Bone broth is making a comeback

Watch out for the rise of bone broth this year. Typically something your grandma used to have simmering away on the stove, this old-fashioned staple is enjoying a resurgence. The Hemsley sisters are big fans of it, citing broth as *“full of flavour and deeply nourishing...”*, while The Wild Game Co. has been serving up bowlfuls of warming broth at its Charlotte Street pop-up in London (pictured, top). 

 

As with any comeback, plenty of debate has arisen over the labelling of it. Bone broth, stock, meat tea – whatever you want to call it, there's someone out there who doesn't agree with you. Katy Salter's article on bone broth for the Guardian's Word of Mouth blog, received plenty of love in the comments section, along with the almost inevitable verbal punch-up between readers over whether bone broth is just a poncy name for stock.

 

One thing's for sure - when made properly, bone broth/stock/whatever-you-want-to-call-it has earned itself a reputation as a culinary elixir. “*Jewish penicillin*” as chicken stock is so lovingly addressed has gone down in folklore for curing all kind of ailments, banishing the common cold with its comforting liquid magic. Used for centuries as a base for everyday cooking, perhaps the most disgruntling aspect of this latest trend, is that it had to make a comeback in the first place.

 

*“Broth... made from meat and fish bones has been used as a cure-all remedy across cultures and, in our opinion, is the secret to a great-tasting soup.” *So say Hemsley & Hemsley – masters of the 24-hour beef stock simmer. Health bunnies are all over the stuff too. Nutritionist Natasha Campbell-McBride uses homemade stock as one of the key elements of repairing damaged gut lining in her clients. *“Meat and fish stocks provide building blocks for the rapidly growing cells of the gut lining and they have a soothing effect on any areas of inflammation in the gut,”* states Cambpell-McBride in her book 'Gut and Psychology Syndrome'.

 

And the punters are slurping it up too. In New York, chef Marco Canora opened up Brodo last winter (2014): a takeaway hatch outside his East Village restaurant, selling steaming hot cups of comforting bone broth. Queues appeared down the street, and Canora had to order a second stove to keep up with demand. You can order quarts of broth in LA (of course you can), but better still you can get your very own nourishing stock pot going at home, for almost no bucks. Head to a good butchers, ask them for a few bones and you're on your way. They might even give them to you for free.

 

(courtesy of Wild Game Co. founder, Andy Waugh)

 

**1. **Don't rush it. Leave 6 - 24 hours of simmering time to get all the goodness from the bones and veg. However, I know at home I don't always have that time and, when in a rush, have been known to make some in a couple of hours.

 

**2. **Use veg you enjoy the taste of. I thinly chop a carrot, 1/4 an onion, add some pepper corns and a little seasoning.

 

**3. **Add plenty water at the beginning and reduce at the end.

 

**4.** Freeze any stock/broth you're not going to use in the couple of days. Pull it out a the night before you're going up use it - at home I sometimes heat it from frozen.

 

**5.** Add tasty and healthy leaves/seeds/meats/oils/etc to your finished broth to give a little more substance - or drink pure, whatever suits your mood.

 

Hemsley & Hemsley are experts on making gallons of this stuff. Try out their bone broth recipe, and their super-helpful, detailed tips and tricks.

 

 

**Useful reads**

 

Head to The Wild Game Co. pop-up, on Charlotte Street in London for a bowlful. Add an extra serving of shitake mushrooms, ginger, garlic or lemon thyme should the mood take you.

 

 

**Written by:** Helenka Bednar

 

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