Recipes for success: London’s Bread Ahead founder chef Matthew Jones offers cinnamon bun recipe for Ramadan

Recipes for success: London’s Bread Ahead founder chef Matthew Jones offers cinnamon bun recipe for Ramadan
The self-taught British baker founded Bread Ahead, a popular artisan bakery and school that opened 10 years ago in London’s bustling Borough Market. (Supplied)
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Updated 31 March 2023
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Recipes for success: London’s Bread Ahead founder chef Matthew Jones offers cinnamon bun recipe for Ramadan

Recipes for success: London’s Bread Ahead founder chef Matthew Jones offers cinnamon bun recipe for Ramadan
  • The founder of London’s renowned Bread Ahead bakery, which recently opened branches in Jeddah and Dubai, offers advice and a cinnamon bun recipe

DUBAI: Even as a child, Matthew Jones wanted to be a chef. “I never had any doubt in my mind about what I was going to do,” Jones tells Arab News. “I was in the kitchen literally as soon as I could walk. . . The kitchen is my home.” 

Having spent 15 years working in Michelin-starred restaurants, the self-taught British baker founded Bread Ahead, a popular artisan bakery and school that opened 10 years ago in London’s bustling Borough Market. People still line up to get a hold of sourdough breads, pastries, and its main star, the donut.   

“The donut scene was a bit tired at the time,” Jones says. “It was sort of focused on the sweetness, whereas we’re more about gastronomy and flavors. We make our own jams, caramels, all of the fillings. We make everything from scratch. . . It’s all about the eating journey — when it goes into your mouth and you start eating one of our donuts, it’s an emotional journey.”  




Bread Ahead - doughnut selection. (Supplied)

The bakery is famed for its float donut, filled with vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and praline and only fried on the surface of the oil. When it’s flipped over, there is a white steamed line at the center of the donut, which Jones calls “the band of truth” — a sign of a good donut. “The body of the donut must be very light, fluffy, and a little bit buttery,” he says. But it’s not just the tangible ingredients that make the donut, it’s how you work the dough. “You give something of yourself when you bake,” Jones adds.   

Bread Ahead is a London institution, and it has now found its way to the Middle East — opening new branches last year in Jeddah and Dubai, most recently at Mall of the Emirates. “We just got a call one day and somebody said, ‘We want to take you out to the Middle East.’ It was great,” Jones says. “I love Dubai. It’s an amazing city — a city of opportunity, especially in hospitality and the food industry.”   

Here, Jones discusses discipline in the kitchen and the challenges of working in the Michelin world, and shares a delicious cinnamon bun recipe.  

Q: What’s your earliest food memory?   

A: It would probably be making flapjacks, where I used to live with my parents in Quakers Hall Lane, Kent. I would have probably been about five or six years old. I was a happy little soul.  




Blueberry Cheescake Doughnut. (Supplied)

When you started out as a professional, what was the most common mistake you made?  

I think I was a good learner when I was a young chef. I worked in quite a brutal environment; I was brought up in the Michelin world in the Eighties and Nineties. So you weren’t really allowed much room for error.([Laughs.) You would just get barked at. But I was disciplined. I had a good work ethic.  

What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?   

Truffles, caviar, saffron… (Laughs.) Generally, those high-end things do improve food. But let’s say… good company?    

Are you a disciplinarian in the kitchen? Do you shout a lot? Or are you more laidback?   

I would shout a lot, definitely, when I was a younger chef and baker. I was very full-on — direct, committed seven days a week, eighteen hours a day, no problem at all. I’ll do that all day long. There’s a lot to get right every day. More recently, I think I’ve sort of cooled down a bit. 




The bakery is famed for its float donut, filled with vanilla, pistachio, chocolate, and praline and only fried on the surface of the oil. (Supplied)

What customer behavior most annoys you?    

I think probably asking for gluten-free products when they’re not actually gluten-free. Allergens is a big one — I think people don’t really understand them a lot of the time. Obviously, I’m a perfectionist, so anybody who’s critical of food, I find that quite difficult to deal with. (Laughs.)   

What’s your favorite dish to cook?  

Maybe risotto. I love the process of it.  

What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?   

Keep doing it. Don’t give up. You know, I think it’s that 10,000-hour rule: You’ve got to put the hours in. You’re never going to make your best loaf of bread the first time you make it. It won’t happen, sadly. But even when it goes wrong, that’s okay. Just start again. 

