Food People Q&A - James Stuart
I met James when he was approximately 4 years old. The school gate of Hotwells Primary School was a frenzied place of meeting and greeting twice a day, small bodies running in, running out, shouting with excitement at seeing friends or wailing with exhaustion and hunger at the end of a busy day.
I would turn up, as did most parents, with pockets stuffed full of snacks to stave off the pangs until tea time, handing them out to all outstretched hands as the wails subsided and invitations to ‘come back to mine’ were issued willy nilly. More often than not an extra child would be then added to the walk back to our flat and would slot into the afternoon activities and eat their tea with my own small person - one of those was James.
I was wide eyed in amazement when his mum suggested him for this series because how could a four year old possibly have career in catering? Well, turns out he is 27, as is my not-so small person, and has a very positive take on the last year, as it gave him the space to create a fantastic small business. Check him out on instagram, make his chilli oil and know that the years from 4 to 27 have well used.
Who are you and what have you got to do with food in Bristol?
My name is James Stuart and I'm both a buyer in the Fine Foods department of Arthur David, a local wholesaler for the hospitality industry, as well as a ramen chef for my company Tomo no Ramen. I've been doing popups and assemble-at-home ramen kits for just about a year now!
Has covid affected your work or business, and if so how?
I've been on and off furlough since the beginning of the first lockdown with Arthur David, and during the on/off lockdowns I have been alternating between doing popups at West Street Kitchen, and selling assemble-at-home ramen kits. While the kits are still interesting, compared to the popups with the excitement of service and customer interaction, it feels much less like cooking and more like working an assembly line at times.
Has lockdown had any benefits, to do with food or otherwise for you personally?
I absolutely would not have had the time or the energy to develop my recipes, or the confidence to take on a solo popup serving 50+ covers if it weren't for the time I spent in isolation. That first period of time off really allowed me to focus on recipe development for Tomo no Ramen. Motivating myself to work through a period of total solitude was difficult, but by giving myself a weekly routine (eg, Monday is noodle making day, Tuesday I'm making soups, Wednesday I am focusing on testing different toppings, etc) really helped me move forward.
Have you done much more cooking at home than usual through lockdown, and if so what has been your favourite home cooked dish? If not what have you been doing?
In the first lockdown I made myself cook three meals a day, every day. Falling back on takeaways is always tempting (and I definitely did slip a few times), but on furlough income I couldn't afford to be spending more than I needed to. In the first half of 2020, I probably ate close to 50 bowls of ramen as I made my way through as many recipes as possible.
Have you made use of any the local restaurant’s clever responses to having to close and ordered any special take aways? If so from where and what was it?
I've had my fair share of local meal kits and have yet to be disappointed. Highlights of these have been Fat Rice's incredible nasi lemak and beef rendang, West Street Kitchen's beautiful Sunday roasts, Barrio Kitchen's tacos, and Matsudai Ramen's new nationwide ramen kit delivery service.
Back in the real world how do you see your work/business flourishing in the years to come within the Bristol or wider food scene?
I hope to be able to get back to popups straight away, collaborating with other local food businesses, and hopefully having an establishment of my own. As for Arthur David, I am sure that once businesses begin to open up trade will soon return!
Do you feel that maybe, just maybe, there has been some good come out of all this and if so what do you think it is and how can we make use of it?
I think that everyone has had so many varied experiences in lockdown, and while I have been lucky enough to have made a net positive to my life during this period, we can't forget how quickly the things we take for granted can change and how many people have had their lives changed irreparably, whether through their businesses being destroyed, or losing loved ones unexpectedly.
Have you got a recipe you’d like to share with us?
In the past I sold Sichuan chilli oil once a month at Tobacco Factory Sunday Market under the name My Friend's Chilli Oil, below is a slightly simplified recipe for a Sichuan chilli oil which makes for an excellent all purpose condiment with real depth.
Sichuan Chilli Oil
Ingredients
500ml neutral oil such as rapeseed or peanut oil
90ml light soy sauce, such as Kikkoman
1/2 bulb of garlic
2 inch knob ginger
2tbsp coriander seed
1 whole star anise
1 stick cinnamon
1tbsp Sichuan peppercorn (any Chinese supermarket will have this, such a Wah Yan Hong on Denmark Street, 168 Oriental on Park Street, or Wai Yee Hong in Eastgate)
100g Chinese dried chilli flakes (same as above)
Sea salt to taste
Method
Lightly fry all garlic, cloves crushed and peeled, the ginger, coriander seed, star anise, and cinnamon for about 1 hour at 80c. Do not allow to burn or the bitter flavours that are imparted will be impossible to fix!
Roughly grind the Sichuan peppercorn and combine with chilli flakes and sea salt in a large heatproof container (large enough for all the oil at least twice over as it will foam). Pour over the light soy sauce and mix until evenly hydrated.
After 1 hour of infusion into the oil, turn up the heat until it is rapidly frying for about 1 minute. If you have a thermometer, aim for around 140c. Once at temperature, pour oil through a METAL sieve (very important, a plastic sieve will melt) over the chilli flake mixture. Be careful, as it will foam up as you pour. Once allowed to cool, you may jar your chilli oil and crispy chilli flakes.
ENJOY
Written by Liz Haughton
Bristol resident for twenty five years, Liz ran the Folk House Cafe in Bristol for 13 and half years, adding Spike Island Cafe in along the way, until August 2019. Liz is currently organising a series of Slow Creative Retreats and encouraging nursery school kids to play with their food. Liz is a cook, writer, painter and general dabbler in all things creative.
Recipes
