Takeover: Bunhead Bakery

A celebration of British Palestinian baking

Hi and welcome to my newsletter a celebration of cooking, vegetables and life. It’s great to have you here. If you have found yourself here but are not yet subscribed then you can sort that out below….

My cookbooks (there are five) are available here. The latest is Easy Wins - a Sunday Times bestseller. There are hundreds of free recipes on my website which you can find here.

From Anna:

This week I'm very happy to be putting the newsletter in the hands of Sara and Georgia, the friends behind Bunhead Bakery, a hot ticket bakery on Brockwell Park in South London. Sara makes twirly-topped buns, sandwiches (I have my eye on the mushroom one) and cakes while connecting people to the rich history and culture of Palestine. 

We've been following their bakery from its beginnings at Sara's home in lockdown to (with Georgia's help) Bunhead becoming an actual bakery and a place to share the spirit of Palestine and its flavours. Bringing people together in the spirit of joy, buns and celebration.

Showing and sharing in the art, food, music and culture of Palestine feels to me a critical way to support the people of Gaza at this desperate time and Sara and Georgia are doing that in such a meaningful and brilliant way. 

From time to time they also sell some great merch 🍉 with all proceeds going to projects supporting Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. All sold out for now but follow them on Instagram for the next run. 

I salute you both Sara and Georgia and I will be running over to Brockwell Park very soon to join the queue for pistachio-topped buns, brown sugar tart and everything else on offer. I'll take one of everything please, with a side of ceasefire. 

With huge love from me, 

Anna x

From Sara:

My relationship with food and cooking began honestly, out of necessity. A yearning for flavour, and an understanding that if I wanted it, I’d probably have to learn myself. While living at my Dad’s, I would cook for the family most nights, the kitchen became a safe haven for me very quickly. It has also been the most vital tool in me connecting with my culture. Some of my most vivid memories are of sitting in front of the TV at my mum’s house, watching That’s So Raven, diligently rolling vine leaves or coring and stuffing courgettes in preparation for big Palestinian feasts that just the two of us would enjoy. I don’t have many memories with my teta (grandmother) but sitting round the table in Palestine around a big tray of stuffed vegetables and meat, all of us taking what we wanted, eating with our hands has informed so much of how I share food and enjoy eating.

I always knew instinctively that I wanted to work in food but during my small stints in professional kitchens, I was never able to find an environment where I felt safe to express myself fully. So, in the midst of lockdown, I started Bunhead and while the last 4 and a half years have been total madness, they’ve also been deeply grounding in allowing me to celebrate all aspects of myself. I am a fiercely independent and infinitely stubborn person so on reflection, creating my own little corner of this industry was always going to be best option for me.

My mum has described Bunhead as the truest expression of myself, a British-Palestinian business, with a British-Palestinian product. So, as well as Bunhead crucially being a celebration of Palestine, I like to think of it as a celebration of duality, and all the beauty that can bring.

As I face forward, I hope to be able to continue sharing the flavours of Palestine and explore more traditional cooking methods – watch this space, the Bunhead supper club is coming!

From Georgia:

I joined Bunhead in 2023 to help Sara turn a home-based bakery to the next level with a brick-and-mortar site. My family think it's hilarious that I spend most of my time in a bakery kitchen. I've never been one for cooking. I've always been the one to offer to do the dishes afterwards.

After a long stint in corporate roles, I made the significant shift to a consultant position at a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion start-up, a move that resonated more with my personal values. This change eventually led me to another new beginning in mid-2023, as I decided to part ways with my job and explore new opportunities. During the period of transition, I found myself at a local artisan coffee shop, thoroughly enjoying every moment. The meticulous process of crafting a single cup of coffee captivated me, and I found immense joy in it.

In addition to being Head Barista at Bunhead, I've been dedicating a significant portion of my time to rolling buns. It's a task I never imagined myself doing but as part of our small, versatile team, I've found myself enjoying the process of learning this skill.

Partnering with Sara and elevating her as a Palestinian woman and our bakery as a platform for the Palestinian cause is a profound privilege. This journey has deepened my understanding of the world and reinforced my unwavering commitment to success as a woman of Jamaican and Sri Lankan heritage. Our success is not just a personal achievement but a form of protest and liberation.

Things to read

• Bethlehem, by Fadi Kattan, for wonderful seasonal Palestinian food and stories

• Sift, by Nicola Lamb for a breakdown of all things baking and some truly delicious recipes

• Stone and Seed, a brilliant essay on Vittles about the importance of food sovereignty and starvation as a tool of war in Gaza, also Thamra, an organisation creating urban food gardens and nurturing food sovereignty in Gaza

• Ocado Magazine: A great starting point for inspiration for those still figuring out their way around a kitchen

• Rambutan: Sri Lankan food that makes Georgia feel at home

Things to buy

• In the bakery, we both live in Service Works trousers and shorts, and a good Oofos clog, for that orthopaedic cushion

• Rackmaster focaccia trays, we use them to bake most products in the shop, buns and bread alike. They have them for home bakers too, in fact these are the ones we use in shop as our ovens are so small!

• For the best za’atar you can get your hands on in the UK, it’s always Yaffa. Never buy za’atar from the supermarket, it’s honestly a scam

• Olive Odyssey, wonderful Palestinian olive oil, naturally extracted and working with farmers across Palestine

• Jaffna House: The mutton rolls from Jaffna house in Tooting. You're welcome.

Things to watch, listen to etc.

• Boiling Point, the film or the series honestly on BBC iPlayer, mad stressful but very gripping and truthful television

• Where the Olive Trees Weep, an honest and brutal documentary on the Palestinian struggle

• Tables to Talk About with the lovely Callie from Studio Dine, a wonderful podcast talking about our dream dinner parties, or in my case an all-day lunch party sat on the floor.