To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast The Food Blog You Can Listen To. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link
HELLO EVERYONE, Welcome to August’s episode of Breaking Bread Podcast. Like most episodes, we start by going through what Carl has been cooking. Not so much this month due to the amount we have been dining out.
Restaurants In Birmingham
We discuss some amazing restaurants including Follium, Bonehead, Early Bird Bakery and plenty more.
#BrumDineWithUs
We finish the episode by answering some fans’ questions and recommending a recipe to try at home in our new #BrumDineWithUs feature. This month we switched it up and went for a cocktail recipe made from previous guests Crazy Gin. Don’t forget if you enjoy this episode and got some decent recommendations then make sure you tell your friends about us
To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast with Crazy Gin Co. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link
Crazy Singh Crazy Kaur Crazy Gin
Welcome to the latest episode of the Breaking Bread Podcast with Carl & Liam. This week we sit down for a great chat with Lassi based Crazy Gin creators Paramjit & Bruce.
Crazy Gin An Indian British Fusion
They talk us through their story and their inspiration for taking an Indian British fusion upbringing and distilling it into a gin.
From a drunken night in with some rubbish chicken tikka to road trips across the country becoming the talk of one of Britain’s best-known stores, Harvey Nichols.
Iconic Crazy Gin Bottle
This episode goes into great detail about taking an idea, developing it into a product and then getting it out there, a very useful story for somebody doing the same.
music is royalty-free track i will not let you let me down by joshwoodwardfreemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/ edited by Liam Haughey under creative license 3 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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My list of restaurants I need to try has been invaded by pizza restaurants. Poli, Kings Heath has gone straight to the top of that list. Brought to you by the folks behind the fantastic Grace + James, Poli Is located nearly next door on York Road. A road with an ever-growing number of exciting independents.
Burrata
As I walk down a road packed full of people enjoying the early evening sunshine outside The Juke, Grace+James, and Poli. I am not for the last time this evening, glad I took advice from Birminghams self-proclaimed best blogger and booked a table
The Start
His advice about which starter to get was just as valuable. The pizza menu is good however it is the small plates that are the main source of my excitement. We order the burrata cheese with heritage tomatoes, bone marrow with homemade sourdough and the lamb fat roast potatoes.
Bone Marrow
Roast Potatoes + Bone Marrow
The Burrata cheese is creamy and works perfectly with the sweet heritage tomatoes. The bone marrow is luxurious on top of the homemade sourdough which is deep in flavour. However, it is the roast potatoes that steal the show. Fluffy potatoes inside a Crunchy lamb fat infused crust which is heavy on the mint, superb.
Lucky Saint No Alcohol
To Drink
Ice Cold Lager, is there anything better to drink with a pizza on a red hot day? Massive brownie points to Poli for considering us non-drinkers and putting one of the most impressive zero alcohol beers, Lucky Saint on their menu.
Bianca Pizza
The Main Event
The focus of this cosy restaurant is the open kitchen with its dramatic wood-fired pizza oven. It is the violent heat provided by the fire oven that cooks and blisters the sourdough pizza base leaving light puffed up scorched delicious crusts.
Margherita Pizza
You can judge a restaurant by how well they do the basics, so I order the Margherita. The typical Neopolitan pizza is soupy in the middle oozing with sweet ripe tomato sauce, gooey mozzarella and basil. It is very good and the quality of the ingredients shine through. My friend has the Bianca, an interesting pizza topped with black pepper cream, and three types of cheese, scamorza, mozzarella and pecorino. It is incredibly good and I am so glad I accepted his invitation to swap slice for a slice.
Dessert?
Every story should have a happy ending, and Poli’s story is no exception. Happy Endings. not the best thing to enter into Google but a fantastic little company that creates fun ice cream sandwiches. I have the strawberry one with jam, marshmallow, chocolate, and shortbread. A great end to an excellent dinner.
I Love A Happy Ending
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To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast The Food Blog People Listen To. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link
HELLO FOODIES, Welcome to July’s episode of Breaking Bread Podcast, the podcast people listen to. This week Carl and i are talking about all the yummy things we (Carl) have been cooking and the cookbooks that have inspired us.
Spicy Lamb Burger
Carl is a huge fan of Made In India and cooks from it at least twice a month. He raves about about how practical and easy to follow the recipes are. Carl cooked the impressive looking simple, but delicious spicy lamb burger.
