This week, Sofia uncovers the savoury secrets of Edenbridge's favourite baker, Leo the Baker, who has risen to fame with his delectable artisanal pastries.
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00:15 Hello and welcome to Made in Kent live on KMTV. I'm Sophia Akin and on tonight's show
00:22 we uncover the savoury secrets of Edenbridge's favourite baker, Leo the Baker, who has risen
00:27 to fame with his delectable artisanal pastries. Then step back in time with us as we celebrate
00:32 the 90th anniversary of the National Fruit Show in Maidstone, a cornerstone of the UK's
00:37 fruit industry. Plus dive into the world of art, spam emails and AI as we explore Pure
00:43 Evil's mind-bending solo exhibition, Welcome Machine Overlords in Folkestone.
00:48 But now from bread to cakes to sausage rolls, one baker in Tambridge has been offering up
00:53 his services for homemade goods to local residents. Leo the Baker has been selling his bread and
00:58 pastries since the pandemic and his artisanal croissants and cinnamon buns have proven a
01:02 hit with local residents. Jamie Levy went to find out more.
01:06 This is Leo. He's a passionate baker from Sevenoaks who's been turning the simple act
01:11 of baking into a labour of love for his local community. He first started baking from home
01:16 but once it took off he moved to this granary and like many local businesses that have started
01:21 in recent years, this story starts during the pandemic.
01:25 I was in lockdown, during lockdown 2020. I made a peanut butter from scratch and then
01:30 I made that peanut butter and I thought, oh, maybe I can make my own bread. And I started
01:34 practising and practising and practising and I didn't stop making bread. I made bread for
01:38 neighbours, for my work and then just keep making the bread. And one day I just thought
01:42 maybe I can sell it. And I started selling the bread and then here I am today, selling
01:47 the bread for the local community. I've never made bread before. I've been cooking, making
01:52 cakes but bread, bread never, like pastries never. It was the very first time and I've
01:57 not stopped since then. Today, Leo's been showing me how to make pan au chocolat, one
02:02 of his specialities. So this is called a dough sheeter. It's one of the machines that Leo
02:06 uses to roll out the dough. Actually, it's much easier to use than a rolling pin. All
02:09 you have to do is just roll the dough through like that and it comes out flat. But as you
02:15 can see, Leo's a bit better than me at rolling the pastry. All of his products are baked
02:20 fresh on the day of sale, so these chocolate croissants will be frozen until the weekend.
02:25 And although his baking business has only been up and running for a few years, the history
02:29 of baking runs deeper than he first thought. I found out during, once I started, I told
02:34 my parents I'm starting a bakery and then they told me, yeah, we used to sell bread
02:37 before you were born. So it's kind of like beating my gene. I didn't know that before
02:41 when I came to the UK. But once I started and I told them, yeah, we used to sell bread
02:44 before you were born. As well as baking for the local community, Leo also runs teaching
02:49 and one-to-one sessions and he makes tutorials on social media so that people are able to
02:53 follow along at home. Though he admits the rising cost of living has taken a toll on
02:58 the business. I keep going up and up every now and then that affect the business. So
03:03 I don't want to increase my prices to the customer, to keep the customer happy and myself
03:07 happy. But it's kind of a tricky situation and electricity as well is another factor
03:12 that is kind of like keeping my head working, how to make everything work and not hurting
03:17 the customer and hurting myself. Leo currently sells his products at weekend markets, but
03:21 you may one day find him in a shop on your local high street, turning flour and sugar
03:26 into community connections. Jamie Levy for KMTV.
03:29 Wow, Leo the baker, also known as Leo Maché joins me now. Thank you so much for joining
03:34 me with some of your lovely looking cinnamon rolls. So firstly, this all started for you
03:39 during the pandemic. Did you have an interest in baking before that?
03:42 Not necessarily because I was baking bread, no bread, cake and cooking at home without
03:47 any intention of selling, just cooking for my family.
03:51 And so many great creations have come out of pandemic. I think a lot of people chose
03:55 it as a way to be creative, including yourself. So sort of take me through that journey. Why
03:59 did you decide that you wanted to start a business?
