Bjournal loves celebrating local businesses, and Sarah Maber and Rufus Purdy have created a business that is definitely worth celebrating. The Brighton Bone Broth company are a family business that specialises in bone broth. Yes, that’s right, broth made from animal bones.
Tell us about yourselves
We are a husband and wife team who are passionate about good food and nutrition. Rufus is a former food and travel journalist; Sarah is an editor at The Sunday Times and a health and nutrition writer. We moved from London to Hove three years ago and have two children, Martha, 6, and Seth, 5, who love sipping a cup of broth as much as we do.
How did the business come about?
As a health journalist, Sarah spends much of her time talking to nutritionists and writing about new food and health trends. In interview after interview, the health benefits of bone broth kept coming up; food writers, chefs and fans of clean eating and the Paleo diet were passionate about its delicious, nutrient-dense, robust taste. We made a few batches and tinkered with the recipe, and once we’d perfected a beef broth and chicken broth we started to sell small batches at farmers markets. The business grew from there.
What is bone broth?
Bone broth is the clear, delicious drink made by simmering water, meat, bones, vegetables and herbs for a minimum of 12 hours; we use locally-sourced, free range bones. Thanks to the long cooking time, vital minerals and vitamins are extracted from the bones into a flavoursome, health-boosting broth.
Bone broth has been called the forgotten superfood and while it’s back in fashion in the West, it’s nothing new! Huge stockpots of bones and water have boiled in kitchens the world over for centuries; in India, bone broth is celebrated as a secret weapon against sickness, served up to promote strength; in China, drinking bone broth is not only an ancient tradition and the basis for many culinary staples, but the protein-rich, vitamin-heavy soup is prescribed by Chinese doctors as an immunity booster.
What are the benefits of bone broth?
It’s protein-rich, but dairy, gluten, caffeine and sugar-free, which means its easily digested and can be drunk at any time of day. The long cooking process extracts powerful healing compounds from the bones including collagen, proline, glycine and glutamine, which boost gut health. The glutamine contained in the broth helps to maintain the function of the intestinal wall, and the gelatin helps seal your gut and intestines, and soothes the lining of the digestive tract. This can help heal chronic diarrhoea, constipation and some food intolerances.
The minerals released from the bones can be easily absorbed by your body – calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and glucosamine can all reduce inflammation, arthiritis and joint pain. A warming cup of broth also makes a delicious drink; at our outlet in the Laines, Sixteen on Sydney Street, we sell broth by the cup as a healthy, caffeine-free alternative to coffee. And for anyone on a detox or new year health kick, a cup of broth comes in at around 80 calories and is a perfect complement to any clean eating regime.
Why can’t you buy bone broth in supermarkets?
We cook up broth in our Hove kitchen, nurturing the broth by hand through its 12 hours of cooking. It’s a long, slow, process! But demand is at a peak, so we are upscaling. Watch this space! We currently offer nationwide delivery, and supermarkets are next on our list.
And finally, what is your favourite thing about Brighton (and Hove!)?
Where do we start? The sea, the bohemian vibe, the proximity to the South Downs, the fact that everyone is so friendly and open, the culture… and we love Maroccos on the seafront for great Italian food and ice cream, and the George Payne and Ancient Mariner pubs in Hove – perfect for a pint after a day’s hard brothing.
You can find their website here.
Holly Martin
