What does January mean for you?
Believe it or not, it’s our favourite month of the year! It’s all about trying new things, pushing our boundaries just a little and getting out of the comfort zone pants. And one of things on the ‘fu bucket list in 2019 is to get more involved in the food community here in Brighton. In the past 12 months, we’ve been introduced to so many amazing small food producers and food businesses in Sussex. So much passion surrounds us here when it comes to the subject of food. We are even luckier in Brighton because so much of that passion has it’s heart in healthy eating, plant-based and innovative foods. There literally is no better city to test the water with our chickpea tofu than Brighton.
One of these inspiring business people I’ve met is Gem (Gems Wholesome Kitchens). She has literally held my hand throughout the past year. Gem, has been my unelected and unpaid mentor, giving me advice and generally propping up my ego! The amazing dishes that she has created using our Tohu made our mouths water. She has marinated our chickpea tofu to perfection, skewered it, grilled it, fried it and the results have been impressive. Want to know how to cook tofu? Imaginative is the keyword here. In her regular monthly Cleanse packages, she rescues those that would love to keep a healthy, nutritious, mood-boosting diet..with a door to door delivery service. Like most people who live in busy Brighton, people simply do not have time to cook themselves at certain periods, when working a full-time commute to London, or being a mum to a new baby. These are times when you need the nutrition the most! Check out her testimonials…Gems the best, hands down and try this amazing Tohu Ramen recipe.
Gems Wholefood Kitchen
…marinated our chickpea tofu to perfection, skewered it, grilled it, fried it and the results have been impressive
We became friends. We thought, let’s join forces and host an intimate supper club in a cool venue. We want to feed people a scrumptious and wholesome 4 course supper. We want to use the best seasonal and local produce. We want it to be mood-boosting and just so happen to be plant based. We want it to be friendly, fun and for everyone to leave with a warm feeling in their tummy. We want it to be for both women and men equally…you know, like how it should be in the world. We want everyone there to leave having met at least one new person they’ve connected with. That’s what life’s about isn’t it? And the exciting thing is that you never know who you will meet, and what this new connection may hold in store for you in the future.
So our first event, “another supper club”, will be on the very last day of January. It’s a Thursday..so near enough to the weekend to want to be sociable. It’s the end of the month that most people have stopped this, that or the other…we want to show you that you can eat well, drink well and not feel deprived! The emphasis here will be on wholesome foods that will fill you up just enough, no pushing peas around plates here.
This event sold out the day the tickets went on sale so it seems to host on January 31st is a good idea all around.
Find out what we cooked that night here.
A mood-boosting menu
another supper club
To celebrate the end of January 2019, we collaborated with Gem’s Wholesome Kitchens to make ‘another supper club”…a little off shoot of both our businesses. We wanted to have some fun, amongst like-minded people and talk food and life. Both of us are huge believers in food as an incredible tool to boost your vitality and mood, raise your energy levels and help to heal.
This was our menu on the night along with the beer pairing for each course, as suggested by Holler Brewery. More about Holler Brewery here.
Welcome cocktail:
Rosehip & rosemary kombucha mule (We used Old Tree kombucha, added a shot of vodka and topped up with Fever Tree Ginger Ale)
Canapés:
White bean, basil and garlic hummus, flax crackers and sun-dried tomato. Maple roasted beetroot, Ospalla’s smoked vegan cheese, apple and walnut.
Starter:
Kale, Tohu & black rice noodle salad, dressed in tamarind and tamari, garnished with fried shallots, peanuts, coriander and dried chilli + Loot 5.5% : This is our New England IPA, which is very low bitterness with peach and apricot notes from the yeast strain used.
Soup:
Purple sweet potato & cauliflower soup topped with baked crispy ‘Fu-tons and toasted almonds + The Bear 8.7% : Our new porter, this contains cocoa nibs, vanilla and bourbon.