04:03 Well when I started, when I was baking, before baking bread, I made a cinnamon, I made a
04:07 peanut butter from scratch. And that idea sparked another thought, I could make some
04:12 bread now. And I started researching recipes from back in Mozambique, I come from Mozambique
04:17 originally. And I found a few recipes on YouTube and I started trialling. The first try wasn't
04:22 good at all, I couldn't eat it. It was like a stone rock, but I didn't quit, I just kept
04:27 trying and trying and trying and I got it right. And I started making bread at home
04:30 and then giving to neighbours, taking to work. And one of the neighbours said, you could
04:35 make a business out of it. I said, no, I'm not making a business, I'm just having fun
04:38 with bread. A few weeks later I thought maybe it could be a journey I could follow. I'll
04:44 take a chance, which I did. And I started delivering to neighbours and going to neighbours
04:50 and wholesalers now and it just grew and grew and grew.
04:55 And the rest is history, isn't it?
04:57 Yes.
04:58 Now you do sort of a mixture of sweet, savoury, what do people tend to prefer? Is it a combination
05:02 of both?
05:03 It's a combination of both, but cinnamon buns are the popular product I have and sausage
05:09 rolls.
05:10 Ah, all the rolls. So there's a bit of a link with your family and you've got some sort
05:17 of links to baking within your history and your family.
05:21 Yes, when I started baking, after two weeks or something I launched the business. I told
05:26 my family, my parents back home, I said I'm starting a bakery and I'm baking at home.
05:30 And they said, we used to bake before you were born, which I didn't know before I came
05:34 to the UK. I said, oh, that's interesting then. So then it made a link for me that it's
05:40 something I'm supposed to do, it's a journey I'm supposed to follow, which I'm grateful
05:44 I follow it. And it's great.
05:47 We've seen many businesses hit by the cost of living crisis, haven't we? Bakeries and
05:53 such. So is that something that's impacted you, the rising costs of making all of your
05:58 pastries?
05:59 Yeah, I mean, it's just trying to make it work. It's mind blowing because it's like
06:04 the energy prices, the flour keep going up. It's trying to balance it, not rising my price
06:09 to affect the customers and affecting the business. It's challenging, but so far I'm
06:14 still, I'm fine. I'm managing it.
06:17 Well, it's good to hear. Tell me a bit about these cinnamon rolls. I'd like to try one.
06:21 They look quite different from sort of typical cinnamon rolls, don't they? So is this sort
06:25 of your USP, the way you sort of have a different approach to it?
06:28 These are traditional Swedish buns.
06:31 Ah, okay. So what's in them?
06:34 The cinnamon, sugar, a bit of cardamom.
06:36 Amazing.
06:37 Lots of butter.
06:38 And when were these made?
06:39 Today, this morning.
06:40 Oh, lovely. Do you want to try some as well? Don't leave me eating on my own.
06:44 Yes, I'll try.
06:46 They look lovely. So would you say, I mean, sort of bakeries and sweet treats are something
06:52 that it's quite different from the ones you'd get in the supermarket, isn't it? So how do
06:56 you kind of ensure that it is different from something people can get in the supermarket?
07:01 Because sometimes it will be a little bit cheaper if you buy it in a local supermarket.
07:05 So how do you kind of make it a different experience?
07:08 I source quality ingredients, organic flour, and I make it fresh in a day. When I'm selling
07:15 in the market, it's made in that day. No chemical, no preservatives.
07:22 Very tasty, I must say. What do you enjoy about baking? Is it quite therapeutic, would
07:27 you say?
07:28 Yes, it is. I enjoy it to start to the end. I've been baking for nearly three years, but
07:34 every time I bake bread, I still get surprised. I mean, the magic, it happens. What is it?
07:41 You know what I mean? So it's great.
07:46 And you're making some of your pan de chocolats there?
07:50 Yes.
07:51 So it looks like quite the process. Walk me through it.
07:55 Yeah. So croissant is a process of two days. So you start making the dough, and then you
08:02 have a butter block. And then put the butter block, laminate it, and roll it together.
08:07 And then it rests in the fridge, and then you can bring it out and roll it again. Rests
08:12 in the fridge again, and bring it out and roll it again, and make croissant with pan
08:15 de chocolat, pan de raisin, or pan de croissant.
08:18 It's quite difficult doing an interview when both of you are eating, isn't it?
08:22 Yes.
08:23 It's proving quite the challenge. So what's next for you? How are you going to sort of,
08:27 I guess, continue to differentiate? In quite a difficult financial climate, I know you
08:31 said it's not been too difficult, but prices are continuing to rise, inflation, things
08:36 like that. So how are you going to, I guess, make it through the hard times?
08:39 Well, how is basically none of my business. It's just believe I'm going to make it through,
08:44 and then keep going as I go. Doing online and delivering, or supplying to the community.
08:50 I'm trying to serve both the community online and the physical, like in my community.
