Imagine a book club where you could sit and discuss foodie literature while being served a book related menu. Welcome to Bashbites Book Club, kicking off at Chloe’s in Charlbury on February 27 with a Water Like Chocolate based menu.
Headed up by Ashton Winkler Hughes; chef, caterer, restaurant consultant, sommelier, cake baker and chilli crunch maker supremo, the Combe based entrepreneur wanted to combine her two favourite things – food and books – and hopes all fellow afficionados will join her on the last Thursday of every month for Bashbites Book Club.
Born and bred in Mexico City to a food obsessed family, Ashton’s parents have American, Hungarian and Spanish roots and food was embedded in her culture from day one.
“My father was a bon viveur, as was my grandmother, and we were a very foodie family, so all our holidays were based around food. Ever since I was a little girl all I wanted to do was get in the kitchen and that’s where my love of gastronomy started,” she says.
“I could have quit right there and then. But I went back the next day and kept going. It taught me resilience and how to survive in the kitchen. It made me tougher”
Now living in the Cotswolds just outside Woodstock, Ashton’s prowess in the kitchen soon made waves, employed for magazine shoot lunches, celebrity dinner parties and pop ups at the likes of Chloe’s and The Crown in Enstone, her high end Mexican feasts enormously popular.
But then with an upbringing as flamboyant as hers, it’s easy to see where Ashton’s influences came from, making her the perfect person to join forces with Chloe’s in Charlbury to launch Bashbites Book Club.
So what can you expect? A gathering on the last Thursday of every month based around a set foodie book, kicking off with Like Water for Chocolate (Como agua Chocolate) by Laura Esquiviel. Join an informal conversation with drinks, cocktails and a meal carefully crafted around the flavours and dishes described in the book.
“It’s perfect for anyone interested in books, food, reading about food, and eating. We will dive into the characters’ life and taste buds through the intricacies and themes found in the book,” Ashton promises.
So how does Ashton know so much about food? Having gone to catering college in Switzerland, she remembers her first shift in a Michelin starred hotel in Barcelona where the head chef made her chop onions all day, threw them out and made her repeat it all over again. She was the only woman in the kitchen.
“I could have quit right there and then. But I went back the next day and kept going. It taught me resilience and how to survive in the kitchen. It made me tougher,” she recalls. “I learned a lot.”
From there Ashton worked in restaurants around the world, moved to Hong Kong, trained as a sommelier, catered for restaurant openings, opened her own successful restaurant there, and then became a global restaurant consultant, helping set up Mexican restaurants from Spain to Bali, Singapore and Mongolia.
Unsurprisingly, Ashton is currently writing her memoirs “about all the random things that have happened to me all over the world, my eccentric upbringing and my foodie stories,” which looks set to be an enticing read.
But her newest baby is Bashbites – a homemade chilli crunch now available all over Oxfordshire from The Cotswold Guy, Hampers and Yarnton Garden Centre to Chadlington Quality Foods, Woodstock Artisan Market and C’est Tout At The Barn in Milton Under Wychwood. Once you’ve tried it you’ll be addicted, scattered on everything from scrambled eggs and avocados to noodles and stir frys.
“I was so busy catering but wanted to spend more time at home with my son, and was unable to find a chilli crunch made without preservatives so I concocted my own,” she shrugs.
After months of experimenting, Bashbites chilli crunch was born, made with natural ingredients using locally sourced rapeseed oil, which Ashton describes as a cross between a Chinese chilli crisp and a Mexican salsa macha, which means it works on South America and Asian food.
“I want it to be for everyone, something you can use in everyday dishes from fried eggs to soup, salad dressings and even placed under the skin of a roast chicken,” she says.
But in the meantime, get booking your place on the Bashbites Bookclub on Feb 27 (10% discount on book of the month at Jaffé and Neale in Chipping Norton) and get reading Like Water For Chocolate. Book here https://www.bashbites.co.uk/store/products/bash-bites-book-club-like-water-for-chocolate-by-laura-esqueviel-february-27th
For more info on Bashbites or to order their chilli crunch go to https://www.bashbites.co.uk
