The Sourdough School: Recent Episodes
The Sourdough School
IT TAKES GUTS! ANXIETY DISORDERS UNIT LAUNCHES THE MOST GUT-FRIENDLY PIZZAS
The Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit (ADRU) at the Bethlem Royal Hospital is now using flour developed by Dr. Vanessa Kimbell at The Sourdough School, incorporating our Hodmedods British-grown, botanically diverse flour. This initiative supports the unit’s mission to improve mental health through gut-friendly nutrition.
The Porter Phillips Pizzas
Professor David Veale, Consultant Psychiatrist at ADRU, describes the new pizzas as “probably the most gut-friendly pizzas ever.” Easy to make, these pizzas feature a high diversity of ingredients both in the dough and the toppings, promoting a rich gut microbiome. Inoculated with a probiotic lactobacillus topping, these pizzas not only nourish the body but also provide a perfect recipe for social interaction and mental well-being in the unit’s on-site café, GUTS.
Rising Costs - as cost of producing artisan breads the sourdough boule may reach £10 a loaf .. so is this the end of the Sourdough Boule?
As energy prices triple Is regenerative farming going to cost less than conventional Farming?
Could heritage grains bring more value to the traditional tin loaf?
Guests I have invited a panel of speakers to give a full understanding of the impact of costs on the baking industry: * Artisan Sourdough Baker Max Abbot of https://sourdoughrevolution.co.uk * Henry Astor Farmer Regenerative Practices Bruern Farm https://bruernfarms.co.uk * Josiah Meldrum Co - founder https://hodmedods.co.uk providing quality food from British farms that's more sustainably produced
Red Diesel has gone from 52p a litre to £1.20 a litre in less than a year. Regenerative Farming is less than 50% of the energy of convention farming Heritage grains is less then a 25% of the energy of conventional farming As energy the cost of wages and the cost of ingredients rise and an exponential rate, how can small to medium size bakeries still provide affordable bread and baked goods for customers, and run a financially viable business?Are there ways to save on flour through direct trade?Will bakers have to compromise on our principles? Are there technical suggestions on how to lower costs without compromising?The aim of this session is to share information, tips, techniques, ideas and advice that can help support managing spiralling costs of baking sourdough for at affordable prices for our communities who are also facing extreme cost of living challenge.HOW DO I GET AN INVITATION ON THE SHOW? Please get in touch with Vanessa Directly on sourdough.co.ukPlease follow on Instagram for notifications @sourdoughschoolVanessa Xx
Wonderful - this was recorded at Clarissa Dickson Wright memorial service. Such an inspiring woman whose kindness and wicked sense of humour I will treasure.
Sourdough Baker on the definition of sourdough, and opinion about mass produced fake sourdough ..
NIAB research on wild relative wheat breeding with modern wheat varieties to produce sustainable wheat for the future
Standing over looking the plantation with Xanthe Clay and Captain Arjen Van der Veen of the Tres Hombres chatting to Mott about the plantation and the bridge that he was planning
Mott green founder of The Grenada chocolate company. The 50,000 bars of chocolate are transported back on Tres Hombres Ship across the Atlantic.
Specialist Heritage grain grower John Letts .. almost burns a Neolithic pizza .. thank goodness he didn't .. it was delicious!
Christopher Blom grows 200 varieties of tulips and harvests over 30,000 flowers a year!
Listening at the Juniper & Rose food photography workshop to some of the advice on taking a photo by Photographer Boyd Gilmour.
I was working in Bristol when I had the morning off unexpectedly .. I literally stumbled across this fantastic Farmers Market.
Recipe - Makes 2 x 440g jars
Prep time 15 minutes Cooking time 15 minutes
200g soft brown sugar 170ml Spiced Orange & Clove Brandy 300g fresh cranberries 170g dried cherries or blueberries (or a mixture) 200g mixed currants and raisins 30g peeled, very finely grated fresh ginger 2 tsp mixed spice Juice and zest of 2 medium oranges 1 vanilla pod, cut into 4 pieces
1 Put the sugar and brandy into a large pan and warm gently. Add the fresh cranberries and cook gently for about 3 minutes. Stir well.
2 Tip in the dried fruit, ginger, mixed spice, orange juice and zest and vanilla and stir well. Cover and simmer very gently for about 15 minutes, stirring and checking occasionally.
3 Spoon into clean jars and store in the fridge. This keeps happily for up to 2 weeks.
Sold at Melton Mowbray Farmers Market ... the pigs are reared on stone ground meal, milled at our 18th Century watermill, Maxey Mill, on the River Welland. By using only our own farm herds we ensure a consistent tender taste of the past.