08:58 And you were saying that your family, they did baking before you were even born. Have
09:02 you kind of taken some of those family recipes and brought it into your business?
09:06 The bread basically is so Mozambican. It's the same bread I used to eat at home as a
09:11 kid. I used to go to the bakery early morning, bring the fresh bread. So my first ever bread,
09:17 that's Mozambican. There's cardamom bread, I'm trying to source the recipe from home
09:21 to bring here. But it's similar to cardamom, but it's with coconut.
09:26 Okay, nice.
09:28 So I've been trialling out that.
09:30 Trialling out new things. And so how would you like to sort of, I guess, the other thing
09:37 that businesses have to focus on is being sustainable, making sure that they're looking
09:41 after the planet. Say, I mean, you've got cardboard here, recyclable packaging. How
09:45 do you make sure that your carbon footprint is quite low and you're not sort of impacting
09:51 the planet by doing your sort of day to day operations?
09:53 Yeah, like the flour, I make sure it comes from organic farm. And the packaging I use
09:59 is this cardboard. It's not plastic. I try my best even to find the packaging. In the
10:06 beginning, we tried really hard, me and my wife, to find the perfect packaging to still
10:10 use it to get a bread beautiful, but still good for the environment.
10:15 I must say, tasting the cinnamon slightly reminded me of Christmas. I don't know if
10:19 it's too early yet for Christmas. Have you started thinking about Christmas and your
10:23 sort of, your food, your sort of treats that you're going to do at Christmas time or the
10:27 festive period?
10:28 I haven't thought about it. At Christmas time, I usually have a bread, which is fruit
10:33 and stuff. That's big on Christmas time. And I'm thinking of different ideas. I'm still
10:38 busy with November markets, the Christmas market, but I'm still working out what I'm
10:43 going to produce for the customers.
10:45 It's something that people quite often like to do with their children, isn't it? Doing
10:48 a bit of baking, getting creative. So how can people do that from home? Is it quite
10:53 accessible to sort of do that from home with your children? Quite a nice activity to do,
10:57 isn't it?
10:58 Yes, they can. Now I'm thinking to launch a Christmas gift, where people can buy to
11:04 come and have a class with me, like one-to-one, after Christmas. It would be like a nice gift
11:09 for someone to come and bake with me, one-to-one in the bakery.
11:14 What's your favourite product that you do?
11:16 That's a tricky one.
11:19 It's a difficult one. I always like to ask guests, though, to see which is their favourite
11:22 one.
11:23 It's a tricky one.
11:24 I mean, you brought the cinnamon buns. Would you say that's up there with your favourite?
11:27 Yeah, it is. This cinnamon bun, because it's good and it's dangerous, because they're not
11:32 too sweet. You can easily eat more than one.
11:35 Yeah, definitely. It's quite different from your typical cinnamon bun. And sweet food
11:41 isn't for everyone, is it? So I guess it's good to have that balance. But Leo, thank
11:44 you very much for joining us. It's been really great to find out a little bit more about
11:47 your business. So thank you very much.
11:49 Thank you for having me.
11:50 We'll be coming back very soon after this break with more guests. See you very soon.
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15:05 Hello and welcome back to Made in Kent live on KMTV. Now the National Fruit Show celebrates
15:12 its 90 year anniversary last week in Maidstone with many of the fruit businesses in attendance
15:17 from across the country. With its storied history, it's been the hotspot for one of
15:21 the UK's biggest homegrown industries and it's making preparations for the future.
15:26 Finn McDermott has more.
15:28 Today marks the 90th annual National Fruit Show in Maidstone, an event where all things
15:33 fruit come together. From the farmer to the sales people, there's much more to fruit than
15:38 just apples and pears. The event shows off just how much effort goes into the UK's homegrown
15:44 produce, from technological innovations like drones and moisture sensors to equipment like
15:49 herbicides and farm vehicles. I spoke to Ali Kappa on why the fruit show is just so important.
15:56 So I think the lovely thing about the National Fruit Show is it brings the whole industry
16:00 together. Everybody from the grower all the way through to the consumer and indeed the
16:05 next generation who might be looking for careers in the industry. So it's really, the show
16:10 is a brilliant place to come together for everybody to talk, to collaborate, to come
16:15 up with new ideas for the industry and to look forward positively to the future. And
16:21 that's hard at the moment because there are a lot of challenges in the industry.
16:25 The show was started by a group of Marden-based farmers in the 1930s. The National Fruit Show
16:30 has an impressive history. Sarah Calcutt has had a front row seat to that history. Coming
16:36 from a generation of farmers, she has attended the event since she was a child, but this
16:41 marks her last event.
