The Pantry

Australian Bone Broth Co

 

Australian Bone Broth Co is a family-owned company rooted in the belief that health starts with nourishing the body. Their premium bone broth range is specially concocted to aid recovery and boost overall health. Only bone marrow leg bones from the finest, grass-fed Australian cows are used, resulting in nutritionally-dense broths of superior quality.

It started when founder Maria Varkevisser was diagnosed with arthritis and her grandson, who was born with a weak immune system, was prevented from doing many of the things that other children could. Maria set out on her own journey to boost her family's health and discovered that bone broth is extremely effective in repairing the body and boosting the immune system.

australianbonebrothco.au


Straits Preserves 

Straits Preserves is Singapore’s homegrown producer of New Asian Marmalades and Nut Butters, creating unique recipes from the tropical abundance at our doorstep.

Every flavour is inspired by Singapore’s history and food culture, made from ingredients readily available in Southeast Asia. The team behind Straits Preserves pride themselves in using simple ingredients differently, creating one-of-a-kind preserves which taste both familiar and exotic. 

Sharon Lee began making preserves when there was an overabundance of calamansi limes growing on her balcony back in 2011. Her family and friends enjoyed them so much that she was inspired to perfect her recipe and start her own business. Since then, Straits Preserves has won numerous Great Taste Awards and The World’s Original Marmalade Awards. 

straitspreserves.com/singapore/


Róa Cakes

 

Róa is a Singapore-based artisanal patisserie that has taken the simple, honest chocolate cake and completely revolutionised it into their signature Midnight Cake, which is vegan, gluten free and allergen friendly.

The Midnight Cake was conceived after 9 months of R&D, resulting in a truly one-of-a-kind decadent guilt-free chocolate cake that replaces processed sugar and egg with psyllium husk and butter with avocados. Each cake is handcrafted without preservatives and decorated with edible gold flakes and Moroccan rose buds. 

Róa (pronounced “row-uh”) means ‘calm’ in Icelandic. The company was born out of a vision to create products that bring calm and pleasure to others.

Chief artisan Jane Tan believes that dietary restrictions should not be a reason to miss out on delicious treats. After her goddaughter, Emma, was born with severe allergies to eggs, wheat and dairy, Jane decided to create cakes that Emma could enjoy. A timely visit to New York kickstarted the process and inspired Jane to use only high quality, organic plant-based products in her craft.

www.roa.com.sg 


The Whole Kitchen

The Whole Kitchen is Singapore’s very own bakery, made from 100% natural ingredients, free from gluten, additives and low in natural sugars. and is run by two Singapore-based Australians. Every food product sold is handmade without compromising on taste. 

The Whole Kitchen focuses on real, whole foods that are minimally processed foods that can be found naturally in the environment. Foods made up of single ingredients that you recognise as food, without all the added refined sugars, preservatives and additives that are found in most of our packaged foods today.

All their products are made up of real food ingredients that you are likely to have in your kitchen at home as they do not use preservatives or additives in their products.

www.thewholekitchen.com.sg


Ben Banter

Ben Banter’s tag line is “eat better, get better”. Ben Banter snacks are fully compliant with Low Carb / Keto principles and taste great. As they quite rightly say “if you are what you eat, then you want your food to be simple and honest”. Their products are completely natural, with as little sugar and carbohydrates as possible. Quality products are sourced from around the world to meet they exacting standards.

www.benbarter.com


Oh My Goodness

Oh My Goodness is a small company with a big vision. This big vision involves their delightful and extremely delicious “free from” range being available without the heavy price tag.

Ramya began her baking journey at just 16, where she discovered her heart lies in the kitchen. At the age of 30, health issues led her down the “you are what you eat path”. Soon she was unable to eat wheat and dairy so Ramya’s baking journey took a new turn. I believe this is one of the reasons Ramya’s range is just so amazingly good; she wholly understands her customers cravings, needs and desires.

Most importantly these cakes aren’t full of all those unhealthy ingredients you would expect to find in something so tasty. The sweetness is from honey, spices and fruit. All the cakes and bread are high in protein and fibre from the wide variety of nuts and fruit used. So you really can enjoy these without worrying about what’s inside.

www.ohmygoodness.co


Singapore Coconut Company 

The Singapore Coconut Company are innovative, passionate and forward thinking. They focus on developing a cold pressed virgin coconut oil that also produces the finest coconut butter. The coconuts are sourced from trusted, small, traditional coconut farms in Sir Lanka and Indonesia where farmers have been growing coconuts for generations.

