH
There’s a mid-week deal to be had at Birch in Southville
63 SQUARE ROOT
Vegan café Roots and Shoots is serving up comfort this winter
64 CHEQUE MATE
How is gastropub The Chequers shaping up these days?
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The minimalist interior is cool and modern
N E I G H BOU R HO O D R ES T A U R A N TS
BIRCH There were big boots to fill when new owners took over BS3’s beloved Birch a year ago, but Charlie Lyon finds the sequel to be happily up to standard...
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A F T E R S
W
hat are you doing next Tuesday? Monday night is for regrouping after the weekend (or having a couple of wines to anaesthetise yourself ), then Tuesday kicks off the mid-week lull: house chores, exercise classes, Whatsapp admin. You might treat yourself to a Meerkat Movie, but any other kind of soirée seems to verge on extravagant. Unless there’s a complete steal to be had, that is – then, a jaunt is totally justified. And I recently found one in Southville. Birch – the compact little eatery that was taken over by new owners in autumn 2018 – is serving up three dishes for £20, Tuesday through to Thursday, which means you can indulge in an impressive small plate experience without spending like it’s the weekend. Birch was originally founded in 2014 by Sam Leach and Beccy Massey, the pair deciding to leave the biz in 2018 to become farmers and cider makers. Locals – and diners the city over – lamented the sale of the neighbourhood bistro when they heard it was up for grabs. Soon enough, though, along came brothers Tom and Ali Masters, who snapped up the business and got its second chapter underway, with chef Lee Bloomfield in the kitchen (who front-of-house pro Tom had partnered up with before at the Seymour Arms in Blagdon). On this murky November night, the interior feels a little clinical to me; a bit of a snugger vibe might tempt in a few more passers-by (they love to peer through the huge front window to see what they’re missing), although the restaurant isn’t exactly empty. The decor is fresh and cool, though, with white walls and lime green upholstery. When it comes to the food, simple, seasonal small plates is the name of the game, and the menu packs in enough intrigue to make it worth the schlep from further neighbourhoods. Take, for example, our celeriac and white truffle soup (£5). It’s amazing how the chef has transformed such a hulking, nobly root into this bowl of refined, heavenly liquid for just five of your golden nuggets.
The earthy aroma gives us a taste of what’s to come – comforting, indulgent and oh-so restorative grub. Recommended is the Korean tuna tartare (£8), which is a bit off-theme from our other choices, but that’s the beauty of a small-plates mash-up – surprise dishes can sometimes be killer. A glistening patty of dark-red tuna is topped with a shiny orb of orange egg yolk. There are those who have a natural affinity with tartare and those, like myself, who need a gentle prod, but it’s worth the leap of faith here, with the moreish sesame dressing pepping up the tuna and fragrant pine nuts adding hits of sweetness and bite. Elegant slices of oiled crouton are ready to be loaded up with the fresh fish. Recently, I’ve noticed Bristol outfits have really upped their arancini game, and none so much as here, where the tarragon in the deliciously gooey innards sings loud and in perfect harmony with the buttery rice and creamy mozzarella (£6), not to mention the portabello mushroom ketchup that’s for dipping, There’s also a five-bean casserole, made murky green with a coarse salsa verde (£6) – the refined cousin of the stuff being served up in rustic Italian farmhouses with hunks of crusty bread and good plonk. The largest two plates arrive last, and what has gone before pales as we take in these lofty dishes. Guinea fowl (£15.50) is buttery soft, the generous portion of meat encased in salty, crisp skin. Braised savoy cabbage, pancetta and a rich foie gras jus make a regal bed for this fine bit of bird. Tender pork belly and salty crackling is cleverly layered and cut into neat triangles, while a disc of heady black pudding is cut through by burnt apple purée (£13.50). We agree there’s just about room for pud – tonight, a slice of soft treacle tart with a dollop of Dorset clotted cream (£6) and decadent chocolate fondant with a wickedly oozy centre (£6). I return home at 10pm to find the washing still in the machine, the recycling needing to be sorted and the breakfast bowls waiting for me on the kitchen counter – but I’m in far too much of a good mood after this feed to entertain any of those chores.
