YES.  You read right.  This month our Tasty Tuesday contributors come to us from 'Brothl' - Melbourne's most innovative new restaurant, and the latest amazing project from restauranteur, zero waste advocate and multi-disciplinary creative Joost Bakker.  Brothl is about two things - optimal nutrition and zero waste.  This month Joost and his head chef Ryan Bussey will share with us 5 of their favourite dishes, rich in flavour and essential nutrients.  Along the way, we'll learn about Joost's passionate food philosophies, and the lengths he and Ryan will go to seek out the most incredible nutrient dense ingredients for the menu at Brothl (fresh foraged seaweed directly from the Victorian coastline, anyone?).  And if you're vegetarian, don't worry, three out of five recipes this month are veg friendly! - Lucy.

Joost Bakker and head chef Ryan Bussey and their new restaurant, Brothl, in Melbourne's CBD.  Photo - Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.

Broth's popular beef bone broth, with tuscan kale and beef brisket.  Photo - Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.

I recently opened my latest no waste restaurant, Brothl, in Melbourne’s CBD, and this month, with our awesome head chef Ryan Bussey, we will be sharing five of our signature broths.  Brothl is all about getting the maximum nutrition out of food, by respecting and using proven primitive preparation methods, and serving food that not only tastes amazing, but nourishes the body as well.

I believe our biggest health challenge today is the lack of nutrition in our Western diet.
This was proven back in the 1930’s by an amazing visionary, Dr. Weston Price, who was concerned by the increase in cavities and poor jaw development in his patients (the need for braces baffled him), and decided to spend the next 10 years visiting and researching healthy primitive tribes across the globe.  He ultimately came to the conclusion that our diet was simply lacking in nutrition, especially fat soluble vitamins. He discovered that most healthy primitive communities had up to 8 times more nutrients in their diet, obtained from many different food sources and preparation methods.

From German Dentist and researcher Dr. Johann Georg Schnitzer and Dr. Friedrich Pröll, to holistic thinkers and researchers like Dr. Colin T Campbell and Dr. Kate Rheaume-Bleue there are many who have influenced how we prepare and serve our foods at Brothl.

Broth is one of the most primitive foods and referred to in ancient times as ‘medicine’. Broth is truly a remarkable food, loaded with nutrients, vitamins and minerals. It is often referred to as ‘Liquid Calcium’ and loaded with Gelatin.  Our health cannot be obtained from a capsule filled medicine jar, but instead from real food made from scratch, using ingredients grown with pride and care and harvested from soils that are alive. That should be our medicine.

In addition to our primary focus on extracting optimal nutrition from the foods we prepare, At Brothl we also adhere to a policy I have been advocating for many years now - zero waste! We source the best ingredients from Australia’s finest restaurants (such as the highest quality beef bones, collected directly from Neil Perry’s Rockpool) - ingredients that would otherwise be mostly ‘wasted’ after their original and intended use. At Brothl we believe in using and consuming less, a lot less. Respecting and utilising everything, now that is truly sustainable.

First up we have our beef bone broth, which we create using the most incredible flavoursome and nutrient-dense bones straight from Rockpool restaurant. This broth contains gelatin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and Vitamin K2, which collectively improve and aid digestion, healthy skin, hair and nail growth, boost the immune systems, positively assist with thyroid issues and bone joints, and even work as a wrinkle reducer!  (One thing I love most about Brothl is that people are already being recommended our broths by their Chinese doctor!)

When making this at home be sure to only use bones from organic, grass fed, and well raised animals, and do yourself a favour, read an incredible book by Dr Kate Rheaum called Calcium K2 and the Calcium Paradox!

Bones from Rock Pool. Photo - Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.

Ingredients (serves 4 - 6)

2.5 kg grass fed beef bones
5L water (we use rainwater)
2 carrots
2 onions
1/2  head Celery
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

500g grass fed beef brisket
1 bunch tuscan kale / cavolo nero
250g mushrooms

Roasted beef bones.  Photo - Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.

Method (stART 24 HRS AHEAD)

Roast beef bones and vegetables at 180 degrees for 60 minutes until brown. Once roasted, place the roast beef bones and vegetables in a large casserole pot with lid, fill with water, and bring up to 95 degrees or just below a simmer. At Brothl we cook our broths for 48 hours (this is the optimal amount of time to extract all of the nutrients out of the bone), but for a home version I would suggest cooking it at a low simmer for six or more hours, periodically topping up the evaporated water. Then just before you are about to go to bed, pop the brisket in the casserole dish and put the lid on, then place the pot into the oven at 95 degrees and leave to slowly continue cooking overnight.

When you wake up you'll find the delicious tasting slow cooked broth. When you're ready to serve the broth, remember to strain it and discard the bones and vegetables, and keep the brisket meat. Once you've extracted your meat, slice it along with the mushrooms and kale and add them to the broth. Then, just before serving, pop the casserole dish back on the stove and bring it to a slow simmer, then serve. Season with salt and lemon.

Broth's popular beef bone broth in the stock pot.  Photo - Sean Fennessy for The Design Files.