Mark
Mark Bradford was born in Australia in 1966 and has lived on a damp, cold island off the coast of France since 1970. Educated in the State School System (proudly), his teachers unanimously agreed he had raised indolence and mediocrity to world-class levels.
In sport, he excelled at outrunning the bigger kids to avoid a regular hiding. These traits have seen him through several aimless career changes and now, in his 50s, he finds himself wondering what he will do when he grows up.
But, he loves his family and he can cook a bit.
Follow him at www.bradfordfamilycookbook.uk
This is probably the most important thing you need to know how to cook
There are ways of doing it; fresh tomatoes, passata, tinned tomatoes, in my view it doesn’t really matter but let’s face it, most British tomatoes don’t really taste of much; they’re not like the ones you eat on Holiday where the sun shines more predictably so I think it’s always better to use tinned tomatoes or passata.
"Salt is the difference between eating in black and white and eating in Technicolour"
Can I have some more please?
Gruel? Really? That’s what this translates as? Blimey, I’ll have some of that!
It ain’t Banana Fritters!
I went for a Thai meal with vegetarians once. It was nice enough. Then the waiter asked about deserts: “Apple fritters please”; “Bananas in Coconut Milk for me”, “Ooh, me too. Bananas in Coconut Milk”. It got to me : “Lamb Masaman Curry, Please”.
Can curry paste be religious?
This is translated as “Muslim” curry paste. It may have been brought in by Persian traders. "Mussulman" is arguably another word for Muslim. It’s interesting – either way it feels like it comes from well to the West of Thailand.
Ripped off from Dhal
Another made-up Mexican side dish because I don't really like the limited number I have in my Mexican cookbook
Holy Guacamole, Batman! (As Robin never said)
This is basically Tomato Salsa with mashed avocado mixed in. Don't buy it, there's no comparison to the real stuff
Salsa, chatni, it's all the same; fruit, veg, acid and herbs.
This could pas for Asian as well as American but either way it's really lovely
Made it up before I knew it had a name. Not authentic but it went down well
I couldn't anything I fancied in the Mexican cookbook - seems like all the veg had cheese and/or bread of some sort so I thought about ratatouille with Mexican flavours instead. The Spanish do something called Pisto but it's very tomato-ey and I wanted it a bit less gloopy