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Dear Newsletter Subscriber
Happy New Year!
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2013. We have lots in the pipeline for you both at the kitchen & the bakery. In this newsletter we have full details of our new class with Spice Trip's Emma Grazette, plus a delicious recipe for Zingy roast chicken from Emma to brighten up the dull January days. Our Focus on Five (a detailed look at our longer courses) is our flagship 5 day bread making course with Richard and we introduce our new signed copy service so you can get your hands on a dedicated signed copy of a book by your favourite chef even if you couldn't make the class....
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Winter at The Bertinet Bakery
Let's face it - its pretty horrid out there. The weather is taking a turn for the worse and January is always a depressing month. What better place to banish the winter blues than snuggled into the corner of our cafe at New Bond Street or hiding away with a friend at The Vaults. Come on down to New bond Street for a pot of tea, steaming breakfast bowls of coffee or chocolate to clasp cold hands around, and of course a little treat to cheer yourself up. Who doesn't feel better after an almond croissant or salted caramel brownie?   We have revamped our cafe menu at New Bond Street for the coming winter months and have developed an extended range of soups. What could be better on a cold day than a bowl of delicious soup and a bucket of Bertinet bread to toast and dunk. We offer a choice of two soups at New Bond Street Place and one at Brunel Square and flavours include Pea & Ham, a rich mushroom soup with parmesan, Roasted squash with thyme and coming soon White bean & Chorizo and Chicken & Pearl Barley. In order to make sure that we are serving you as quickly as possible we have also introduced a new service system in New Bond Street with more items available for you to help yourself. Please bear with us as we make the changes. Look out for details of the fabulous products for Valentines day coming in our February newsletter including Meringue kisses, Macaroons, Passion fruit tarts & more.
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SPICE TRIP WITH EMMA GRAZETTESaturday 23 March 2013 10am �165In the run up to Christmas we released this fabulous new class but didn't have time to tell you all about it so now we are going to put that right.
Emma Grazette is a spice expert who is joining us to show you how to brighten up the dreary winter days with a bit of zing and depth of flavour. But not stopping there Emma is also an expert in the nutritional benefits of spices and how we can use them as part of a healthy diet.
Emma studied nutritional therapy and Caribbean studies before becomming a chef. Her chefing career has included stints at The Chapel in Somerset and the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath before spending 3 yrs as head development chef at The Spicery in Bath researching authentic recipes involving spices. 
The blends and recipes developed by Emma at The Spicery have received critical applause and customers include The Fat Duck, Rick Stein, Hibiscus, Ottolenghi, Moro, Atul Kochar and Sat Bains.
Emma can be seen alongside The Telegraphs's food columnist Stevie Parle co-presenting Channel 4/more 4's prime time series Spice Trip, a culinary spicy adventure across the world and you will find one of Emma's recipes below to try at home.
EMMA'S ZINGY ROAST CHICKEN
Prep 25 mins plus a couple of hours marinating Cook 50-60 mins
8 chicken leg / thigh portions or a 1.5kg whole chicken good handful corriander good handful parsley 3-4 garlic cloves, peeled zest of 1 lemon and juice of half 1 small onion sliced olive oil 1 tsp salt For the spice blend1 tbsp toasted ground cumin 1 tsp smoked or sweet paprika or cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper Good old roast chicken is an east 'go to' dish and takes on the bright earthy flavours of chermoula paste really well. The fresh paste combines cumin's savoury nutty flavour with sweet paprika that contrasts with the zingy herbs. Chermoula is a North African paste normally used for marinating fish but it also gives chicken an incredible flavour. Smother it on, let it infuse for as long as you can resist and then roast to perfection. I cooked this dish for the workers on the cumin plantation in Turkey as a thank-you harvest supper and they loved it. In a blender or pestle and mortar (if using the latter roughly chop the herbs, garlic and half the onion), combine the corriander, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and juice, half the onion, a glug of olive oil, 1 tsp salt and the spices. Coarsly blend to make a thick paste. Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade / 375 farenheit / gas 5. Pull the skin away from the flesh of the chicken and press your fingers underneath. Levering the skin away from the meat, spoon the paste between the skin and flesh and massage over the top of each piece to spread the paste all over the flesh in every crease and crevice. Rub the rest of the paste over the outside of the chicken. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour. Arrange the remaining onion slices on the base of a roasting tray and sit the chicken on top. Roast for 30 minutes then turn up the heat to 220 centigrade / 425 farenheit / gas 7 and roast for a further 20 to 30 minutes until the juices run clear when a skewer is inserted into the flesh. If the chicken browns too quickly loosely cover it with foil. Remove from the oven and rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Images and recipe from Spice Trip: The simple way to make food exciting by Emma Grazette and Stevie Parle. Published by Square Peg �20 |
FOCUS ON FIVE
Five day bread making course with
Richard Bertinet
This is the second in our series looking in detail at our longer courses. Our 5 day breadmaking course is our flagship or Rolls Royce class. It is the one that entices you from all corners of the globe and, though we say it ourselves, it really is a fantastic week. With thanks to chrisdaviesphotography.com (for most of the shots taken while he was with us on the class), here is a look at the full five days and what some of you have had to say about it.....
