Paul Wesley
Hamish Christall
By Diana Cercone
If you’re looking for BowlFace’s addictive Gazpacho soup this winter, you’ll have to wait till next summer when the tomatoes and basil that chef/owner Hamish Christall uses are in season and at their peak flavor. I know. I share your pain. But Hamish is all about cooking seasonally, buying locally and going globally in the soups and dips he creates. Growing up in New Zealand where he earned his chef credits, cooking as a chef in four countries and traveling in 52, the man knows what he’s talking about.
Hamish, who sells his BowlFace soups and dips at local farmers’ markets and select food stores, is intent on making food the old-fashioned way: freshly handmade and according to the season. Standing in his professional kitchen in Newtown and stirring a new batch of his Butternut Squash soup, he says, “That’s when everything is at its most flavorful.” It’s not only healthier for you since all the nutrients are fresh and haven’t begun to diminish, he says, it’s also about mindful eating. We get to savor each mouthful. And when that season is over, another begins, he says. And we can relish all the new flavors.
From the moment you pour one of his soups into a mug or bowl and its siren-call aroma envelops you, you understand what he’s all about. The fruits, vegetables and herbs he uses come from local farms and not from thousands of miles away where they’re picked before their time.
The tomatoes Hamish uses for his Gazpacho come from Milk House Farm in Newtown, where farmer/owner Brenda Slack raises 30 varieties of tomatoes, he says. Each one destined to shine in a particular dish. For his Grilled Peach Gazpacho, he turns to Manoff Garden and Market in New Hope for their peaches picked fresh from their orchards.
The basil for his soup and nut-free pesto, he says, comes from None Such Farm in Buckingham, as does the non-GMO corn for his Roasted Sweet Corn Chowder and Mexican Street Corn Dip. (Yep, like his peach and tomato gazpachos, you’ll have to wait till summer.)
But not to worry. His summer soups and dips will be back next year. Hamish is only making room for his new winter line-up of soups like his South Indian Roasted Cauliflower and Thai Roasted Butternut Squash. (Both vegetables from Milk House Farm.) Then there are his Moroccan Spiced Chickpea, Broccoli and Pecorino and Pasta Fagioli soups. Because he uses mushrooms from Kennett Square in Chester County and Primordia Mushroom Farm in Berks County where they grow many of their mushrooms indoors, he’s able to offer his popular Wild Mushroom soup year-round. To appease his summer Gazpacho fans—and to offer a classic winter soup like tomato with his own culinary riff—Hamish has created his Fire Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup. (Fast becoming one of my favorites.) It’s made with Jersey Fresh which cans Jersey farmers’ tomatoes and basil at their peak to preserve their fresh taste. Another local farm he uses for its fresh greens and vegetables is Rolling Hills Farm, an organic farm in Lambertville.
There’s good news for his minestrone fans. You won’t feel the pain at all. Hamish is replacing his Summer Minestrone, a mix of light summer vegetables like zucchini and tomatoes, with a winter version. Chock full of winter root vegetables, fresh kale and chick pea pasta (both vitamin-rich and gluten-free), BowlFace’s Winter Minestrone is heartier and the perfect comfort food on a bone-chilling day. Just add a glass of wine and some crusty, French bread—regular or gluten-free. And, voilà you have a feast! (But, please, say it with a lovely, lilting New Zealand accent like Hamish’s.)
The small-batch, handmade, preservative-free soups are packaged by hand in heavy, BPA-free plastic pouches and are sold refrigerated-style. Heating instructions, as well as ingredients and nutritional information, are printed on the back labels, along with their Best Buy date. They freeze well, too. The soups are great to have on hand to pluck from the freezer for an impromptu dinner or when guests arrive a day early for the holidays.
Though he honed his culinary skills wherever he cooked or traveled, it was in England, he says, where he learned the most about food. At the time Hamish was working in food development for Sainsbury’s, the equivalent of Whole Foods in the UK. Over the course of his 10 years with them, he says, he learned to distinguish flavor profiles and what foods and seasonings work well together. He also developed a line of fresh soups that instead of being canned or frozen were sold fresh.
When he moved to the States and settled in Bucks County with his wife, an American from Princeton whom he had met and married in England, he found there were no such fresh and local soups available in stores. In 2017 Hamish corrected that void and launched BowlFace with a line of his own fresh soups and dips.
Just in time for football games, family get-togethers and holiday parties—or just enjoying after a long day in front of a crackling fire—is his line of winter dips, such as one of his latest creations: Pickle Sriracha Dip. The inspiration for it, he says, was easy. “I just thought of what Americans like: pickles and hot stuff.” Like many of his dips, his Pickle Sriracha is versatile. Try dipping onion rings or mozzarella sticks into it for an added zip or ramp up the flavor on your next cheesesteak by slathering some on top.
An ever-popular dip is his Caramelized Onion and Asiago. It’s Hamish’s spin on the classic French Onion dip. “It’s nuttier and sweeter because of the scallions, and a little salty with the Asiago,” he says. It’s also great as a topping for white pizza, tucked into an omelet or as a sauce for pasta.
Black-n-Blue Cheese Dip is another customer favorite. For the dip, Hamish roasts cremini mushrooms with fresh thyme before blending them with blue cheese. It’s a culinary marriage made to top burgers and steaks or just to savor with a glass of red wine. As with his other dips, he says, “Use your imagination. I love it when customers come up to me and tell me a new way they served one of my dips.” Like the recent customer, he says, who told him she served it on pierogies.
Then there are his Heat & Eat dips: Buffalo Cauliflower and Brie and Cranberry. (Like all of his soups and dips, the containers are BPA free, but these two are also microwavable.) O.K., you’ve got it now. Hamish’s Buffalo Cauliflower goes with wings—or vegetable sticks, tortilla chips or skewers of grilled chicken, lamb, pork or beef–like, well, like lights on a Christmas tree. Actually, I can’t think of a food that it wouldn’t add a zing or two. And now, I’m thinking a big “yes” to mac-n-cheese.
Even before the leaves began turning colors and cranberry season was a good month away, his customers started asking when he’d have his Brie and Cranberry Dip, a decadently delicious combination of cranberries (from New Jersey bogs) set between layers of Brie cheese and topped with cranberries infused with rosemary. Heat and serve the dip with crusty bread, thick slices of pears, a glass or two of Prosecco and enjoy. The dip also makes an impressive and welcomed hostess gift during the holidays. Just be sure to stock up before January 1. After New Year’s, Hamish takes his Brie and Cranberry Dip off his menu. “It’s so rich,” he says, “everyone goes on a diet after New Year’s.” At least for a few weeks, he says with a mischievous grin.
Also knowing a thing or two about marketing, Hamish designed the logo and label for his BowlFace soups and dips. Using his 13-year-old daughter, then age seven, he photographed her lifting a bowl to her mouth to lick the last drop. The photo is not only his nostalgic nod to good food when everything was made fresh from the field and by hand, but also to what’s inside each of his BowlFace soups and dips. Now that’s truly “Mmm, Mmm Good!”
For more information on where to buy Bowl Face soups and dips, go to bowlface.com or email Hamish at hamish@bowlface.com.
Diana Cercone is an area freelance writer who specializes in food, art and travel.