Chef goes back to grindstone to make bread fresh
A CHEF is bringing traditional skills back to the kitchen by milling flour to make fresh bread.
Ernst van Zyl from The Lord Clyde pub and restaurant in Kerridge decided to mill his own flour to make the fresh bread he serves even fresher and more authentic.
He uses a small flour mill with his own locally sourced grains each day to make the flour.
By doing this he wants to ensure that every one of his signature sourdough loaves uses flour fresh too.
Ernst said: “For me it’s all in the detail.
“We don’t just want home made bread, but home made flour too.
“I want to know where every ingredient has come from and for it to go through as few processes as possible.
“Milling the flour myself keeps it pure and means we mill just the amount we need so everything is super fresh.”
Ernst, a South African born chef, says milling flour is part of an interest in customers for using traditional skills.
Ernst said: “There’s a real appetite for going back to the basics and knowing every part of the food chain and its provenance.
“I think that includes the processes we put our food through too.
“This little mill has made me very popular on twitter with lots of people wanting to know where it’s from.
“I think more chefs will be looking to do the same.”
The Lord Clyde is the only pub in Cheshire to hold three AA Rosettes and one of only four North West pubs to appear in the Top 50 UK Gastropub’s list 2016.
Ernst opened The Lord Clyde with his business partner Sarah Richmond in 2014 and has more recently acquired two more properties – The Hanging Gate in Higher Sutton, Macclesfield and The Knott Inn in Rushton Spencer.
He launched a Saturday night Supper Club which replaces the standard Saturday dinner service and invites guests to arrive at 7pm for complementary drinks, before being seated for a set seven-course tasting menu at 7.30pm.
Ernst said: “The Supper Club means we can give our most popular table booking time of 7.30pm to everyone and create a more special culinary experience.”