Chef Matthew’s cinnamon rolls 

INGREDIENTS: 

For the dough 

50g rice flour; 450g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting; 300g full fat milk; 80g caster sugar; 10g fresh yeast; 10g fine sea salt; 100g butter; 1/4 tspn ground cinnamon; 1 egg 

For the cinnamon butter: 

180g softened unsalted butter; 225g soft dark brown sugar; 75g soft light brown sugar; 20g ground cinnamon 

INSTRUCTIONS:  

1. Put all the dough ingredients apart from the butter in a bowl, tip onto table, and — using the heel of your hand — stretch and tear for five minutes. 

2. Add the butter into your dough one third at a time, continuing to stretch and tear until the butter is absorbed. Stretch and tear the dough for five more minutes until it is elastic and glossy. 

3. Return your dough to your clean mixing bowl, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for at least one hour. 

4. Beat the cinnamon butter ingredients together in a bowl until combined. 

5. Transfer the dough from the fridge onto a lightly floured work surface. 

6. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangle, roughly 50cm x 40cm. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a small strip clear of any filling along one of the long edges, then brush this strip with a little water.  

7. Roll the dough up lengthways, gently pressing the filling-free edge into the dough to seal it. 

8. The roll into 12 equal pieces about 5cm thick. 

9. Transfer them to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Gently press them down so they are about 4cm high. Cover with a tea towel. Leave to prove in a warm place for about 1 hour, until they have almost doubled in size. 

10. Preheat your oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Bake the buns for 15 minutes, then turn the tray round and bake for a further 10 minutes, until golden brown. 

11. Remove buns from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and eat warm. 


White Milano hosts gala event with Saudi 100 Brands initiative

White Milano hosts gala event with Saudi 100 Brands initiative
Updated 21 September 2023
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White Milano hosts gala event with Saudi 100 Brands initiative

White Milano hosts gala event with Saudi 100 Brands initiative

DUBAI: White Milano, the international apparel and accessories trade show which famously takes place alongside Milan Fashion Week, and the Saudi 100 Brands project - an initiative by the Saudi Fashion Commission – hosted a gala event on Wednesday against the backdrop of the historic Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan.

A number of selected pieces from the collections of 40 Saudi fashion talents – ranging from couture, ready-to-wear fashion, handbags and footwear – were showcased at the event using scenography and choreography, and featuring dancers from the renowned La Scala Theatre.

Selected pieces from the collections of 40 Saudi fashion talents were showcased at the event using scenography and choreography, and featuring dancers from the renowned La Scala Theatre. (Supplied)

White Milano this week is welcoming the Saudi 100 Brands project as part of its EXPOWHITE program, taking place from Sept. 22-25.  

In line with its mission to foster a dialogue between the industry and global creative trends, the EXPOWHITE showcase will focus on brands and designers from countries like Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Brazil and South Africa.  

Guests at the event. (Supplied)

The Saudi 100 Brands project is an initiative by the Saudi Fashion Commission that supports established and emerging design talents from Saudi Arabia, who work across the ready-to-wear, modest, concept, premiere, demi-couture, bridal, bags and jewelry categories. 

The Saudi 100 Brands project showcase will be on display at the Padiglione Visconti.


Co-founder of Norway’s Masahat Festival on the challenges of adapting to a new culture 

Co-founder of Norway’s Masahat Festival on the challenges of adapting to a new culture 
Updated 21 September 2023
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Co-founder of Norway’s Masahat Festival on the challenges of adapting to a new culture 

Co-founder of Norway’s Masahat Festival on the challenges of adapting to a new culture 

LONDON: Norway’s Masahat Festival celebrates Arab culture across multiple genres and provides a platform for examining complex issues around history and identity.   

Attendees can listen to the mesmerizing vocals of Iraqi Egyptian Nadin Al-Khalidi, front singer of Tarraband, and participate in thought provoking seminars on topics such as “Pasts That Persist: Perspectives from Iraq and Palestine” and how to reclaim and take ownership of your own history after being written out of it for generations. Egyptian historian, Khaled Fahmy, Edward Keller Professor of North Africa and the Middle East at Tufts University, will speak on the latter subject.

Arab News spoke to Masahat’s Artistic Director Rana Issa to learn more about the aims and impact of the annual festival which she co-founded in 2015.   

Issa arrived in Norway from Lebanon in 2006. She had just completed her masters and proceeded to do her PhD at the University of Oslo. Today, she moves between Norway and Lebanon where she is an Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at the American University of Beirut. 

While her children are immersed in both Norwegian and Arab culture, for her, the experience of adapting to life in Norway has been more challenging.  

‘Once you leave your country you never really feel good again in a way because you become an exile. That never really leaves you. My parents are in Lebanon – my brother is in Dubai, my sister is in New York. That has a lot to do with how I perceive my life here.  

‘If I were to do it all over again, I wouldn’t have decided to leave Lebanon in that way. There’s something about leaving your homeland in haste that is quite traumatic. 