Spicy Lamb Burger
Booze
Booze is a big part of this episode as Carl runs through cocktails he is experimenting with and craft beers that have got him raving. Most of which at the moment come from Newport brewery Tiny Rebel.
We rave about how much fun we had at the recent Beer Central Festival, and discuss how impressed we were by the breweries on display, Liam loved Big Drop breweries no & low alcohol beers.
The Food Blog People Listen To
We finish by talking through some incredible places we have eaten in, including The Merry Maid, Fiesta Del Asado and Little Blackwood
To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast with Chef Ben Taylor & I. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link
Ben Taylor
HELLO FOODIES, This week we are Breaking Bread With Chef Ben Taylor. Head Chef & owner of one of our favourite restaurants at the moment, Little Blackwood Moseley.
Chef Ben Taylor
We start the episode off by going through Bens work history, places he has trained at, and how working in hotel kitchens is so different to working in a normal restaurant and changes dramatically again, when you own your own restaurant
Little Blackwood, Moseley
Since recording this episode, we have been very lucky to have become friends with Ben & his girlfriend restaurant manager Zsofia. As you hear in the show, Ben is extremely passionate about his restaurant and loves what he does. I think the crazy hard work that goes in to being a restaurant owner is evident.
Advice
As with my other interviews with chefs, i wanted to get some advice for people just starting out in the industry. Ben was great and honest with his advice not sugar coating the hard work that is involved in training to be a chef, while stating the importance of treating ingredients with respect. I also pushed Ben for a little advice for anybody looking to start their own restaurant, so there is plenty of valuable content that i hope you find useful.
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To find out more about Beer Central Festival, just listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast with Greg, Oli & Donncha. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link https://breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog/listen/
Beer Central Festival
HELLO FOODIES, Welcome to a very special bonus episode. We have a cracking chat with Beer Central Festival organiser Greg and Digbrew owner Oli and their head brewer Donncha.
Beer Central Festival is only 1 WEEK AWAY. It is a brand new exciting two day beer festival, you hear all about it in the episode. It’s a great episode and i’m mega excited for the festival. There are still tickets available, just head to the website below.
Clio
To celebrate the festival We Are Beer teamed up with a few other local breweries including Digbrew to create an interesting beer for the festival. It’s called Clio, the origin behind the name is brilliant and well worth listening to the podcast to hear the story behind it.
“Suped Up Clio”
Beer Central Festival
Great Beer (Obviously)
The festival takes place at new venue 119 Digbeth and runs in three sessions. Friday 6th July 18.00-2300, and two sessions Saturday 1130-16.30 and 18.00-23.00. Tickets cost £45 and include a free glass, a program plus all Beer. With beer from over 30 Breweries including many Midlands based favourites there’ll be plenty to get stuck in to.
Great Food
Almost as exciting as the beer line up, is the food line up. Beer Central has got some of the best food in Birmingham cooking up a storm. Michelin Star Chef, Brad Carter is teaming up with Asian feast pop up wizard Lap for a special grill. O.P.M will be there, with in my opinion the best burgers in town, and will be joined by Birmingham legends Baked In Brick and Purecraft Kitchen.
Great Music
Providing the tunes will be DJ Yoda. A DJ set from the fantastic Kaiser Chiefs, You’ll need to get your singing voices ready for the power ballad onslaught from Ultimate Power and bring out your inner Snoop with Hip Hop Karaoke.
music is royalty free track i will not let you let me down by joshwoodwardfreemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/ edited by liam Haughey under creative license 3 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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Birmingham food tour very kindly invited me on this food tour of the Jewellery Quarter. Food, interesting local knowledge and a great time were all provided by Birmingham Food Tour and completely free. Opinions as always are completely my own.
Birmingham Food Tour
To be honest, the first time i heard about a food tour in Birmingham. Being from this great city and as someone who eats out, FREQUENTLY. I thought why would i do that? What possibly could i be shown that I’ve not seen before.
The truth is that the Birmingham restaurant scene is changing so much, that i have found it nearly impossible to make a dent in my list of places i need to visit. Especially when it comes to the Jewellery Quarter.
Saints Kitchen
Saint Kitchen
So the meeting place for our adventure is Saint kitchen at the bottom of St Paul’s Square. I enter to a warm welcome from our host Rhiannon and the rest of the food fanatics, who are all busy getting to know each other.
