Brothl's Breakfast Broth

 

Brothl's Breakfast Broth served with rhubarb, apple, pear and orange. Photo - Sean Fennessy. Styling - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Oats are the original superfood.  When rolling them fresh, oats contain over 25 vitamins, minerals, fibre and most importantly, healthy natural oils! You can plant unrolled oats in the most sterile soil, and for the first six weeks the plant looks so lush and vibrant. That's because at that early stage the plant is using all of the goodness that has been stored in each oat - a dense little package of oils and nutrients. It is also incredibly robust and outgrows most weeds, making it an easy crop to grow without using chemicals. Oats are also brain food.  There are many studies that link fresh rolled oats with improved mental health.  When Weston Price (an American dentist who spent the 1930's studying the health and lifestyles of indigenous communities around the world) visited islands off Scotland he observed some of the world’s healthiest people. Oats were not only eaten fresh here, but were consumed multiple times a day, for breakfast, lunch and even dinner! We are passionate about rolling our oats in house at Brothl - and I do it at home too!  The logic behind this is really simple.  Why turn something so good for us into something that really isn’t much better then the cardboard box it comes in?  The processing that goes into rolled oats you buy at the supermarket removes so much of the inherent oils and goodness in oats, making them last for months and months on the shelf.  It really disrespects the food and wastes an incredible amount of nutrients.  I strongly advise all my friends and staff to roll their own oats at home!  You can buy an easy to use little oat roller for home here.  My kids love to roll their oats each morning, it's as easy as grinding your morning coffee.

Fresh-rolled grains at Brothl!  Photo - Sean Fennessy. Styling - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

At Brothl, our breakfast broth combines freshly rolled oats soaked in local buttermilk, and a sweet broth of soaked fruit skins and honey.  Skins, seeds and cores of fruit are often wasted, but they're loaded with nutrients. A plant puts a massive amount of energy into the skins of fruit, which are vital to protecting the fruit from unwanted insects, animals and the weather.  A few hours of continuous simmering draws these nutrients out of the ingredients. The added benefit of this process is also it draws out really intense natural flavour and sweetness!  We then cook the overnight soaked oats (more on fermented grains later this month!) in this sweet syrupy fruit broth. You end up with what I call a ‘Nutrient Bomb!’ for breakfast!

Soaking orange, passionfruit shells and cinnamon for the fruity 'broth'.  Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1L buttermilk 250g Rolled oats 500 ml Milk 2 apples 2 pears 4 sticks rhubarb 2 orange 2 passion fruit 1 stick cinnamon 1 vanilla bean 250g honey 1L water (we use rain water)

Method

Roll your own oats if you can!  Soak the rolled oats in buttermilk overnight for 12 hours. Peel and slice all apples, pears and oranges and any other fruit or peels you want to include. Cut passion fruit in half and cut rhubarb into 4cm long sticks. Place all fruit, peels, spices, honey and water into a pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer until rhubarb is tender (20 - 30 mins).  Remove rhubarb, and continue to simmer fruit and spice mixture on a low flame for 1 - 3 hours to create a flavoursome, sweet fruit broth.  Once finished, put lid on, and leave the mixture to completely cool (ideally overnight). Once cooled, strain the broth, keeping the rhubarb and any other fruits you wish to serve with your cooked oats to one side. Bring oat mixture, milk and 500ml of the fruit broth slowly up to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until oats are soft. Season with a little extra fruit broth for sweetness, and top with your reserved rhubarb and poached fruits.

Some of Ryan's fresh and dried grains, condiments and herbs at Brothl in Melbourne. Photo - Sean Fennessy, production - Lucy Feagins / The Design Files.