At Grasmere Farm, quality, flavour and tenderness can be guaranteed due to carefully controlled cereal diets, a friendly environment and modern processing facilities. Thus, Grasmere Farm pork combines the benefits of traditional values with up to the minute pork products to meet the demands of today
Melton Mowbray Farmers Market chatting to an infuriated farmer who never knows what he will earn this week.
Stopping for a cup of tea, and chatting with a farmers wife .. she was happy to explain why she loves the Melton Mowbray farmers market so much. - They are in the top three finalists for best farmers market in this year's Food and Farming Awards - the winners will been announced on The Food Programme in November.
At the traditional Cattle Market held every Tuesday, and Friday there is a farmers market, again held in the Cattle Market – on both days you will find a fantastic cheese stall selling a wide range of British cheeses and local products run by The Melton Cheeseboard is in heart of the traditional market town of Melton Mowbray, famed for Stilton cheese and pork pies. We currently stock around 120 different cheeses. they positively welcome customers who are interested in cheese and we are always happy to provide a taster before you buy. A family business, run by husband and wife Tim and Lyn Brown, with the part-time assistance of daughter Emma and son William, and three invaluable colleagues, Linda, Paula and Karen. Our nephew, Jack, has now also joined us, as our new Saturday boy. Melton Mowbray is a small market town, famous for its Stilton and pork pies, but there is so much more to enjoy.
All products sold at the Melton Mowbray Market have been grown, reared, caught, brewed, pickled, baked, smoked or processed by the stallholder." The Tuesday and Friday Farmers' Market was shortlisted to one of the last 3 places in the Best Market category in the prestigious BBC Food and Farming Awards ... which will be announced in November 2012 .. I popped along to find out more about this fantastic market.
I've started running a pop up bakery course.. please email me for more information Recipes@vanessakimbell.com
Chatting with Rose Prince, Telegraph food writer about this years produce at the The Weston & Lois Weedon Horticultural Society Annual Show at Lois Weedon
Chatting with Laura Sitwell about her delicious marmalade at the the Weston & Lois Weedon Horticultural Society Annual Show at Lois Weedon, Northampton
Near Daventry - Farm selling; Water Buffalo Milk and Meat; Interesting flavours of ice cream; Buffalo Bello hard cheese; natural yoghurt and buffalo mozzorello; burgers & sausages.
Napton Water Buffalo was born in 1999, The herd now numbers over 300 animals, and together with 50 Friesian cows,
The herd originally came from Romania, where buffalos are a common sight. There are actually more water buffalo kept world-wide than cows. The Water Buffalo are not to be confused with their African cousins, or the American "buffalo", which are really bison! The true Water Buffalo, Bubalus Bubalis, are native across most of Asia, and are the only variety which can be milked.
The farm began to diversify during 2004 into their own dairy products made from the water buffalo milk. The first of these was the development and manufacture of ice creams, with the help of Steve Holley from the Cropredy Bridge Ice Cream Company. The ice creams come in many interesting flavours, including Chocolate Orange and Christmas Pudding. Napton Water Buffalo have also developed two types of hard cheese, Buffalo Bello Original and Smoky Bello oak smoked cheese.
Napton Water Buffalo also offer fresh meat in hampers for sale directly from the farm. Burgers and sausages hand made from buffalo meat are also available.
Tim is the son of a doctor and a nurse, Tim went to medical school where he met his wife Rachel, who is also a doctor and with whom he has two children, Abi and Noah. While he loved working in medicine, Tim’s passion for cooking was a thread that ran throughout his life.
In 2009, Tim filled in an application for the TV programme Masterchef, was invited to audition and won a place on the show.
The experience of being on Masterchef 2010 was challenging and exciting and had Tim cooking amazing food in intense situations. Between the filming and the airing of the series, life carried on as usual – but when the show aired and Tim was a runner up in the final, everything changed.
Leaving his job at the Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital in February 2010, Tim started his business from his kitchen, perfecting his recipes for exquisitely delicious macarons, tarts, cakes and other treats.
Word spread and Tim soon found himself outgrowing his workspace – in September 2010 he moved to a larger kitchen.
With a current focus on the wholesale and online side of Macarons & More, Tim’s next challenge will be to open a shop in Norwich selling his cakes, macarons and treats.
Meconopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the Papaveraceae family .
Meconopsis grandis, nicknamed the Blue Poppy (although it is only poppy-like) It is the national flower of Bhutan. In spring of 1922, a British Himalayan expedition, led by the legendary mountaineer George Leigh Mallory, discovered the plant on their failed attempt to reach the summit of the then-unconquered Mount Everest. The flowers were introduced at the RHS spring show of 1926. However, since they are really very difficult to grow, the species has become fabled over the decades so I thought i;d find out how to grow it at Chelsea Flower show from an expert !
