Local Product

Local produce made locally by local people

Over the last couple of years we’ve been increasing the range and availability of locally produced foodstuffs that go well with a nice slice of bread. We’re proud to say this is now a significant part of Loaf’s business, and one we want to grow further once we move into the new building.

Supporting local producers is obviously a good thing, but it also ties into Loaf’s belief that we should know the origin of the food we eat. When Jacky delivers her jams we can ask her about them; we hear how the bees are getting on and how the weather is affecting the honey; we talk to Pip about how she’s developing her new sauces. And of course we only sell things we would use ourselves, so you know they’re of high quality.

The following are four core ranges which we think would make great gifts. Please consider buying local this year!

We stock honey from three local apiaries. Arden Forest is south of Redditch, Quinton Meadow is from the south-west edge of Birmingham, while Rea Valley is from hives along, well, it’s in the name, and you can’t get more local than that.

Pip of Pip’s Hot Sauces continues to expand her range. The new Brewed collaboration with Attic is proving very popular and there’s not one of these bottles that doesn’t have its fans.

One of the newest additions to our shop, Marshall & Co‘s chocolate is made in Bournville, but not by a multinational corporation. Unlike most chocolate producers, they work with the actual cocoa bean and take care to preserve all the flavour. And look out for their delicious chocolate tea, made with the “waste” bean husks.

And then of course there’s Jacky and her various jams and preserves. These have flown off the shelves all year and it’s been a real Loaf success story. We will be getting restocks right up to Christmas.

Jacky uses locally grown and foraged ingredients that are in season and cooks everything up in her Redditch kitchen. While there are some standards, we never know exactly what she’s going to deliver. What follows is a snapshot of what’s on the shelves this week.

Jacky's Jams - eight jars of varieties of jam

Jacky's Jams - eight jars of varieties of marmalade

Jacky's Jams - eight jars of varieties of chutney

Phew!

Bear Eats now on the shelves at Loaf

We’re always looking for new local foodstuffs that go well with our bread, and were quite impressed with these chilli jams from Bear Eats who use them in the dishes they sell at food markets around town. The Tomato Chilli and Pineapple Chilli both have a sweet and fiery kick, and are a great accompaniment to a slab of sourdough and cheese. Give them a go and let us know what you think!

New Pip’s Sauce just dropped

It’s been a while since the awesome Pip launched a new hot sauce and this looks like a good’un. Made in collaboration with Attic Brew Co up the road, Brewed is her first fermented hot sauce, made with “fruity pepper, spicy chilli and sweet onion. The process of fermentation produces acidity that cuts through the spice, whilst drawing out unusual flavours from the ingredients”.

A gaggle of bottles of Brewed arrived this week so be sure and check them out.

Win a cookery school voucher with Pip’s charity raffle

Pip’s Hot Sauce is one of the indie food-makers who started at Stirchley Market and we’re honoured to call Pip a good friend of Loaf. So when she said she was looking for raffle prizes to raise money for a dear friend with brain cancer, we said yes, of course.

The range of prizes in this raffle is quite something, from meals to artworks to a one-off crystal skull hot sauce — a real testament to Pip’s importance in our community. We’ve put a £140 cookery school voucher in there too. She’s given so much over the years and it’s an honour to give something back.

Raffle tickets are £2.50 each, and you can of course buy more than one. Please help and spread the word.

Rea Valley bees on tour

Most of the bees looked after by Rea Valley Apiary live, as the name implies, along the River Rea, which includes Stirchley so if you have a garden there’s a good chance there’s nectar from there in one of those jars. This produces a their polyfloral Local Honey — a mix of whatever flowers are in bloom when the bees are active — and its flavour is a reflection of our area.

But there are areas where one particular flower will dominate, and beekeepers will often take a colony to forage and produce a monofloral honey with a distinctive colour and flavour. Rea Valley took some of their bees out of the city for a change of scene and we’ve taken delivery of two of the subsequent monoflorals. Borage Honey from borage fields in Stratford and Heather Honey from moors in the Peak District. Enjoy!

Introducing Quinton Meadows honey

We’re always looking to stock new local spreads and condiments so we were delighted when a new honey supplier got in touch. Quinton Meadows Honey is run by George and Sue Jackson whose hives are based in Quinton, on the edge of Birmingham. Their bees collect nectar from the Quinton Meadows Nature Reserve, Woodgate Valley Park, the local allotments and urban gardens — all of which provides a mix of rural and urban blossom.

George likes to think of their honey as ‘one year in a jar’, as the honey is harvested just once in August, creating a unique amalgam of all the flora in the area.

Sue gave us a sample jar to try and we loved it, so we’re delighted to add it to the shelves.

George with his hives

Peels are back in stock again!

A peel is a wooden board with a handle used to quickly and safely take bread out of the oven. It’s effectively a large spatula, as demonstrated by Neil in this video:

Our new supplier of peels is Dale Hipkiss, a local artist and woodworker, who hand-makes them in his studio in Stirchley. You may know Dale from Artefact, where he works, and as part of the duo Hipkiss and Graney.

The peels have been tested and approved by our bakers and are now on sale for £18 each. If you’re struggling to get your sourdough off the stone, come in and buy one!

Easter opening times!

It’s almost Easter and we’re in the throes of Hot Cross bun season, it comes round quicker and quicker each year!

As you may already know, we’re offering our Earl Grey flavoured HCB’s right up until Easter, available everyday in our shop.

We’re ramping up the numbers as we get closer to the long weekend, so make sure to take advantage as there’re only 7 baking days til they’re gone! #RIPHCB

We will be taking pre-orders for Good Friday and Saturday (14^th & 15^th April), just pop into the shop and place and pre-pay for your order.