Day 1 - An Introduction to Breadmaking (the Bertinet way!)
 Day 1 is a vital part of the course where Richard makes sure that you have got the basic techniques on board. Whether you are new to bread making, new to his techniques or even if you have been working from the books for some time there is plenty to learn. Lots of individual attention but all of it good fun!   By the end of the day you will have created fougasse (and flashed your first fougasse grin!) bread sticks, foccaccia, tin loaves and prepared a flamiche for lunch.
Day 2 has a distinctly French feel. You will learn how to make a classic baguette, epis and pain de campagne. But more importantly you will start to learn about some of the key themes that run through the week.
 
The first is working with ferments as we look at how using a poolish can develop the flavour of your bread. Then there is dividing and the key skill of moulding which takes practice, practice and more practice and is something Richard regularly reinforces with our own team of bakers. You will also start to learn how to use a lame correctly and how to bake with steam.
Day 3 - Italian Breads
Day 3 develops both the idea of working with a ferment (though as today has an Italian theme, it is a biga, for the ciabatta) and the moulding work.
We also cover filled breads and look a little closer at working with inclusions.
  By the end of the day you will have created piles of beautiful authentic ciabatta, roasted tomato and pesto bread, bread swirls with parma ham and pine nuts, grissini and more.
Dark doughs and Sweet doughs
On day 4 we start the work we will complete on day 5 and take the first steps towards our sourdough. But we also spend day 4 looking at the differences in working with darker flours and the process of enriching doughs with butter, sugar and milk to create sweet doughs.
  You will learn how to handle wholemeal and spelt doughs, how to make brioche, baguette viennoise, fruited tea loaves and even doughnuts.
Day 5 - Sourdoughs and other slow doughs
Day 5 is all about sourdough. There is a bit of theory but also a lot of practical work covering white sourdough, rye sourdough and wholemeal sourdough.
You will be perfecting moulding techniques, turning out beautiful loaves from your proving baskets and practising loading them into an oven to bake with steam and produce a fantastic crust. The Trimmings
At the end of each day, the class gathers to make lunch. Something different everyday but always something to complement the bread you have been working on....
 ...flamiche with some left over white doughs, hanger steak to stuff in a freshly baked baguette, pizza of course on the Italian breads day plus some smoked salmon, rocket and roasted cherry tomato pasta, tartiflette or perhaps some soups for dunking.  It's time for a well earned glass of wine and a chance to digest what you have learned that day with your fellow bakers. Richard is on hand to answer any queries you might have and to chat about bread and baking in all its aspects. 
What you think about it...
This is an example of the lovely unsolicited feedback we have for the 5 day bread course. It is only one example but we received it this week after the January class so it is about as up to date as we can get....
"I just wanted to write to you to say how much I enjoyed the bread making course last week. It really was a most relaxing, inspiring and rewarding experience, and it has certainly changed my view of bread. I will never buy or eat sliced bread again, and I very much hope that I will not be tempted to spend money on other people's speciality bread either! I have made a few baguettes over the last few days, and rather surprised everyone with the results. Everything you said to us last week makes perfect sense - and the results are very rewarding. I am so glad that I stayed for the whole course. Everything seemed to make much more sense by Friday, as you wisely predicted, and I found the chat at the end of the course really useful....
Finally, I thought that the course was extremely well designed and put together, and it would be difficult for me to suggest any changes or improvements. Breakfast, coffee & prunes, and a delicious lunch were a real treat, and I can only guess how much work you and your team had put in behind the scenes. The logic and content of the programme was perfect in my view. Jess gave me a piece of your ferment on Friday, and it has already been pressed into service, and refreshed!
Many thanks to both you and your team for a really delightful and enjoyable five days in Bath. I know that there are other bread making courses around, but for me there can only be one - as I will happily tell my friends."
and the nitty gritty...
Our 5 day bread course runs 5 or 6 times a year. Places are currently available on both our May and August classes.
13 to 17 May 2013
19 to 23 August 2013
�925 per person for the 5 day course including lunch with wine every day, all materials and ingredients, a recipe pack and folder, a signed copy of Richard Bertinet's CRUST, a dough scraper, a lame and blades. 
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Available dates
A quick diary check of new and available dates for our most popular classes....
