12 September 2023
This is the weekly newsletter from Loaf in Stirchley, keeping you abreast of our bakery and cookery school, and other news we think you might be interested in.
This week we have our Thai and Sourdough classes, a report on our free kids snacks initiative, honey and preserves news, and celebrate a new co-op in Kings Heath.
Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu and cookery school spaces.
🍞 Pre-order your bread and pastries 🥐
We’ll have plenty on the shelves all week, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.
Our opening hours are:
Wed - Fri: 12-6
Saturday: 8-1
It's apple time! 🍎🍏
If you'd like the apples from your garden to be in our mince pie mix this year, bring them in this week. We'll take any variety – cookers, eaters and even crabs – and any excess will be given to a local jam or cider maker, once the sweets shift have had their pick.
Please don't go overboard – a carrier bag each from a few people is plenty!
Cookery school classes this week
We're into week two of the autumn 'term' and this is what's running, if you fancy learning some new things!
On Tuesday 12th (tonight!) we have our recently relaunched Handmade Pasta with Martha and Molly. It's too late to book now, but it'll be back on 11th October.
This course teaches you the skills to make fresh pasta at home, with fillings and sauces to accompany it. We'll show you both hand rolling and cutting techniques as well as using a pasta machine. Recipes include a classic carbonara with double zero “00” flour and Loaf made guanciale, a heritage grain Einkorn pappardelle, and a couple of delicious filled pastas and sauces.
Next we have Thai cooking on Wednesday 13th with Lap-fai Lee.
Like all Loaf courses, this Thai course is very hands-on, and throughout the evening we’ll be tasting the fruits of our labour. We’ll make Som Tam Thai (spicy papaya salad), Nam Pla Ra (fermented fish relish with fresh vegetables), Pla Tort (deep fried grouper with Nam Jim sauce), Massaman beef curry and Yum Makeua Yao (smoky aubergine salad with egg).
Finally on Saturday 16th it's the all-day Simply Sourdough with Loaf's sourdough maestro Rachel.
You will learn all about sourdough, from feeding and keeping your starter alive through to kneading, shaping, proving and baking your sourdough loaf. It is a hands on course and throughout the day you will make a wheat sourdough and a rye sourdough, and also take one home in a banneton to bake the next day. We aim to equip you with the skills to confidently make sourdough in your own home.
You can see all the upcoming classes on our calendar and at the end of this newsletter.
Kids Snack Packs report
At the start of the summer break we announced our plan to prepare packs of snacks for kids whose families were struggling with the cost of living in the holidays and asked you for donations. We had a fantastic response from our customers and also Tricas, the construction company working on our new building over the road. We’re so grateful to you all.
This more than covered the snack pack costs and any leftover funds will be given to the B30 Food Bank this week. We also have a few snacks left which will go to the Cotteridge School food bank, a cupboard which any parent or guardian can access without asking.
We shouldn’t have to do this because there shouldn’t be the need. But there is, and like lots of other local independents, we wanted to offer a little something to bridge the gap.
Along with handing them out in the shop, we also brought onboard the Shed in Cotteridge Park to help with distribution when we were closed.
While we're content with how things went, we're actively thinking about how we can make this more accessible and reach more people. If this is the sort of area you have expertise in, please do get in touch with Sarah at info@loaf.coop.
Week two of baking with Desem
This month, for Sourdough September, we're experimenting with a new style of starter. Last week we got it going.
This week there's not much to report. The starter has matured nicely and we hope to give it its first bake in the next few days. Look for good/bad news next week!
Honey and preserves news
🐝 Congratulations to Rea Valley Apiary!
We popped along to the Birmingham Beekeepers show at Winterbourne this weekend and happened to catch the awards ceremony where Sharif Khan – whose Rea Valley honey we stock in our bakery shop – won nearly all the awards! Here he is with his haul.
With hives in Stirchley and along the river Rea, Sharif's honey is as local to Loaf as it gets – there's a good chance the bees have feasted on nectar from your back garden – and we also stock his borage and heather varieties.
🐻 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!
🍯 So long and thanks for all the honey, Gareth
If you're a long-time patron of Loaf you'll remember when we only stocked one local honey from 'G Francis' and might be wondering when they'll be back on the shelves. After many years of beekeeping and supplying honey to the local shops, Gareth has decided to retire. Thank you for your service, Gareth!
🚨 New cooperative klaxon! 🚨
Congratulations to the newest cooperatively-run enterprise on the block! York Supplies was successful in its share offer, raising £250,000 from the local community to buy this much-loved local business from its retiring owners.
As you may know there are different types of coops. Loaf is a worker coop, meaning it is owned by the people who work here. York Supplies will be a community coop where anyone who wants to support its existence can become a member by buying a share in the business, and earning a dividend should it make a profit. While the workers there can of course also become members, they will be employed by the community coop, where each share is equal to one vote, regardless of how much was invested.
It's exciting to see so many different models of ownership across our often-troubled high streets. One size rarely fits, after all.
Lunches this week
Wednesday
- Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)
Thursday
- Sandwich: Heritage tomato, roasted garlic labneh, mint, basil, pickled red onion and carrot slaw on sea salt focaccia(V)
Friday
- Curry: Sweet potato, pea and lentil curry with sourdough (Ve)
- Salt beef on challah bun
Wed – Sat:
- Sausage rolls
- Vegetable rolls (V)
Wed - Fri
- Sourdough pizza: black olives, sun-dried tomato, basil pesto & mozzarella (V)
- Ham and cheese croissant
- Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)
Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.
Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.
Cookery school classes
The following classes have spaces as of this newsletter being posted.
Loaf’s all-day classes:
- Bread — Back to Basics: Tue 24 Oct
- Simply Sourdough: Sat 16 Sep
- Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie: Sat 14 Oct
- Baking with Heritage Grains Returns in November
- Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker: Sat 28 Oct
Loaf’s evening classes:
- Handmade Pasta: Wed 11 Oct
Haseen’s evening classes:
Lap’s all-day classes:
- Sausage & Charcuterie: Sat 4 Nov
- Seafood Masterclass: Sat 7 Oct
Lap’s evening classes:
- Thai: Wed 13 Sep
- Sushi: Thu 21 Sep
- Ramen: Thu 4 Oct
- Dumplings: Returns in November
- Knife Skills: Wed 20 Sep
Classes for November will be released mid-late September. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.
Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!
Team Loaf: Neil, Nancy, Dave, Martha, Molly, Pete, Dorit, Ian, Rach & Sarah
Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Twitter / Facebook