Why I started with broth

Alexander Pichugin

Living with IBS made me pay closer attention to what went into my meals. I wanted a broth I’d look forward to drinking, with ingredients I chose myself. I started with Portuguese beef marrow bones and took the time to get the flavour right.

I'm Alexander Pichugin. Alongside more than twenty years in IT, cooking has been part of my life since my teens. I cook by paying attention to taste, smell and texture, and I enjoy working out what makes a dish memorable. Bò grew from that interest in good food, and from wanting to understand how everyday nutrition fits into health and longevity. I make the food I want to have in my own kitchen, then share it with people who care about eating well.

A proper cup of broth

Warm about 250 ml and try a cup a day for two weeks, whenever you most look forward to it.

I usually drink one or two cups a day. I like mine undiluted.

With breakfast

Pour a warm cup with breakfast. If you like fruit in the morning, an orange or kiwi brings brightness and vitamin C alongside the savoury broth.

When the day winds down

Let the gel melt over gentle heat. It’s a savoury cup for evenings when the kettle would otherwise tempt you to make something less interesting.

See how I use Bò broth

Why these ingredients?

Portuguese beef marrow bones, water and hand-harvested Algarve sea salt.

The plain broth gets its flavour from roasted marrow bones. I leave onion and garlic out from the start because their fructans dissolve into the cooking water. That leaves you a savoury base to season as you like.

Why we leave onion and garlic out of our broth

I leave onion and garlic out before the bones even go into the pot. Their fructans dissolve in water, so fishing out a clove later makes little difference to what’s already in the broth.

Plain broth in a keto or carnivore kitchen

A warm cup of broth or a spoonful stirred into steak juices starts with the same simple base. Here’s how I use it and which other Bò products I reach for when ingredients matter.

Choosing broth with IBS or SIBO in mind

Living with IBS changed the way I read a stock label. I look at what went into the pot, how rich the broth is and how much I’m about to serve. That’s where I’d start if you’re choosing broth with IBS or SIBO in mind.

Histamine and the time between steps

The broth spends a day on the stove. The rest of the process moves quickly, from the moment the bones leave the oven to the cooling of each filled portion. Here’s why those transitions matter when we talk about histamine.

Nutrition in a whole food matrix

Broth brings together what slow cooking releases from Portuguese beef marrow bones. We keep that whole food matrix intact, with its flavour and gelatin, rather than separating it into industrial isolates. For people interested in functional nutrition, it is a familiar food they can enjoy in a cup or use in the kitchen.

Gelatin forms as collagen breaks down during cooking. It contains amino acids including glycine and proline.

Why broth sets in the fridge

Where the plain broth fits

When I want a meal built around animal foods, I reach for the plain broth and the pure cooking marrow fat. They’re the simplest recipes I make. The cacao, seasoned jerky and Powerballs each start from a different idea, so I look at those recipes individually when I’m choosing what to eat.

Cooking marrow fat

Start with the broth Follow the process