Joining the group on my own i was immediately made to feel welcome by the couples sitting close by, and the conversation soon got flowing about my favourite subject, food. Right on cue we are presented with a quick introduction to Saint and their food by Rhiannon to our meals a sort of tomato and bean stew with a slice of grilled halloumi and topped with a perfect poach egg. Served with a slice of sourdough toast, which threatens to steal the show, and is from the amazing Peel & Stone Bakery.
It was superb, so good it made me feel guilty i had wrongly dismissed Saint Kitchen as being part of the same chain as desco lounge and Sorrento Lounge. I now know that this modern independent is brilliant and will be back to sample some more from their brunch menu.
Otto Pizza
Otto Pizza
A quick stroll across the square, stopping to listen to Rhiannon’s interesting and informative local knowledge. I had no idea how much history was behind this area. We come to our next stop, Otto Wood Fired Pizza AKA- Birmingham’s best pizza, in my opinion. Although i’m yet to try the new pizza places vying for that throne.
One of my concerns of going on a food tour was portion size. Convinced they would just be small plates or tasters, Saint kitchen dispelled my ignorance and Otto Pizza beat me over the head with it. So much food! Even a greedy sod like me was starting to feel the burn, and then out come more pizza.
Generous quality ingredients top a fantastic crisp base, which has risen and blistered from the heat of the fire. So deep in conversation, and having fun i forget to take any notes of pizza names or toppings and just about remember to take a photo.
Rock & Roll Brewhouse
Rock & Roll Brewhouse
Our third stop was a little trickier to find, it’s easily missed but you’ll be sorry if you do miss it. From the outside it looks a bit run down and industrial but down the concrete ramp and into the windowless tap room, you are transported in to one of the city’s hidden gems.
The music is blasting but not with anything current, this place takes great pride in their uniquely brilliant taste in music. Even posting their playlist on their Facebook page for all to see.
The interior is unique too, like no other i have seen. It did feel like going back in time to an old social club which had me feeling nostalgic. The tap room was packed with a great atmosphere. When i used to drink, this is the kind of place i loved, and could have spent the whole day, sampling their different beers. A must see for anyone who has never been
Pig & Tail
Pig & Tail
A quick pit stop for a tour of the fascinating Ruskin building and it’s serene roof top kitchen garden allotment, and we arrive at our next destination. The Pig & Tail on Albion St. A kind of modern English fusion Tapas restaurant from the same folk who brought us The Pickled Piglet.
Cod Chunks
A beautifully modern pub, with a great selection of small plates and sharing boards. We are treated to a summer tasting board and a few small plates, but as with Otto i’m so consumed enjoying the company of my new friends i forget to take any notes, and my mental notes don’t expand past delicious. Not helpful for the Pig & Tail but very telling of how much fun this tour is.
Vanguard Mead Bar
By the time we get to our last stop, we are well fed and quite relived that the last of our adventures is of the liquid variety. Mead tasting at Vanguard, situated above 1000 trades. This charming bar is not only notorious for it’s selection of and dedication to mead, but for it’s quality cocktails too.
Mead Tasting
We taste three different meads, introduced by owner Chris who is determined to rid mead of it’s medieval, old man stereo type and is succeeding too. The last of the meads being a sparkling low percentage mead, which would go incredibly well over ice in a chilled glass on a warm summers day, if we ever get one.
Rhiannon passes around some treats from our friends over at the chocolate quarter, and we begin to say goodbyes. Today really did prove one of my favourite quotes true “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t met” I can’t recommend this tour enough, and i definitely will be back on it soon
To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast Good Places To Eat In Birmingham June Round up with Carl & I, just press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link https://breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog/listen/
Lamb Benedict Little Blackwood Best Food In Birmingham
HELLO FOODIES, Carl and I are back again this week. We start by talking about some of the delicious meals Carl has been cooking at home. He tells us about the cook books hes using most at the moment
Pinch Of Nom
Pinch Of Nom is a cracking book, packed full of healthy, exciting & delicious recipes. Brought to you by the same people who created the original Pinch Of Nom Blog One of the UK’s favourite blogs.
BOSH!
The biggest selling Vegan cookbook of all time, BOSH! is bursting with everyday, simple, yummy recipes. It’s our go to book for an easy meat free meal
A Spot At The Bar
A cracking and very simple to use cocktail book, that will get even the most novice of mixologists making beautiful drinks in no time. All with out the need for a 500 spirit back bar.