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Crisp and meltingly tender texures make the pork dish (above) one of the evening’s most standout
Birch, 47 Raleigh Road, Bristol BS3 1QS; 0117 902 8326; birchbristol.co
The South West’s best extra virgin, cold pressed Rapeseed Oil
SHOP • RECIPES EVENTS • TOURS COOKERY SCHOOL HALF THE SATURATED FAT 10X MORE OMEGA 3 Compared to other oil
COOKS TO A HIGHER TEMPERATURE Making it a more versatile cooking oil
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A F T E R S
VEGAN CAFÉS
ROOTS AND SHOOTS Contending with food-focused New Year resolutions this month? This cosy little vegan deli can take the chore out of many of them, thinks Jessica Carter...
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anuary is surely the worst time to impose drastic new dietary laws upon ourselves? It is, after all, the coldest, darkest most drawnout month of the year, when everyone is skint and much of the limited comfort available to us comes in the form of food and drink. This is not a peak time, I find, to go ‘dry’ or cut out, well, anything, from my diet. That said, Roots and Shoots might well have the answer to virtuous New Year resolution woes – especially if cutting out animal products or packing more veg into your diet is on the list of must-dos. This plant-focused café, deli and take away opened in late 2018 in one of the railway arches beneath Bath Spa station. It’s pretty small inside, with just a handful of stools at the windows for those wanting to eat in, although there is a decent sized courtyard for alfresco eating. (Not too appealing in current temperatures.) We drop in for lunch, which promises wraps, soups, stews and the signature mac and ‘cheeze’. Letting me off the hook from making rash hunger-induced decisions is the ‘taster box’ (£7.50), containing a dollop of that mac as well as roasted root veg, salad
Vegan or not, this is the kind of hearty, wholesome food that we crave in January
Roots and Shoots, 10 Brunel Square, Bath BA1 1SX; facebook.com/ rootsandshootscafe
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and a mini portion of that day’s special – chickpea and aubergine curry. The macaroni is delicious – not super cheesy, obvs, but flavoursome and satisfying, with a slightly smoky-tasting cashew and paprika sauce and ‘facon’ made from coconut, tamari, liquid smoke and maple syrup. A warm bowl of that alone would see me right for lunch. Ditto the curry, with its layers of flavour and soothing comfort appeal. In M’s Fusion Box (£7.50) jerk jackfruit pulls off a good visual impression of pulled pork, and ‘chickless’ bites take nugget duties under their crispy, spicy brown coats. Both are backed up by a supporting band of more familiar vegan favourites, including falafel, roast roots, salad and ’slaw. It is filling, tasty and fun – the riot of textures and colours making it for M, rather than any one particular element. Light years away from the samey worthiness of the worst vegan cooking, each mouthful tastes and feels different to the one before, making it a minor lunchtime adventure to work your way through it, rather than a virtuous-feeling slog. The sausage rolls (£3.25) are made in house, and the one we shovel down our gullets comes packed with soya-based ‘sausagemeat’, vegan mozzarella and sweet caramelised onion chutney, the pastry as flakey and golden as you’d expect from any fatenriched variety. Roots and Shoots is the result of two vegan mates – nurse Andy McMahon and food truck owner Matt Craig – putting their heads together to create a budget-friendly, satisfying and seasonal plant-based offering. And, in their humble, no-fuss little café, they deliver.
OL D FAVOURI T E S
THE CHEQUERS Often here for a lunchtime pint, Jessica Carter visits this local post-work, to see what’s going down after the appointment of its new chef...