An Introduction to Bread making with Richard Bertinet Thursday 2 May - NEW date Wednesday 22 May - NEW date Saturday 6 July Saturday 10 August
An Introduction to Bread making with Jenny Chandler
Sat 20 April
Fri 10 May
Pastry MasterclassFri 8 February - 1 place Wed 20 March - 2 places Tue 4 June Sat 17 August - new SATURDAY date Croissant MasterclassThurs 7 February - 1 place Tue 26 February - 1 place Thurs 23 May - New Date 5 Day Patisserie course with Yolanda Stanley MCA8 to 12 April Italian CookingFri 15 March - Venice & Italy's North East Sat 13 April - Dishes from Emilia Romagna |
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WINTER SALE continues
with more classes added
The last few places on some of our January classes are now available at a fantastic reduced price of �132 per person. You can browse and book them HERE.If you are inspired by our Spice Trip class and thinking about cooking up something with a bit of zing then take a look at our Steenbergs spices - all at 20% off including Black peppercorns, Cumin, Turmeric and Cardamon.
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NEW Signed Copies Service
For those of you who have missed out on some of our fast selling guest chef classes we are now able to offer you the opportunity to purchased signed and dedicated copies of their books. First up is the brilliant Couture Chocolate: A Masterclass in Chocolate by William Curley, and the winner of the prestigous Guild of Food Writers Cookbook of the Year 2012.  William is with us on Friday 25 January so place your order for the book online before the end of next Monday 21 January and we will have it signed and dedicated for you and despatched on Monday 28 January.  In Couture Chocolate, William shares his techniques and most mouth-watering recipes, starting with the basics: tempering and making a bar of chocolate; advice on how to add exotic flavours like rosemary or raspberry; and introducing different textures. His delectable recipes are helpfully grouped into sections: 'Truffles and Filled Chocolates' examines the science behind creating the perfect truffle, making ganache and adding fabulous flavours; 'Couture Chocolates' looks at experimental (but delicious) fillings such as apricot and wasabi, sea salt caramel, black rice vinegar and thyme; 'Bouches and Small Delights' covers blackcurrant tea cake, chocolate rochers and millionaire shortbread; 'Patisserie' explores chocolate and praline Paris Brest, chocolate financier with passion fruit curd, chocolate mille-fuille and more;  'Cakes and Biscuits' boasts chocolate and pistachio cake, macaroons, sable and chocolate rosette with orange ganache; and finally 'Chocolate Ices, Drinks, Sauces and Spread' looks at a huge variety, including Gianduja chocolate, Tahitian vanilla and golden chestnut. With its unique recipes and sumptuous photographs, Couture Chocolate delivers a lifetime's worth of culinary excitement and experimentation into your kitchen.
'William Curley is one of the great chocolatiers. By combining flawless technique and wonderfully exciting creativity he literally brings chocolate to life.' Heston Blumenthal
'Stunning photography entices the reader at every turn of the page. This is a beautiful book that will appeal to all levels of chefs and chocolate makers. It's a must-have for anyone serious about chocolate, whether you are a beginner or a professional.' Caterer & Hotelkeeper
Next month Tom Kime's Tasting...
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Last minute availability
We have a few places left on some of our classes coming up in the next few weeks:
Eat the Week Winter
Friday 18 January 10am
New Year Special just �132
The most wonderful class that show you how to make the most of your shopping and plan ahead for a week's meals.
Stylish Indian Entertaining with Monisha Bharadwaj
Saturday 19 January 10am �132
3 places available
Indian cuisine is popular the world over and nowadays every self-respecting cook treasures their rows of delicate herbs and exotic spices that contain the secret to their aromatic masala pastes. In this hands on class, Monisha shows you how to cook stylish dishes the authentic way.
Beginners Class
Desperate Housewives & Hapless Husbands
Friday 25 January 10am �132If you are a bit hopeless in the kitchen, resort to ready means more often that you would like to admit to and would like to make a new start then this is the class for you. This fun class with Jenny Chandler will teach you enough to make simple family suppers without resorting to ready meals or the freezer section at the supermarket.
Simple Modern British with Charlie DigneySaturday 26 January 10am �132 2 places availableCharlie Digney is the owner of the King William pub and dining rooms and the Garricks Head Pub in Bath, both well recognised and respected for their fantastic organic seasonal cooking. In this hands on class Charlie will guide you through a range of delicious modern British classics.
a gastropub to bring a tear to your eye, a pub so good that it is truly worth the hour and a half train journey from London just for lunch. Giles Coren, The Times
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And finally....
The Bertinet Kitchen in the news
Vantage Magazine gave us a lovely mention for our mince pies in their January issue (out last December).
Country & Town House magazine had a chat with Richard about making the perfect loaf for their January edition (also our December.
 The Saturday Times included suggestions for Christmas lunch for foodies from a number of top chefs including Richard on 15 December...
 and finally the January / February edition of Men's Health has included Richard's recipe for Spagetti Carbonara (from COOK) in its ideal muscle meals - the right blend of protein carbs and fat for developing those pecs! 
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As always, we look forward to welcoming you to the kitchen and bakery soon.
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Richard & Jo Bertinet
and The Bertinet Kitchen Team
www.bertinet.com
+44 (0)1225 445531
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