With over 15 years of coconut research under their belt, the Singapore Coconut Company have developed a range of healthy, high quality and delicious products where absolutely nothing is wasted.

This virgin oil is made up of good fats which are the same good fats present in your brain (did you know your brain is 60% fat?!). As a result, including the virgin oil in your diet will help to maintain a healthy brain by ensuring the right fats are present. Also, present are medium chain triglycerides (“MCT”). MCT are a unique form of dietary fat which help provide an energy boost. Your digestion system can also be improved as the oil encourages the body to absorb fat-soluble vitamins. High levels of lauric acid present help to maintain a good immune system. Finally, the coconut oil also has great moisturising qualities for your hair and skin so a great addition to your care regime!


Hogarth Chocolate, New Zealand

Karl and Marina Hogarth are the producers of the world-class New Zealand Hogarth Chocolate. Karl left his career as a ship officer behind after he discovered native cacao on a trip to Guatemala. This sparked a passion within to teach himself the art of making chocolate. He began by building his own machine to process the cacao in his garden shed and hasn’t looked back since. Unlike most chocolatiers, the Hogarth’s still roasts in small batches to enable monitoring and to ensure perfection during every step of production.

What makes Hogarth Chocolate so special is the Hogarth’s pledge to use the very best cacao the world has to offer. This, paired with patience and acute attention to detail transforms the cacao into a truly wonderful and special chocolate.

The Hogarth’s small factory is in Nelson, New Zealand. Here they use a modified coffee roaster and stone grinders to make the chocolate with minimal ingredients. The whole process is done by hand even down to the moulding and wrapping of the chocolate. Maintaining a natural process as much as possible results in revealing the amazing raw and real flavour of the cacao which sadly gets lost in industrially made chocolate. The Hogarth’s promise that you will find the experience of eating their chocolate a “complete revelation” and “your perception of chocolate will never be the same again.” I couldn’t agree more!

www.hogarthchocolate.com.nz 


Papa Palheta Coffee, Singapore


Papa Palheta is an independent coffee boutique, specialising in roasting and purveying specialty coffee in Singapore and Malaysia. Their philosophy is simple: they are relentless in trying to bring out the best in the beans with their unique brewing and roasting techniques.

They believe every coffee has its story, so they always aim to source their beans with transparency and traceability. The profile of their coffees is constantly tweaked to do justice to the beans and to the farmer who they visit every year.

www.papapalheta.com


Chestnut Grove, Western Australia

Chestnut Grove


During a sourcing trip to Australia, I had the pleasure of visiting Chestnut Grove, a family-owned vineyard in Manjimup, Western Australia, which also produces premium Chestnut Grove Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  

This beautiful property boasts olive trees that are over half-a-century old, providing magnificent shelter for their vineyard. Handpicked and cold pressed, this stunning oil captures the pure essence of the variety and brings perfect spice and flavour into gorgeous balance.

I sampled this olive oil with some delicious home-made bread, straight out of the family kitchen's oven, along with olives from the groves and a glass of their stunning wine. More wonderful family-crafted artisan products for us to enjoy in Singapore!

www.chestnutgrove.com.au


Simply Bread, Singapore

Simply Bread

Baking may just be the bread for your breakfast, but for the Simply Bread bakers it is their passion. Whether it is one of the tricky sourdough breads or the bold, rustic white, the Simply Bread bakers know their craft requires skills and instincts honed by time and dedication.  

The thud-thud of an old-fashioned oblique arm mixer stands next to a modern state-of-the-art dough-dividing and handling system. Skill is not needed in weighing the pieces of dough; it is required in the mixing of the dough and the use of the ovens. There is no secret ingredient, just an understanding that the flour, water, yeast and salt together with the bakers will become their prized loaves of bread.  

Simply Bread was started in Singapore in 1995 by Christine Fam. She was educated and raised outside of Singapore during her youth, where she followed her parents’ careers and attended hotel management school in Switzerland. Chris missed the simple and uncomplicated food she had become accustomed to. She started baking bread for herself, but the quality didn't meet her expectations initially. Chris needed a proper deck oven, with a stone sole to get the crust just right. There was not enough power supply to her home, so she rented a small space on Sixth Avenue. And that was the beginning of Simply Bread.  

Simply Bread was purely focused on Chris' own style and preferences in the beginning. The ingredients used today do not differ from when Chris baked for herself. She used to find different seeds and whole-grains from all around the world, and order a small amount directly from the source. Now, the Simply Bread procurement team is in charge of the sourcing process, but the quality of ingredients is always checked and approved by Chris.   