Main Course:
Yellow indian banana blossom taco, cashew raita & racy apple chutney + Lager 4.8% : The lager is soft and clean, which is going to allow for the spices and citrus to shine through
Dessert:
Beetkvas poached pear crumble & lemon cream + Extra Pale 4% : This is light enough to let the pear flavour come through, whilst cleansing the palate.
—
mood credentials
—
Kale. High in mood-boosting magnesium, which creates a feeling of calm and plays a large role in the development of serotonin which helps beat stress and depression.
—
Purple potato contains the antioxidant beta-carotene which helps with reducing free radical damage to brain cells. They are a great mood-boosting food as they are high in folate and a deficiency in folate has been linked to depression.
—
Banana Blossom contains magnesium, banana flowers reduce anxiety and boosts the mood. They are natural anti-depressants without any side effects.
—
Beet kvass, as a fermented drink, is also teeming with beneficial bacteria that help protect the gut and produce important enzymes that aid digestion.
—
Anger, anxiety, sadness, and happiness all of these feelings (and others) can trigger symptoms in the gut … therefore, a person’s stomach or tummy problems can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. So look after your gut health with natural probiotics and fermented foods.
The key ingredient that should never be missing, is the joy of company, curiousity and connection. We hope we’ve helped add the final ingredient by bringing you all to one table tonight.
—
We pop-up in the Holler Tap Room
“There’s a story behind Holler, but also one reaching far in front that we want YOU to be a part of…”
Thursday 31st January saw ‘Fu set up kitchen along with Gems Wholesome Kitchens, in the new Holler Tap Room on Elder Place in Brighton. Gem and I had spent a few weeks since Christmas planning our first foray into a joint supper club. The tickets had been released for sale and sold out within 24 hrs on an early December day. We were super excited!
Holler Tap Room was a relatively last minute idea. We both knew what we wanted in our heads when it came to the first night. Something original, fun and vibrant. We weren’t aiming for the sophistication of Etch. We were creating a cool and casual dining experience and the venue had to reflect this. There is no doubt that in many ways it was perfect. Holler Tap Room has only been open in this site since September 2018, their first and main brewery being in the countryside near Lewes. The Tap Room is tucked away behind London Rd, on the Preston Circus end. They have that cool metal fencing that you see in films and surrounding the vicinity is a realistic mix of good and bad graffiti. Holler is both tucked away and proudly imposing at the same time, in an area that is perfectly safe but gritty enough to make you feel like you’ve discovered a dirty secret. We fell in love at first sight.
After spending a few days getting excited and attempting to woo the team there, Martyn (the ops manager) gave us the go ahead. YES!
Holler Tap Room hadn’t hosted an event like this yet…this is another reason why we wanted so badly to bag it. We’d be the first and we liked that. The little downside to this upside, is that the place did not actually have a kitchen. Mm. No kitchen. While I was slightly terrified…Gem shrugged it off as a minor issue. Being the pro that she is. And thank god she did, as otherwise we may not have taken on the challenge. These are the things that make life exciting right?!
Needless to say, with the help of some last minute running around, begging and borrowing from friends, it all worked out marvellously. We arrived first thing in the morning, rearranged everything, got under the feet of the friendly brewers who we are sure would have been cursing us. Traipsing through their super clean production area, dragging through screens, plants, coat rails..random other things we decided to bring to give the place our personal touch. The place was shining with cleanliness and that was such a delight for us to see whilst towards the end of the day, we patiently waited for them to give us the nod. When they were finished for the day we could finally bring in the food.
The night was a huge success. More about the evening and the menu here.
Why we love the Holler Tap Room
- All the beers are vegan.
- The taproom is open every day from 12pm – 11pm.
- All of the beer on offer is available to take home in 2 litre flasks, with the additional options of mini kegs, cans and full 72 pint casks offered.
- Holler made it snow for us on the night, yes they did!
- Because we do.
HOLLER BREWERY & TAPROOM, 19-23 Elder Place, Brighton, BN1 4GF.