The Chequers is all about pub food with a fine dining edge
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emember when the ‘gastropub’ was a novel idea? This new breed of boozers, knocking out up-market food, gave us the best of both worlds when eating out: we got the buzzy atmosphere and casual attitude as well as great food and service. It took a while to negotiate this new genre, though (well, newish – it wasn’t like most pubs weren’t already doing food in some form), and I remember some chefs and landlords rejecting the label and scoffing a bit at the term. Obviously, gastropubs still are ‘a thing’, but they’ve blended so effortlessly into our dining scene that, comparatively, we don’t seem to use the word so much anymore. It’s certainly less divisive. The Chequers has been a watering hole since 1766 and wasn’t always of the ‘gastro’ variety. In fact, my dinner date and long-time Bath local described what it was like here in the ’90s over our meal: “A bit rough but a friendly kind of pub, where you could get a roast for a fiver,” were the words he used.
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These days, it’s under the reign of The Bath Pub Company, which has four pubs around the city, of which this is perhaps their most up-market. It’s elegant in its rustic but classy design (think parquet floors, decorative wall panelling and chalky hues), as well as its food offering, which gracefully dances on the line between fine dining and pub grub. Choreographing said dance is Ross Harper, who – with experience as executive chef at the OHH Pub Company as well as at swanky London joints like St Pancras Brasserie and Champagne Bar by Searcys – sure has a CV to suit a gaff like this one, where locals have become accustomed to great-quality food. There are two sides to the menu – both are concise. First, the restaurant-style offerings, complete with aperitifs and nibbles, and then the pub classics. To start, the mackerel (£8) comes as two soft, shimmering-skinned fillets, almost pastel pink at the centre, in a pool of light and silky mussel sauce. On the side is a disc of soda bread topped with potted shrimp and dollops of creamy cucumber mayo. Across the table, the ham hock and belly pork terrine (£8.50) sits in a pretty arrangement: a goodsized slab of speckled pink terrine with a half-slice of toast, accompanied by a pork and black pudding bonbon with a smear of parsnip purée. There are assorted leaves and sauces dotted about, including a rather fine caper and raisin purée. Lots of different textures and tastes to enjoy, but all telling aspects of the same story. To follow, the chicken ballotine (£19) sees the meat wrapped around a core of sage and onion stuffing and finished with crisp pancetta on its outer. The pomme Anna is deliciously buttery, the thin, carefully arranged layers of potato fanning out satisfyingly under my fork, and a dollop of bread sauce is pimped up with truffle. A heap of pickled mushroom and tarragon, all very finely chopped, provides tangy, punchy relief from the rich flavours. The chunky slices of onglet (£22) arrive as beefy and tasty as the cut’s rep suggests, again accompanied by several different elements (a horseradish potato croquette, some crusted bone marrow, a dumpling and a creamy béarnaise sauce). Best of all is a small casserole of slow-braised beef with red wine. Steamed sponge pudding was always a treat as a kid – the difference between Mrs C’s and The Chequers’ (£8) being that that latter doesn’t involve a microwave. The soft sponge is just as comforting and moist as you’d hope for this retro pud – I want more of the fennel pollen custard it sits in, thought. Warm treacle tart (£8) features a little lime in its mix – rather than the usual lemon – to cut through the sweetness. My treacle-tart aficionado of a pal declares it the most successful one he’s had in ages, but still wants it even stickier and more syrupy. (There’s no pleasing some.) This is well-pitched food, the dishes of restaurant quality but all with the bones of pub grub. The many intricate elements of each plate show the skill and effort of the kitchen and make each mouthful different. Sure, you could see this style as being a bit fussy, but it sure ain’t samey, and the casual, cosy atmosphere keeps meals down to earth.