"We have been asked to deliver our bread or increase outlets around Singapore, but it wasn't that easy as we are still a small business focused on handmade bread and baking. We are very pleased to collaborate with Sasha's Fine Foods so that we can focus on baking for you." - Chris Fam  

www.simplybread.com.sg


Ortiz Bonita Del Norte White Tuna, Spain

 

Conservas Ortiz

Ortiz's fish are line caught, one at a time, off the northwestern coast of Spain. They're then hand-filleted at sea, and preserved in good olive oil. Bonito, also called albacore, is the most mild and prized species. Ortiz has been preserving fish for 100 years. They exemplify the balance between modern techniques and scrupulous respect for traditional fishing methods, which means their products are best for the environment. Ortiz uses “live bait” and “trolling” techniques to catch White Tuna. This consists of using fresh live bait to attract the fish better. This bait usually consists of small fish.

The first step is to get the bait out of the sea, very carefully. For this they use dip nets. The fishermen use hoses to imitate the movement of the shoals of fish. When fishing starts, the fishermen line up along one flank of the boat. The rods have a short line with the live bait on the hooks. If the shoal is made up of very large fish then the men work in pairs. Live bait is a traditional fishing technique that has been widely used throughout history by Cantabrian fishermen.

www.conservasortiz.com

Ortiz Bonita Del Norte White Tuna

Vasse Virgin, Margaret River, Western Australia

It’s hard to drag me out of the Vasse Virgin factory, where I have spent many an afternoon testing and tasting their delicious gourmet products, as well as their beautiful body product range. This video was taken during a visit to Vasse Virgin in October 2016, and I hope gives you a great feel for the origin of these lovely products.

Vasse Virgin

Louis & Edwina Scherini

Vasse Virgin is a delightful, family run business in the heart of Margaret River, Western Australia. The company was established when Louis and Edwina Scherini’s children were diagnosed with eczema and advised by doctors against the use of soap or shampoo, Inspired to create a safe, chemical free alternative for their children they soon realised the only way they could guarantee that the products were natural and healthy was to make their own. The Scherini’s began experimenting in their kitchen first discovered the healing powers of extra virgin olive oil, and a new soap product was born made with extra virgin olive oil as the main base,100% pure essential oils and plant extracts.

With the product proving so popular, ‘Vasse Virgin’ became the new brand and the use of olives was further expanded to include a gourmet food range. Under the watchful eye of a specialist chef, Vasse Virgin's range of delicious olive oil gourmet food products made their début including estate grown and Western Australian olives extra virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars and fruit vinaigrettes and a range of condiments designed to showcase both the olive and olive oil.

Vasse Virgin Logo

Olive oil has long been relied upon for its uses in both cooking and food. Amongst the many benefits, olive oil offers protection against heart disease by controlling cholesterol levels and it doesn’t stop there. The Vasee Virgin chef continues the company’s ethos in producing high quality, natural products without the use of any artificial additives, preservatives or flavourings.

www.vassevirgin.com.au


Foley’s Frothing Fermentations, Dunsborough, Western Australia 

Foley’s Frothing Fermentations

Margot and Tim Foley established Foley’s Frothing Fermentations after several years traveling, including a period with Margot working as head chef on super yachts. On their return to Western Australia, Margot started working as a chef in vegetarian cafes, a time when she began to learn about health foods, wholefoods and raw foods, gaining more knowledge about nutrition through attending locally run workshops and courses. It was during a stint on a raw food diet that Margot and Tim came across cultured vegetables and other fermented foods. After tasting different fermented foods as well as learning about the myriad health benefits of cultured food, their kitchen bench was soon full of different jars of fermenting vegetables and their bookshelves were sagging under the weight of new books on the traditions of fermentation.

Foley’s Frothing Fermentations use fresh raw organic vegetables fermented in traditional German crocks which allow the proliferation of natural enzymes and lactobacilli which are naturally present in vegetables and digestive tracts to develop. This fermenting process allows sugars and starches in the vegetables to be broken down, which in turn when consumed, aids the pancreas and intestines in proper digestion and assists the body to better absorb natural vitamins and minerals.

Spending time with Margot and her husband in their small factory in Dunsborough, Margaret River is a fascinating experience, with strange and wonderful smells all around – although they are intensely secretive about their methods!

These super healthy products can be added to any meal. They taste great warmed up too, alongside sausages or topping burgers.

www.foleysfrothingfermentations.com.au