16:43 The show was founded 90 years ago on the 'bring the best together'. We started in Marden,
16:49 bringing the best together and we had the most important buyer of the time, which was
16:53 Selfridges, bought the buyer from Selfridges down, gave him a really good lunch, showed
16:56 him the greatest fruit, got him to sign the contract, job done. And for the last 90 years
17:00 this society has been all about showcasing what is absolutely brilliant about British
17:04 Amherst and Pears.
17:06 Education is one of the main priorities at the moment for the industry, with some companies
17:10 doing workshops around the country for school children anywhere from 4 to 18 years old.
17:15 I spoke to Samantha Smith on just how they were going about this.
17:19 We deliver our education programme from primary schools and actually early years, all the
17:23 way through to secondary schools. And we also deliver a full community outreach programme
17:29 and that could include beavers or brownies or scouts, any kind of group that comes together.
17:34 So National Farmers Union have farming groups as well. So we go out to talk to all of these
17:38 people and we also do big community events, so county shows, and they're not just here
17:43 in Kent but they're all over the country.
17:45 Hopefully we will see more efficient solutions to the problems of modern farming in next
17:49 year's fruit show as well.
17:51 Finn McDermott for KMTV
17:53 Now, Whitstable business is trying to change the game by teaching people how to grow pink,
17:58 grey or even gold mushrooms in a way that's sustainable. Urban Farm It is urging people
18:03 across the country to turn to urban farming, which they say is an ecological way of having
18:07 control over your diet. But as salesmen struggle with the cost of living crisis, will they
18:12 opt for these grow your own kits or look for a cheaper alternative? Mahima Abedin has been
18:16 finding out.
18:17 We've all heard of growing your own vegetables, but have you ever thought of growing your
18:22 own mushrooms? Urban Farmer in Whitstable looks to introduce people not only in Kent
18:27 but across the country to the world of urban farming. The company's grow your own mushroom
18:32 kits hopes to encourage a move towards a sustainable society. But as the country struggles with
18:38 the cost of living, is this something people can afford?
18:42 So from the mushroom kits you're looking at like 1.2 kilos of actual fruit and mushrooms
18:49 so for 20 quid that is actually very reasonable. You would struggle to get 1.2 kilos from the
18:55 supermarket for the same price. Once you've had your first harvest you'd be looking at
18:59 like another second harvest or third harvest every like 10 to 14 days. It's such a quick
19:07 turnaround so yeah I think people do have time to grow mushrooms, yeah. Like I said
19:15 it's one of the quickest things to grow. Once you've done the kit you will be able to grow
19:20 mushrooms in the same kind of manner, using the same methods but like you know it kind
19:26 of gives you the skills to grow your own. I think what's sustainable about it is kind
19:31 of educating people to grow their own food, reclaim their like food sovereignty and like
19:36 being in control of what it is that you're eating and not importing it in from abroad.
19:42 It's such a rapid growing thing so it's like fascinating to watch whereas usually you have
19:47 to like wait all summer to grow some veg whereas mushrooms are just really quick and efficient
19:53 growers given the right circumstances. So how do you grow your own mushroom using the
19:59 mushroom kit? Well there's five different stages. You start off with pasteurising, you
20:04 then mix and incubate for up to three weeks and you'll start to see mycelium grow like
20:09 this and eventually it will be ready to fruit and harvest but the kit does cost £19.99.
20:17 Most mushrooms are beige or white but did you know you can grow pink, blue or even gold
20:21 ones too? The blue, brown and pink they've got like a real meaty kind of texture, they're
20:26 really good substitutes for meat in like vegan and vegetarian dishes. Golden oysters have
20:33 got really delicate caps but you can like fry them up and get them like really crispy
20:40 and then like the white arm oysters have got like a bit more of a woody flavour to it.
20:44 But it's not just mushrooms for Urban Farm It, they hope to expand to other fruit and
20:49 veg going forward in a way that's accessible for all. Mahima Abedin for KMTV in Whitstable.
