30 January 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 a preview of our upcoming pasta class, returning after a break and better than ever.
Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu, cookery school spaces and community news.
🍞 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:
Tue - Fri: 12 - 6
Saturday: 8 - 1
Return of the handmade pasta
One of our first-ever evening classes involved making fresh pasta, and then eating the results. Phil took over running it from Tom but when Phil left us in 2021 we were a little too preoccupied with pandemic recovery to do a proper handover. So when the cookery school returned after lockdown we prioritised the classes we knew we could run, but it was always our intention to bring handmade fresh pasta back.
The main driver has been Martha and Molly’s continued interest in Italian food. Molly has stayed in touch with ex-Loafer Valentina — who you’ll remember brought the authenticity to our Ragu Time pop-up in 2021 — and has visited her in Italy where much food was made and consumed. Suffice to say, it was not if but when this course would return.
Val was back in Birmingham over our winter break and the three of them, plus fellow Loafer Sarah, took over the cookery school to try out some recipes and ponder how best to teach them.
To begin with, Val taught her grandma’s way to make tortellini, filled with spinach and ricotta.
Val’s partner Tommaso lent his carbonara recipe made with guanciale from a recent meat curing class at Loaf.
Finally, there was puttanesca, a spicy tomato sauce with anchovies, capers and olives. This had been taught on our class from the beginning and Molly was keen to bring back her favourite dish. It’s an affordable sauce that goes a long way but still gives a lot of punchy flavours.
For the pasta itself they experimented with different mixes of flours and not just the usual Tipo 00. They were especially keen to work with some of the heritage flours Loaf has been using in the bakery.
Now, we just have to shape this into the perfect evening class, which won’t be hard, and it should be on sale in the next couple of months. If you’d like to be alerted as soon as classes go on sale, fill in this form.
All photos by Molly from the session in January 2023.
The Breadcrumbs
🥖 There are a couple of spaces on the Seafood Masterclass this Saturday 4th February. This popular class usually sells out so if you’ve been pondering it for a while, this is your opportunity. Book here.
🥖 You may have noticed we’ve started selling raw honeycombs and loose pollen from Rea Valley Apiary. These are quite niche but also quite hard to get hold of, so do let the hardcore honey aficionado in your life know we have them.
🥖 We’re delighted to say, we’re sponsoring the kit for the Bournville FC under-12 girls team for another year. They’ve had a good year so far, having moved to a new league where they’re currently in second place. Go girls!
🥖 Are you interested in Acid Morris? One of our regular customers is putting on a night of 21st-century folk on 10th February. Details here.
If you’ve got news or an event in Loaf’s wheelhouse (some variation on bread / community / cooperatives), let us know at newsletter@loaf.coop
Lunches this week
Tuesday
- Curry: Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)
Wednesday
- Soup: Spicy red lentil, red pepper and butternut squash with sourdough (Ve)
Thursday
- Soup: Roast tomato with sea salt focaccia
Friday
- Curry: Potato, spinach and bean curry with sourdough (Ve)
- Salt beef on challah
Tue — Fri
- Sourdough pizza: Artichoke, capers, kale, green olive and mozzarella (V)
Wed — Fri
- Ham and cheese croissant
- Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)
Tue — Sat:
- Sausage rolls
- Vegetable rolls (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 21 Mar
- Heritage Grains: Sat 25 Mar
- Wholegrain Baking with Tom Baker: Sat 18 Feb
Haseen’s evening classes:
Lap’s all-day classes:
- Sausage & Charcuterie: Tue 31 Jan
- Seafood Masterclass: Sat 4 Feb
Lap’s evening classes:
- Knife Skills: Tue 14 Feb
The next tranche of dates will be released late February / early March. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.
Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!
Team Loaf: Dorit, Martha, Ian, Rach, Neil, Sarah, Pete, Dave, Molly & Nancy
Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Twitter / Facebook