24 October 2023

This is the weekly-ish 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 look at our three cookery masterclasses which are coming up over the autumn. We also have some Real Bread books in stock.

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

Tom's back this weekend

This Saturday we have a Wholegrain Baking masterclass with Tom Baker, who is Loaf's founder and the reason why we do what we do the way we do it. The last few of these have sold out but there are a couple of places left so if this is a course you've been tempted to come on, now's your chance.

Alongside showing you how to work with wholemeal flour and using more whole grains, the class is themed around Tom's experiences since leaving Loaf to run Rye and Roses, his micro-homestead and bakery near Machynlleth in mid-Wales, and the relationships he's built with local wheat growers.

Book your place here.

Seafood and Sausages

Now we're officially into autumn and the temperatures have dropped, we're able once again to offer our two all-day meat masterclasses with Lap-fai Lee.

Sausage and Charcuterie will show you how to make and link a variety of fresh sausages including Mergeuz, Boudin, Cumberland and Smoked Garlic. You'll also be making guanciale from a pig's head, pancetta from the belly, and making dry cured sausages such as salami and chorizo.

Book here for Saturday 4th November.

Our Seafood Masterclass is an intensive deep dive (pun intended) that takes the fear out of fish preparation and equips you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to go home and enjoy cooking fish fresh from the markets.

Book here for Saturday 2nd December..

Real Bread Campaign books in stock

We're dipping our toes into stocking books again, starting with the Real Bread Campaign's core text, Slow Dough: Real Bread, and their recently updated guide to starting your own bakery business, Knead to Know...more. Both practical guides and inspirational polemics, we recommend the former to people on our bread courses and the latter to people for whom the bread courses were a little too successful!

Lunches this week

Wednesday

• Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)

Thursday

• Soup: Roasted butternut squash, red lentil and toasted seeds with sourdough (Ve)

Friday

• Curry: Cauliflower, potato and spinach with sourdough (Ve)
• Salt beef on challah bun

Wed – Sat:

• Sausage rolls
• Vegetable rolls (V)

Wed - Fri

• Sourdough pizza: Aubergine, roast red pepper and onion, chilli, basil and Mozzarella (V)
• Ham and cheese croissant
• Tomato, spinach 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: Sat 18 Nov, Tue 28 Nov
• Simply Sourdough: Sat 11 Nov
• Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie: Sat 25 Nov
• Baking with Heritage Grains Returns in 2024
• Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker: Sat 28 Oct

Loaf’s evening classes:

• Handmade Pasta: Returns in 2024

Haseen’s evening classes:

• Dosa: Returns in 2024
• Thaali: Wed 29 Nov

Lap’s all-day classes:

• Sausage & Charcuterie: Sat 4 Nov
• Seafood Masterclass: Sat 2 Dec

Lap’s evening classes:

• Thai: Returns in 2024
• Sushi: Returns in 2024
• Ramen: Tue 21 Nov
• Dumplings: Tue 7 Nov
• Knife Skills: Returns in 2024

Classes for 2024 will be released in December. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.

Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!

Team Loaf: Rach, Dave, Martha, Molly, Neil, Ian, Pete, Sarah & Dorit

Website: loaf.coop
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