Places To Eat In Birmingham. Some Of The Restaurants We Have Visited
Little Blackwood
So many good places to eat in Birmingham but one of our favourites at the moment is Little Blackwood. Carl and I checked out there new exciting brunch menu
Maison Mayci
Beautiful French bakery in the heart of Moseley, which i visit regularkly for their tarts and sourdough. They have now decided to open their doors Friday & Saturday dinner times and are offering a beautiful little authentic French menu
Breaking Bread Podcast Ep.15 Purnells Head Chef Luke Butcher
To find out what’s it like to work in a Michelin starred kitchen, just listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast with Luke & I. Press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link
Chef Luke Butcher
HELLO FOODIES, Welcome to Episode 15 of The Breaking Bread Podcast. This week we are breaking bread with chef Luke Butcher. Head chef at one of the most iconic restaurants in Birmingham, Purnells. A Michelin starred fine dining restaurant owned by celebrity chef Glyn Purnell.
Purnells Iconic Burnt Egg Custard
Luke’s Career Working In Michelin Starred Kitchens
Luke takes us through his career from his first job as a potwash in Adlard’s to working under Infamous Tom Kerridge at The Hand and Flowers in Marlow before settling in Brum at Purnells.
Mushrooms On Toast At Purnells
What’s It Like To Work In A Michelin Starred Kitchen?
We have a brilliant and interesting chat in which Luke offers a real insight in to what’s it like working in a Michelin Starred kitchen in 2019 . How the kitchen environment, working hours and working conditions have changed since he first started in the industry, and plenty of great useful advice for any new or young chefs just starting out.
music is royalty free track i will not let you let me down by joshwoodwardfreemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/ edited by liam Haughey under creative license 3 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
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To listen to this episode of Breaking Bread Podcast with Carl & I, just press play on the player above, alternatively you can listen on your favourite podcast app, just select from the list on this link https://breakingbreadpodcastuk.blog/listen-to-our-podcast/
Ep.14 Breaking Bread Podcast
HELLO FOODIES, Carl and I are back again this week. We start by talking about some of the delicious meals Carl has been cooking at home. Not as much home cooked food this week, as we have been eating out lots lately.
#AD
One of the places we visited was Lasan, who have just launched their weekend feast menu. We were very kindly invited to try the new menu and share our thoughts with Lasan. So just to be clear we did not pay for this meal, although as usual all opinions are our own. We’re not big fans of taking free food, but accepted this, because it was a restaurant we like and have paid to visit many times before.
Lasan is a very popular up market indian restaurant based in the Jewellery Quarter. With impeccable service, stunning interior which match the quality of it’s food. The beautiful dining room on your right as you walk in, is perfect. On this warm spring day the light comes cascading through the windows filling the whole room.
Beautiful Dining Room
After a short time at the bar enjoying cocktails and meeting other guests who had been invited to try the new menu, we are shown to our tables. Seated in groups of fours and sixes, to make the most of the everybody get stuck in sharing aspect of the new feast menu.
Mutton Samosa
First up is a mutton samosa. A delicious little crispy parcel of well spiced mutton, a tasty little warm up act for the feast that was about to follow
Masala Shoulder Of Lamb
The aromatic smell of spice fills the dining room making my mouth water, as the waiters start to fill the table with Lasan’s take on a traditional Sunday roast.
There is a heavily spiced, slightly sweet Red lentil and papaya dish called Papita Daal. Some excellent fluffy roast potatoes caked in chili, mustard seed and curry leaf. which the table votes unanimously to request more of. There is also a masala coated cauliflower, which i don’t like but Carl does. No Indian feast would be complete without a pillow like nan, this one seasoned with a little truffle oil perfect to mop up the juices.
Dum Aloo
The show stopping focal point of this feast, is the enormous shoulder of masala spiced lamb relaxing on a bed of fragrant Biriyiani. It’s stunning, cooked perfectly. I could grab the bone and the meat would just fall straight off it. Tender is a serious understatement.
As a table we fully emerge into the sharing aspect of the meal, and get stuck in. It feels like the right thing to do, and is an experience i really enjoy. I love that every table is eating and talking, there’s a real family atmosphere in the dining room, which is exactly what i believe the restaurant are aiming for.
Carrot Cake
Although we struggle to finish the lamb, we miraculously manage to eat dessert. A deconstructed carrot cake with vanilla ice cream which is good but not special. I feel it might be a bit on the pricey side to ask for an extra £6 for dessert on top of the £35 for the meal.