‘When I first came, I felt very lonely and this kind of loneliness I wouldn’t wish   even on my enemies,’ she said. 

In her work with Masahat, she is driven by a desire to help other minorities – not just Arab – to find their feet in their new homeland and to educate her fellow Norwegian citizens about Arab people.  

‘There’s a lot of misconceptions. They don’t, for example, understand that people can be Christian and living in the Middle East, and what they understand by Islam is so simplified and reductive,’ she said.  

Masahat is funded by the municipality of Oslo. “They pay our salaries and we get funding from other public bodies in Norway and have allies across cultural institutions and think tanks,” Issa explained.  

For those attending the festival, which runs from Sept. 21-24, the draw, says Issa, is the outstanding talent. 

‘The thing I love about Arab culture is how sophisticated it is. The reason why Masahat has been so successful in Norway is because the quality of our artists is really special,’ she said.  


Saudi Arabia’s Hia Hub lifestyle conference returns for third edition  

Saudi Arabia’s Hia Hub lifestyle conference returns for third edition  
Updated 21 September 2023
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Saudi Arabia’s Hia Hub lifestyle conference returns for third edition  

Saudi Arabia’s Hia Hub lifestyle conference returns for third edition  

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s fashion and lifestyle conference Hia Hub is set to return for its third edition taking place from Nov. 3-7 in Riyadh’s JAX District.  

Hia Hub will host discussions, masterclasses, workshops, interactive exhibitions and live performances. 

Last year’s edition featured a lineup of 13 talks and panels along with three masterclasses led by leaders in fashion and beauty such as image architect Law Roach, celebrity makeup artist Mary Phillips, supermodel and actress Amber Valetta, fashion designer Zac Posen and entrepreneur and digital influencer Karen Wazen.  

For the third edition, Hia Hub is joining forces with the Saudi Fashion Commission’s annual event Fashion Futures to expand the conference’s program.  

“It’s bigger and bolder this year, bringing together some of the regional and global fashion industry’s most accomplished business leaders, designers, celebrities, and icons, alongside leading fashion houses and brands,” said Mike Fairburn, managing director of SRMGx, the creators and organizers of Hia Hub and the experiential arm of SRMG.  

“It is a truly unique 5-day event – a dynamic programme of seminars, talks, workshops, masterclasses, and live performances – that blends the latest trends and perspectives in fashion, art, design, music and contemporary culture,” he added.  

Meanwhile, Burak Çakmak, CEO of the Saudi Fashion Commission, said: “With the return of Fashion Futures, we are taking another step towards driving the development of Saudi’s fast-emerging fashion industry, unlocking opportunities and supporting our most promising creative talents. We look forward to welcoming some of the best and brightest minds to join us at Hia Hub this November.” 


Imaan Hammam, Loli Bahia grace Fendi show during Milan Fashion Week

Imaan Hammam, Loli Bahia grace Fendi show during Milan Fashion Week
Updated 21 September 2023
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Imaan Hammam, Loli Bahia grace Fendi show during Milan Fashion Week

Imaan Hammam, Loli Bahia grace Fendi show during Milan Fashion Week

DUBAI: Part-Arab models Imaan Hammam and Loli Bahia this week walked Kim Jones’ runway for Fendi during Milan Fashion Week.  

The show was attended by A-list supermodels and celebrities including Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Kate Moss, Demi Moore, Cristina Ricci, Gwendoline Christie and Naomi Watts, who sat front row.  

Jones’ collection for Fendi – unveiled during the first day of Milan Fashion Week – was a twist on knitwear, anchored by leather. 

Hammam donned a baby blue knit jumper, with a grey-purple blazer and grey tailored shorts. (Getty Images)

The first look set the tone: A form-hugging color-block knit dresses in mocha, baby blue, salmon and ivory, with a double sash trailing at the waist lending drama and movement. A tri-colored clutch gave the right accent. 

Hammam donned a baby blue knit jumper, with a grey-purple blazer and grey tailored shorts that were asymmetric from the brand’s Spring/Summer 2024 collection. She held a bright yellow clutch and wore hot red gloves.  

Bahia wore a long figure-hugging grey dress, with matching gloves, and black boots.   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Fendi (@fendi)

The collection overall was dainty: Knitwear was as a rule very fine, accented at times by thin golden chains creating details on open backs. Slinky, clinging monochrome knit dresses had peekaboo cutouts.  

The twinset trop gave way to built-in layers and sleeves that wrapped around the body, a mysterious swirl. Dresses ruched around the body, suggesting constant motion. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Fendi (@fendi)

A chunkier ribbed knit gave a chenille-soft appearance in a long jacket and skirt with a healthy front slit. Knit was also fashioned into a chainmail slip dress, with a coppery finish, or neon-orange wrap dress. 