Please note that we will be closed after Easter for some general maintenance, dates and times are as follows:

Good Friday 14^th April – 12-6.30pm (pre-order collection)

Saturday 15^th April – 8.15am-1pm (last day for pre-order collection)

Easter Sunday 16^th April – CLOSED

Easter Monday 17^th April – CLOSED

Tuesday 18^th – Friday 21^st April – CLOSED

Saturday 22^nd April – 8.15am-1pm – open as normal

Rye not?

We started out with our Revolutionary Rye, way back when Tom first started Loaf back in 2009 and it has graced our shelves ever since!

Our recipe was based on Andrew Whitley’s Russian Rye, ours is 100% rye sourdough, topped with toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Why is it revolutionary? (Everybody wants to know!) Mainly because back when Tom started, no one was making a rye sourdough up here in the Midlands at least! Not only that, but he figured given its Russian roots, he’d pay tribute to their revolutionary history…

If you didn’t already know, Rye is a type of grain, low in gluten, high in fibre, protein and most importantly flavour.

Over the years, we’ve played around with rye specials such as the Borodinsky and Volkornbrot, but this year we’ve decided to feature them more frequently, because rye is great, and ‘rye’ not right?

Our Borodinsky is made with a rye starter and flour, malt extract, molasses and caraway seeds for a surprisingly refreshing flavour despite its density! Find it in the shop on TUESDAYS

Our Volkornbrot, is made with a rye starter and flour, chock-full of sunflower seeds, and kibbled rye for lots of texture! Find it in the shop on THURSDAYS

Will you be trying it? Let us know! Tweet or Tag us – we’d love to see how you’re enjoying it!

BAO HOUSE Part II with Lap-Fai Lee

BAO HOUSE PART II

If you came to the last BAO House Pop Up at Loaf, waited in that incredibly long line and were rewarded with food, you’ll be excited to hear we’re doing it again. If you came to the last BAO House Pop Up at Loaf, waited in that incredibly long line and didn’t get food because we ran out, you’ll be excited to hear we’re doing it again – with more BAO, extra sides…. but you should still get here earlier.

September 22nd is the date for your diaries.
No bookings/pre orders/reservations.
BYOB
All food is to take out, but you can sit in if you’d like – we have seating.
Cash or Card payments taken.

#BaoHouseTwo

Popsicle anyone?

Well the weather may be no good for proving sourdough, but it’s perfect for ice cream!

We’re chuffed to be stocking CREAMED POPS, a brand spanking new Birmingham based, small-batch artisan ice cream lolly brand! We rally behind our fellow Brummie food brands, so we just had to have them!

All natural ingredients, no artificial preservatives and fresh produce, combined to create a super delicious treat! Their ‘pops’ are fast frozen, meaning their ice cream stays silky smooth, creamy and icicle-free.

We’re currently stocking: Cinnamon Toast, Raspberry Cheesecake, Salted Caramel, Carrot Halva, Pure Origin Chocolate and fast-favourite Vietnamese Coffee.

What flavour will you choose?!

DIY Butchery!

Impress your friends at your next dinner or BBQ by doing your own Butchery! The question is: Chicken or Lamb?

Local Master Butcher Steve Rossiter, who runs Birmingham’s first organic butchers – Rossiters – in Bournville, leads our Butchery courses here at Loaf Cookery School (we also buy all of our meat for the Bakery/Shop lunches from him too!)

In the Perfect Poultry course, Steve will teach you how to joint, spatchcock, and butterfly your own chicken and poussin.

As well as learning the simple secrets to the perfect chicken stock, we’ll be making chorizo-stuffed chicken breast wrapped in streaky bacon, spatchcocked poussin with lemon and garlic (wild garlic when in season), Raz al Hanout tagine chicken, and chicken liver salad.

We sit down to feast on the fruits of our labour towards the end of the evening, so save plenty of room!

In the Nose to Tail: Lamb course, he’ll take you on a guided tour around a whole organic lamb carcass, explaining the provenance of the animal, the classic butchers cuts, the quality of the meat, and typical dishes cooked from each joint.

Steve will then demonstrate how to respectfully take apart a whole side of lamb, before handing over his saws and cleavers to us to take apart the other side, under his expert guidance.

You’ll learn how to bone out, roll and stuff various joints, ready for the oven. Always finishing with a sit down dinner of delicious slow-cooked lamb – usually chump chops with butter beans and salsa verde, plus lamb curry with rice and raita.

At the end of the course you’ll also take home your oven-ready boned and rolled roasting joint to cook at home!

*These are the last two courses available until Autumn, so don’t delay! Book today!*

Loaf’s Menu this week

Hey! Here’s our menu for the week!

Eat well, keep warm.

Good morning!
Here’s this weeks lunch menu!

We look forward to seeing you!

Christmas!

Good Monday Morning!

Christmas feels very much upon us!

We’re open as usual on Tuesday 23rd – 12noon-6:30pm. We’ll have some delicious roast beef & cucumber relish baguettes, or pear, stilton & walnut butter baguettes for lunch.

Then Christmas Eve, we’ll be open 8.15-12noon. No lunches, but plenty of bread to see you through christmas time!
Next door in the cookery school, Curds and Whey will be selling their gorgeous cheeses. (Cash only for cheese please!)

Remember if you have ordered stollen and mince pies, to come and collect on your allocated days!

And if you need a reminder of our opening hours over the next couple of weeks, click HERE.

We hope to see you this week, but if we don’t… have a lovely Christmas and New Year!

Sarah x