Good afternoon everybody,
Glancing at my calendar I see it's been four weeks since I returned to work after parental leave. Following the often unstructured newborn phase, and summer break with the attendant closure of nursery, new routines are now beginning to establish. My working week starts at seven in the morning on Tuesday when I head in to meet David, the miller, and the Hamblin team, for the flour delivery. Although not averse to humping around some flour sacks, the main purpose of this is to check in with David, get an update on our currently dwindling grain supplies, and have a natter over a cup of coffee. There are often insights to be gleaned on subjects ranging from mill mechanics and long distance lorry driving to agricultural practices and hair raising stories of rural crime.
With the flour bags stacked and David safely on the way back to Staffs it's time to turn our attention to getting as much prep as possible done for the week ahead. The pastry meeting at eight thirty encompasses a briefing from Harriet on wholesale and special orders, before the back of house team review the previous week, discuss tweaks to the bread schedule or bun proving, before considering any new items. Last week, for example, the question of exactly how the diced apple should be incorporated into the muffin batter took some time to resolve; was the apple dressed or even briefly cooked, should it be tossed in flour, if it was to be frozen overnight exactly when should it be pulled from the freezer and by whom? Despite having all our recipes documented, there can often be room for interpretation, not to say innovation. It feels like a healthy process, aiding consistency but also leaving space for new ideas or approaches.
For front of house, there are hundreds of cookies to be balled and weighed, endless pizza boxes to be assembled and labelled for wholesale deliveries, the menu board and till to be updated, labels to be printed, pizza sauces and sandwich fillings to be prepared, as well as the main event, cutting and wrapping cheese. This inevitably involves lots of tasting, not for pleasure although it is of course a treat, but more to appraise, appreciate and discuss. Such and such is on peak form, x feels a little dry, y was better last week, and so on. The tasting and the talking are crucial to developing knowledge and understanding.
Everyone sits down for staff lunch at one-ish, a convivial affair, often involving food chat, whether it be where did you eat, what did you cook, what's your favourite soft herb, or the perennial favourite "pick three cuisines for the rest of your life"... Good grief I haven't even got to the afternoon. I set out thinking I'd run through the whole week at a sprightly pace without getting too bogged down and had no inkling that I'd squeeze this much juice out of Tuesday morning alone so I'm minded to leave it there, feeling that I may already have exceeded the point at which this ceases to be a pleasant glimpse behind the scenes and becomes a plodding account of some of the more mundane aspects of bakery life. Tune in next week for the nuances of the recycling bin and adjusting online stock counts.
Anyway. Back to the matter at hand, namely the following:
Apple Crumble & Custard Bun A great British dessert in bun form. Apples from Styan compoted with vanilla and lemon, rich custard made with Caklebean eggs, you-know-what on top.
Hazelnut Bar Although the Brazil nut harvest is complete in Pará and Mato Grosso, this season’s Brazil nuts won’t reach us until at least December. So, our new take on a Brazil Nut Bar will be with roasted hazelnuts from Piedmont. As with the BNB there will be a crumbly shortbread base, hazelnuts enrobed in caramel and a Pump Street chocolate ganache to finish.
Sandwiches The much loved Chicken Caesar returns to the Covered Market (shout out to Fosse Meadows Farm for the very best, slow grown, free range birds), whilst at Iffley we will have Ham & Celeriac Remoulade alongside Hafod Cheddar & St John chutney.
Cheese Brefu Bach – the last of this season’s batch so the flavours have developed more savoury notes: fresh bread and game pate; fudgy textured. Sinodun Hill – bright and clean with lemony notes and a hint of pine nuts.
That's all we have time for folks. As always we thank you for reading and appreciate you supporting the bakery.
Have a lovely Sunday,
Hugo and Kate