Whilst working in a digital agency in Leeds a couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to sample the frequent baked treats from Mike aka – The Bearded Baker. I interviewed Mike to find out exactly where his love of baking had come from, what he thinks of the food scene in the UK and his development of recipes for those with allergies.
What made you start baking?
Food. I like to make it and eat it. Basically when I moved out and went to university I was a very picky eater. I also didn’t know much about cooking. So come my second year of university, I started realising that I needed to start working vegetables and more good foods into what I was eating. So I started teaching myself to cook in a manner where I could incorporate the vegetables without necessarily knowing it was there. This lead to me learning all sorts of new skills and trying a lot of new food. It then stretched to me starting to bake now and then. Something which clicked a couple of years later and it just kind of went from there.
Do you aspire to be like any chef in particular or are you influenced by particular places?
I sound a bit useless here. I suck with celebrity chefs as I barely watch TV. I’m a big fan of Tom Kitchin, but that also comes from being lucky enough to eat at The Kitchin in Edinburgh a few years back.
What are your top five cupboard ingredients?
This is going to be a top 10 I’m afraid, and I’m going to break it up between baking and cooking.
Baking (no particular order and fairly standard):
1. Flour – I’ve a big container which I keep full
2. White Sugar – I have the most ridiculously large bag of granulated sugar on the top of my fridge freezer.
3. Baking Powder
4. Baking Soda
5. Vanilla – go for a decent quality essence or something, rather than the cheap flavouring.
6. Yeast – if you’re baking bread it’s a must have.
Cooking (no particular order):
1. Veg Stock – a decent quality veg stock is great for all sorts of dishes and adds a lot of flavour without taking over.
2. Paprika – I just love the stuff
3. Cinnamon – This one could have gone in the baking bit too
4. Chorizo – I know it’s more of a fridge one but I love the stuff and want to put it in everything.
5. Sriracha – Same as above.
What’s your favourite recipe and why?
I never know how to answer this one. It’s really tricky. I bake and cook so much. One of my favourite bakes is one of the simplest I’ve baked and is my Peanut Butter Cookies. Quick, need very few ingredients and are so chewy and delicious. For cooking I love slow cooking things (this is partly because being single I cook for just me a lot, which means big batches are good for a week). But I also think Coriander Cashew Pesto is one of my favourite recipes to add to a salad or stir fry.
Do you think the food is better up North or down South?
It’s hard to judge. Especially as London doesn’t really count as the south and is also its own food bubble with some of the very best restaurants in the country and a thriving street food scene. However, Leeds and Manchester in particular have superb food scenes at the moment, with the added bonus of getting a lot of proper local produce. For all I know other bits of the south are different to London mind, so I can’t comment too much on that. One thing I will say though is that the North has a great alcohol scene, especially Yorkshire.
Would you ever shave off the beard?
Yup, but it likely wouldn’t stay shaved for long. I mainly have it because I’m lazy.
You’ve adapted some of your recipes to take into account food allergies, do you think this will be a focus over the next few years?
I have indeed, and while it likely won’t be a main focus I do want to start blogging about these sorts of things more often. I’ve a lot of friends who are either vegan, diabetic, gluten intolerant or similar so it makes a lot of sense for me to blog things they can find accessible.
What’s next for the bearded baker?
Well, I’m going to keep on blogging and hope that keeps on going as well as it has so far. I want to try and get some bakes stocked somewhere local if I can. I also may be setting up a small business sometime soon which I’m not going to elaborate more on until it’s happened as it’s still very much in the early stages!
You can find more on Mike’s delicious recipes right here: http://www.thebeardedbakery.com/
i like mine with a kiss 