Michael Marriott has worked with David Austin Roses for over 25 years. During this time he has designed private rose gardens and prestigious public gardens in many different countries.
His own garden is run on organic principles and has never been sprayed over the last 22 years. Selecting only the most healthy varieties of roses, he uses companion plants to attract beneficial insects.
Michael is a great believer in the basic, common-sense principles of gardening. These include using mycorrhizal fungi, enriching the soil, watering, mulching and fertilising well.
He is frequently asked for advice on pruning and feels there is far too much emphasis placed on the mystique of pruning. In practice, this is so simple that it would be very hard to go wrong when pruning the tough and versatile English Roses.
It's great when you meet someone who is as into food as you are .. and has some fabulous tips on where to go !
5am in the milking parlour chatting to Tim the farm Manager - unpasteurised milk production - raw milk
Out walking and meet this chap as I was walking the dog! . what an accent and he used to be a game keeper !
Ben is a 22 year old, fourth generation master ice cream maker from the heart of the Cotswolds, having learnt his craft through generations of his family. Ben's Great Grandfather Albert Winstone started Winstones Cotswold Ice Cream in 1925 near Stroud, Gloucestershire, where the business still flourishes today under Ben's mother Jane Vear who sits as managing director and Ben's father Colin who acts as General Manager.
Ben is not just passionate about ice cream. He also inherited his grandfather's insistence on sourcing the finest and freshest ingredients, if possible from the local community. His recipes encourage use of home-grown or locally sourced fruits and the best (local) organic milk, double cream, and water.
Ben is the author of 'Make Your Own Organic Ice Cream' in which you'll find simple, delicious ice creams such as strawberries & cream, butterscotch chip, lemon meringue, Christmas pudding and even mulled wine; sorbets such as lime & basil, winter or summer Pimms, lemon grass & ginger and sloe vodka; and frozen desserts, smoothies and thickies. And you'll discover how you can turn your own home grown fruit, or fruit you can forage in your hedgerows, into gorgeous, easy-to-make desserts that can be kept in the freezer for family meals or just to indulge in for their own deliciousness
I asked Dan Lepard about what to expect when using this ceramic dome to bake my bread with.
Stopped and chatted to four very relaxed ladies about why they love Ragdale so much and com back year on year
PEGGY PORSCHEN – PRINCIPLE & HEAD TUTOR Fascinated by baking and cake decorating from childhood, in 1998 Peggy moved from Germany to London to study at the internationally renowned Le Cordon Bleu cookery school. After completing ‘The Grand Diploma of Cuisine & Patisserie’ she worked as a pastry chef at London's Lanesborough Hotel as well as for celebrated caterer Rhubarb Food Design. Peggy also went on to work as a cake decorator for German master-baker Gerhard Jenne, proprietor of Konditor & Cook.
Quickly developing her own style she set up her own business in 2003 and founded Peggy Porschen Cakes, a bespoke cake company that not only reflects her life-long love of baking but also celebrates beautiful craftsmanship inspired by romance, fashion and femininity. Since then she has become one of the most prominent and pioneering names in contemporary cake design for the UK as well as internationally.
Peggy is a regular contributor to various magazines, such as Condé Nast Brides, Wedding and Sainsbury’s Magazine, and many of her celebrity wedding cakes have been featured in Tatler, OK and HELLO magazine. Her TV credits in the UK include Rachel Allen’s Bake, Good Food Live and Wedding Experts and in Germany she appeared on Johannes B. Kerner, 3 nach 9 and Wissenshunger.
Situated just over the road from the Peggy Porschen Parlour in London’s beautiful Belgravia, the Academy is nestled between the chic boutiques of Elizabeth Street and boasts an intimate, state-of-the-art teaching kitchen with well-equipped facilities. Granite works tops gleam in the light and spacious classroom complete with demonstration mirror as well as a commercial baking oven and cake making equipment. Catering to classes of a maximum 10 students at a time, each will benefit from one on one advice, personalised tips and will learn at their own work station. Each student will be provided with their own set of professional tools and an electric Kitchen Aid Mixer, enabling them to learn at their own pace and maximise their potential during the class. Students will also be provided with Peggy Porschen chef’s jackets and aprons for the duration of the course.
Peggy has carefully chosen the ingredients used by her academy students; each tried and tested over the years for quality and suitability to each recipe while reflecting her lifelong commitment to great tasting cookies and cakes.