Leather added substance: short color-block jackets paired with a matching knit mini-skirt.  

Contrasting gloves finished many looks. Bags were mostly held as if clutches; a tiny, flat bag dangled from gloved hands. 


Saudi designer Hala Abdullah: ‘I’m 100% driven by where I come from’

Saudi designer Hala Abdullah: ‘I’m 100% driven by where I come from’
Updated 21 September 2023
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Saudi designer Hala Abdullah: ‘I’m 100% driven by where I come from’

Saudi designer Hala Abdullah: ‘I’m 100% driven by where I come from’
  • Hala Abdullah discusses her new line of jewelry, ‘Foug,’ created in honor of National Day 

MARBELLA: In honor of Saudi Arabia’s National Day on Sept. 23, designer and entrepreneur Hala Abdullah has created a new fine jewelry collection, “Foug,” highlighting her country’s cultural heritage. Abdullah, who divides her time between the UAE and Saudi, founded her brand, Ofa, in 2017.  

“I am 100-percent driven by where I come from and the symbolism of Saudi, which I feel wasn’t as present in the world as it is right now,” Abdullah told Arab News. “This is my responsibility: I am from this country and I am representing it with my medium.”  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by OFA (@ofaofficial)

The collection’s green tones reference the Saudi flag, and “foug,” while it has several meanings to Abdullah, symbolizes optimism. The name is partially inspired by an old song by Saudi singer Mohammed Abdu, who, in a grand manner, begins one of his songs with this hopeful Arabic word.  

“He says ‘foug’ for so long. It’s a flashback from my childhood,” Abdullah said. “The meaning of it also resonates with the change happening in Saudi right now and the spirit of everyone there.” 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by OFA (@ofaofficial)

Studded with green onyx gemstones and diamonds, the designs that comprise “Foug” are simple, elegant, and geometrical. Abdullah was particularly influenced by the traditional, repetitive diamond- and triangle-shaped weaving patterns (‘Al-Sadu’ and ‘Al-Qatt Al-Asiri’ respectively) that have been embroidered in textiles in the northern and southern parts of the Kingdom. The compact collection contains rings, statement necklaces, and earrings, and are named after Saudi’s varying landscapes.  

“We’re not trying to play it safe,” said Abdullah. “We’re trying to make a statement with pieces that anyone can wear, not just Saudis.”  

While Abdullah’s pieces are delicate, it’s clear that she is a young woman with a strong personality. She’s something of her father’s daughter, and spent many years in Jeddah with an interest in architecture. “When I was a teenager, I was actually renovating my family’s house,” she said. “My dad was in real estate and I used to go with the workers and work with the cement. I would give them ideas, which they listened to. I gained confidence early on.”   

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by OFA (@ofaofficial)

One of her inspirations is the legendary Chinese folk heroine Hua Mulan (whose story was made famous through the 1998 Disney film), who courageously joined the army in her aged father’s stead by dressing as a male warrior, and ended up saving the emperor’s life.  

“It was never ‘Cinderella’ for me. I watched ‘Mulan’ more than 70 times,” Abdullah said. “Mulan was a powerful girl. Although she was pretty and delicate, she felt a sense of responsibility and duty for her country. She was strong and fearless and I related to that story more.”  

This partly inspired one of the earliest motifs for her brand: the Arabic sword, specifically its middle, cross-like intersecting part.  

Abdullah studied architecture at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. The city proved to be an eye-opening experience compared to her life in Saudi to that point. “Everyone around me was very creative and looked very unique — blue hair, tattoos... it was a bit of a shock for me sometimes. But I was pushed to think outside the box and it was a really inspiring experience,” she said. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by OFA (@ofaofficial)

Ultimately, though, she decided against pursuing architecture as a career. “When you do architecture in the real world, there’s a lot of limitations,” she explained. “I found that jewelry was the same as architecture — the software, the process, the 3D printing — but minus the limitations.”  

She added that she felt something was missing when it came to jewelry design in the region. “It was either the big brands that everyone was wearing or the very traditional, gold souk-type of brands,” she explained. “I didn’t feel like there was a brand that I could relate to. That was what was lacking in the Arab world.” 

“Ofa” stands for the famous saying: ‘One for all, all for one.’ Unlike many homegrown Middle Eastern enterprises, Abdullah refrained from using her own name for her brand, instead adopting a more collective identity.  

“I wanted it be about community,” she said. “I think about it as a legacy and I see myself handing over to my kids one day. I’m really in it for the long run.”