20:56 That was Mahima Abedin's report from early October and here's another piece from early
21:00 October looking back at some of those pieces we've done throughout the year. Have you ever
21:03 thought about the wonders of the universe? Well, Rochester Cathedral's latest art installation
21:09 teaches the public all about how the universe came to be. From biology to chemistry, there's
21:14 something for everyone to learn. Our reporter Henry Luck magnified Rochester Cathedral for
21:18 more details. Ever wondered about your place in the world? Well science, the latest lights
21:28 show at Rochester Cathedral looks to answer those questions and more. Whether you're a
21:34 believer of science or religion, this exhibit here at Rochester Cathedral lets you explore
21:40 both sides in an incredible visual and audio sound and light scape. It's an immersive experience
21:48 here inside this beautiful cathedral in Rochester and it essentially takes people on a journey
21:54 through the history of the sciences. So as people walk around the building, pretty much
21:59 every inch of this cathedral is bathed in light, multiple sound artworks that take them
22:05 through such things as DNA, molecules, equations, scientific discovery, anatomy, psychology,
22:13 ending up here in the nave taking people on a historic walk through the history of science
22:19 from Aristotle to the digital age that we live in today.
22:24 But people are still struggling with the cost of living crisis, so what have Rochester Cathedral
22:30 done to make science as accessible as possible?
22:33 We don't charge admission normally, we're free to enter and that's always the case.
22:39 But for this obviously we have to charge a little bit because of the sheer cost of putting
22:44 it on, but we try and keep the price as low as possible so that people can come and have
22:48 a nice evening, have a good time, learn a bit and experience something that is really
22:52 very different. You can't do this in many other places and we're combining the ancient
22:58 and the modern because science has been around a very long time of course, but modern science
23:06 is cutting edge, that's what we're interested in, Covid vaccines and all these things that
23:10 have been going on, but also this is a very ancient building. People have been coming
23:15 here for 1400 years to pray, to visit, to come as pilgrims. People used to come to visit
23:23 shrines here as saints, now they come to experience light shows. It's the same but different.
23:29 I'm very impressed by the projections and the artistry behind it.
23:35 It's very good indeed, and for all ages and especially for children, because they all
23:43 think science is such a difficult subject etc. And it's not, and it's done like this
23:49 they know exactly what they're doing. It's lovely, it's lovely.
23:52 The show will be going on until Saturday 7th October. Henry Luck, The Cayenne TV, in Rochester.
24:00 Well as we take a look at how Wylie culture has been celebrated across Kent, here's another
24:06 piece from last month.
24:08 I wouldn't blame you if you didn't spot it. Tucked away just off the Rochester High
24:13 Street is the Medway Little Theatre, and despite its small size, it has a big history and big
24:19 personalities on its stage. The amateur theatre has been holding plays on its stage for nearly
24:24 60 years, and its newest is set to open this week. Kodachrome is described as a play about
24:30 love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye. And take it from me, you might
24:36 want to bring tissues when you watch. I spoke to the director about how he feels ahead of
24:41 opening night.
24:42 Medway Little Theatre, a little theatre, it definitely is. There's not lots of space in
24:47 anywhere for us to, but it's quite amazing what kind of things you can create. And sometimes
24:55 you're relying on the audience to put those images in their minds for you, but that's
25:01 what theatre's about.
25:03 The theatre itself was converted from a disused warehouse into a 100-seat theatre in the late
25:08 1950s, and now holds amateur productions, youth sessions and shows, as well as events
25:13 like their one-act play festivals. Their current production, Kodachrome, takes a look at a
25:18 small town through the lens of the local photographer, and is an honest depiction of romance in all
25:23 its forms. But it wouldn't be made possible without the cast and crew who are bringing
25:28 it to life. During their dress rehearsal, it's clear that a lot more hard work goes
25:33 into an amateur production than people assume. The actors have so many physical and verbal
25:38 cues to remember, the crew have to help set the scene as well, and the director makes
25:42 sure it all runs smoothly. All these people have to be completely in sync to make it feel
25:47 polished and smooth. All the cast have full-time jobs apart from their theatrics, and the low
25:53 budget that comes with amateur productions means that there's less money for costumes
25:57 and props. But that doesn't mean they don't have their favourites.
26:01 I play the mystery novelist and the florist, and my favourite prop is my gigantic bunch
26:07 of flowers. I play the photographer, and I'm actually very lucky I only have one prop,
26:13 and that is my camera. I play the waitress and the librarian, and my favourite prop is
26:18 definitely my librarian stamp. Well I'm here outside Medway Little Theatre, where the production
26:24 inside is much bigger than you might think. Finn McDermid for KMTV News.
26:29 Well that's all from us here at KMTV. You've been watching Made in Kent. In the meantime,
26:33 you can check out some of our other shows, Kent Tonight, The Kent Politics Show, and
26:36 Kent on Climate by visiting kmtv.co.uk. I'll be back at the same time next week, 6 o'clock.
26:43 See you then.
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