This is a much-loved local, good enough to attract diners from neighbourhoods afar
The Chequers, 50 Rivers Street, Bath BA1 2QA; 01225 360017; thechequersbath.com
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L I T T L E
B L A C K
B O O K
JENNI TAME
This is where you’ll spot founder of vegan food tour and discount card Hungry Herbie chowing plantbased plates…
Comfort food? It’s got to be pie and mash, and Pieminister now does two vegan pies, as well as vegan-friendly mashed potato and gravy. Monster feast? Oowee Vegan’s filthy burgers are incredibly tasty and are hits with vegans and omnis alike. This place is a must-visit when you fancy something extra naughty. Cosy pub? Nourish on London Road in Bath is one of my go-tos. It offers great twists on pub classics like mushroom and ale pie and banana blossom ‘fish’ and chips. If the ‘crab’ cakes are on, you have to try them. Breakfast? Eat Your Greens is by far the best vegan breakfast around. It’s loaded with garlic mushrooms, vegan sausages, hash browns, tofu, beans and more – it can cure any hangover. Best brew? Castle Farm. It’s so peaceful and perfect for a lazy weekend brew. Favourite grocery shop? Zero Green in Bristol. It recently moved to a bigger shop on North Street and has everything you could possibly want, packaging-free. They now stock a wide range of freezer items and have a fridge packed with local produce, too. Posh nosh? Acorn in Bath. Everything is so well thought out, even down to the cutlery and plates, and the dishes are exquisite. It was the first vegan restaurant in Bath to be in The Michelin Guide. One to watch? I was blown away by Food by Sumear’s cheese when I first tried it last year. He uses his experience in working with dairy to make his vegan cheeses as authentic as possible, and I am interested to see what he creates next. With friends? The Stable caters for everyone and is budgetfriendly. It has a great range of vegan cider and a dedicated vegan menu – what more could you want! Best atmosphere? Tobacco Factory Market. It’s always buzzing and has a wide range of vegan goodies on offer. I love seeing what is new and chatting to all of the local vendors. Something sweet? Dark Matters brownies are decadent and delicious. They are made with 70 per cent dark chocolate and can be found at the Tobacco Factory and Frome Independent markets and in the vegan vending machines in Bristol. On the hit list? Casa Verde at No 12 Easton. Serving tapas with a vegan twist, this is at the top of my list. Most underrated? Phat Yaks, for Nepalese street food. It offers a delicious curry plate and wraps stuffed with freshly made pakoras, homemade sauces and fresh salads. Super service? Cascara. The team are always really friendly, smiley and helpful. They have such a good range of lunches, light bites and cakes. On a budget? You can’t go wrong with Eat a Pitta. For £5 you get a massive box of salads, hummus, falafel and pickles. Yum! Street food? Chaiwalla is my go-to when I want a quick bite. I was loyal to the bhaji wrap until I tried the samosa chaat; now I can’t decide which one I like more! Cocktails? Koocha Mezze Bar makes fab cocktails – my favourite is the Bramble.
Quick! Now add this little lot to your contacts book... Pieminister, Bristol; pieminister.co.uk Oowee Vegan, Bristol BS1 1QZ; ooweevegan.com Nourish, Bath BA1 6QB; nourishbath.co.uk Eat Your Greens, Bristol BS4 2AG; facebook.com/eatyourgreensbristol Castle Farm, Midford BA2 7BU; castlefarmmidford.co.uk Zero Green, Bristol BS3 31HJ; zerogreenbristol.co.uk Acorn, Bath BA1 1NX; acornrestaurant.co.uk Food by Sumear; foodbysumear.co.uk The Stable, Bath and Bristol; stablepizza.com Tobacco Factory Market, Bristol BS3 1TF; tobaccofactory.com Dark Matters; eatdarkmatters.com No 12 Easton, Bristol BS5 6DL; no12easton.com Phat Yaks, Bath BA1 2AF; phatyaks.com Cascara, Bath BA1 1RG; facebook.com/cascarabath Eat a Pitta, Bristol; eatapitta.co.uk Chaiwalla, Bath BA1 1EN; facebook.com/chaiwallabath Koocha Mezze Bar, Bristol BS6 7AD; koochamezzebar.com
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