Artisan baker Aidan Monks has set about reinvigorating some ancient ingredients to create a range of nutritious better for you breads to help people maintain a balanced diet and healthy body.
Never one to sit on his laurels Aidan has been busily researching ancient bread making methodology he has set about adapting, modernising and improving on those ancient techniques.
As you might expect for Aidan provenance is everything, which is why he has spent a considerable amount of time testing and refining his recipes, taking great care to source and use only the finest organic ingredients from across the UK before bringing the breads to market.
The first two breads in the new range are all about gut health, they are brim full of nutritious ingredients and are designed to form part of a balanced diet and help maintain a healthy body.
Spelt, Golden and Brown Linseed Seed Bread – priced at £4
Spelt, has a complex history, it’s a naturally occurring hybrid of a domesticated wheats including emmer and wild goat grass. But there’s no doubt that it’s been an important staple since the Bronze Age, which is no surprise when you consider its mild, nutty flavour.
Similarly, Linseed Seeds (aka Flax Seeds), have been rattling about in our food for some 30,000 years, which is no great surprise when you discover how good for you they really are, handily they are also a great source of gluten/wheat free fibre.
The wholegrain spelt in this loaf can help to improve your heart health, aid digestion, whilst and the linseeds can help to improve your overall digestive function and play a big part in helping to improve blood cholesterol levels and your overall heart health too.
So as you can see this bread packs a real punch, bursting with an array of vitamins and essential nutrients including iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc and potassium, making it just the thing for those keen to maintain a healthy body as part of a balanced diet.
Sunflower Seed Danish Rugbrød – priced at £4
Rugbrød is a traditional bread healthy bread, full of texture and loaded with flavour. It was brought to UK shores by those lovely Vikings in the 10th century, but way back when they weren’t the only ones chomping this ancient bread form, it was particularly popular across northern Europe and the Russian Stepp, being easy to grow in cold and wet climates, despite the fact it has its origins in northern Syria some 10,000 years ago. It’s a nifty wholegrain crop, which is high in fibre and very nutrient dense containing manganese, copper, phosphorus and pantothenic acid. Rye’s health benefits are well documented helping to naturally lower blood pressure, lower the risk of suffering a heart attack failure, improve circulation and improve gut health and overall digestive tract function.
Sunflower Seeds are a fairly new addition to western diets but have figured large in native central and north American Indian diets for over 3,000 years. Sunflowers were introduced to Europe by Spanish conquistadors and by the 18th century they were a hugely popular health food. Sunflower seeds are vitamin rich, and are rich in nutrients including copper, magnesium and thiamine and they are rich in plant sterols. They help to reduce cholesterol, improve arterial function, help your metabolic function and aid overall gut health.
So, all in all you can begin to see the benefits of combining these two main ingredients in each of these new breads, providing a good cross section of vitamins, high levels of dietary fibre, excellent nutritional properties and both are easier to digest because the breads are both sourdoughs the bacteria present in the natural fermentation process eats the sugars and starch in the grains, which helps the gut absorb all of the goodness found in these breads.
Aidan Monks, baker and owner at Lovingly Artisan, commented: ‘’Fermented food has soared in popularity in recent years, in part thanks to the ever-increasing interest and research into gut health people are beginning to realise the importance of eating foods that aid absorption and increase healthy probiotics in the gut. As bakers we want to be at the forefront of this resurgence in traditionally made breads, real breads made by artisan bakers, that are high in fibre, full of nutrients and are easily digested because they are naturally fermented and don’t contain the array of additives, manufactured yeasts and processed sugars that you find in a factory produced sliced loaf.’’
Both breads are available on a first come first serve basis at the Lovingly Artisan Bread Store at Plumgarth’s, Kendal and at Lovingly Artisan’s Altrincham Market Bakery, Manchester.
Please note appropriate social distancing measures are in force at both locations for your safety and the safety of Lovingly Artisan’s team members and that only contactless payment is being accepted.
Both of the new breads are priced at £4 each.
