Cuisine
Children categories
Italian
Most people see Italian food as being Olive Oil, Tomatoes, Parmesan and fresh herbs, which a lot of it is, it's easy to forget how diverse Italian cooking really is. It is quite a big country and in political terms hasn't been a single country for that long. It's a long way from North to South and teh regions that comprise it are old and distinctive.
It borders the South of France - another Mediterranean cuisine, but also Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia and is topped off by the Alps. This means that, a bit like India, the north is different from the south with dairy products - especially butter - often taking the place of the south's olive oil. It's worth looking at the cuisine of the north and the best way to do that is by getting hold of Anna Del Conte's The Classic Food of Northern Italy.
Give it a whirl!"
Spanish
“Spain is big, really big. If you think going down the High Street to the Chemist is a long way, you should see Spain! Listen….” (Misquote from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Sorry).
The point is this is mainly about the South East. The food of Northern Spain is completely different because of the land, the weather, trade, history, and partly because the south of Spain was Moorish (Moroccan) for hundreds of years which obviously affected the food.Like large chunks of Southern Europe where cattle are difficult to raise, pork is really important and seafood goes without saying – the Atlantic is on the westerns side and the Mediterannean Sea is . . . well . . . a sea . . . where fish live.
The province and city of Valencia are near the middle of this part of the coast and just inland is a region perfect for growing rice which is why paella is a big deal there. Paella is just named after the pan but is similar thing to risotto (short grain rice cooked in stock) but is cooked in a simpler way – the Italian faffing with ladles is out and dumping stock in in 2 batches and leaving it alone is in! You’ve got to love them Spaniards!
British
Ah, Dear Old Blighty. Soggy sandwiches and warm beer on stony, windy beaches; town centres populated by charity shops and coffee bars whose mega-owners don't pay tax; home of the deep-fried Mars Bar...
Land of the free, Winner of the world cup more than half a century ago (but we won't let that get in the way of giving the boys a kicking in the press if they lose a competition that we never win but weirdly always expect to). And it's home until I can come up with a plan.
We used to have arguably the worst cuisine in the world but that's just not true now. The whole group of islands is blessed with lush grass for cattle and sheep, beautiful fish (even though we sell much more than we eat to people who appreciate it more), and a recent wave of artisan producers of every type of food and drink.
Mexican
French
Ah, the old enemy well, to be fair there are the Scots, the Germans and a host of other people we traditionally fight with.... Don't even mention the Vikings (more properly the Danes). And you may not know that William the Conqueror didn't consider himself French and was actually very recently descended from Vikings
Anyway, France is a big, beautiful and varied country. Normandy with its northern climate, butter and green pastures is just not like Provence with its Sunshine, olive oil and tomatoes.
French cuisine has long been held up as the benchmark though I don't think that's true any more but they are still a leader, if only more in technique than how interesting the food is
You can't take the classics away from them though
Indian
Literally some of the best food in the world comes from India and in my opinion it is undervalued
Culturally in the UK it has become associated with a cheap tasty way to get full (and keep drinking) after the pubs close but it's so much more than that (not that that's a bad thing in itself)
India is absolutely massive. If you thought Birmingham was a long way away, you should see India. Most of what we call "Indian" restaurants are from Northern India or Pakistan which has lush green fields, cows (and so lots of butter, cream etc.) and abundant livestock. But because it's so huge it is more than 2,500km from the Punjab in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South and neither of those is the extreity so the South is totally different with coconuts and fish and different herbs.
What a place!
Thai
Thailand is a beautiful country full of beautiful people and beautiful food
When there are sufficient recipes on here from that region, I'll break them down into a larger number of countries but for now it represents that sub-region of South East Asia along and around the Mekong. Countries are man-made constructs anyway and borders are meaningless in food terms, but there are slight differences which I'll get to in future
65 million Buddhists can't be wrong
Do this with prawns, beef, vegetables, whatever you can find, you can't go wrong with this absolutely beautiful thing
Ever wondered what tinned peas were for? Well, it's this
Use tinned marrowfats for this recipe. I've used sage because it goes better with the ham or bacon than mint would, but peas and mint go really well. In summer use frozen peas instead of tinned and leave the meat out, swap the sage for mint and you've got something beautiful
One thing you can pretty much guarantee you can do better than a restaurant or pub can
I don't know what it is - cold fat; raw potatoes; crowding them in the pan... But anyway they are just always better at home
Weeping Tiger Featured
No. No I don’t know why it’s called that, and I don’t care – google it if you care.
but whether or not you ever find out why it’s called that, just make it: It’s astonishingly tasty Thai Surf’n’Turf!
There’s a chemistry...
So this is about using the acid in lemons or limes to cook the fish. It’s not new – soused herrings (vinegar), ceviche, escabeche, actually the whole process is just pickling really. The trick is not to keep it in there too long.
Anything but plain - you've got to love them Mexicans!
This is the same principle as Plain Rice where you measure the rice and liquid beforehand and cook it until the liquid is gone.
Rendag-diggidy-dang-a-dang, baby: Cook beef in coconut milk until there isn't any liquid left
This is adapted from Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook
Tomayto-Tomarto
I’ve written about Sofrito before, but I didn’t realise that both the Italians and Spanish use the same word. Well, actually I did know that, but didn’t realise it was for slightly different things.
To do this properly, 1lb of spuds to 1lb of butter. Not healthy but who cares?
Seems silly even putting this is in – how hard can it be, right? Just boil the potatoes – it doesn’t really matter what type but, again, floury makes your job easier.
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
I'm not a great fan of Salmon but this recipe just works!
Like every fish recipe it's easy to lose your nerve and keep it in for too long. You'll learn how you like it after you've done it a couple of times but this really works
Jelly and custard for grown-ups
“We don’t have this in Mexico, it’s an American thing. But if we did it would be like this . . ."
This is a briliant recipe based on a recipe by Lourdes Nicholls who says something along the lines of “We don’t have this in Mexico, it’s an American thing. But if we did it would be like this . . .
The best soup in the world
This is inspired by a Rick Stein recipe that is absolutely lovely.
What do you mean you don't speak Thai? You eat Green Curry don't you?
You can buy perfectly reasonable thai green curry paste and the shop-bought stuff includes kaffir lime leaves which makes life easier, But Thai food is all about freshness; bright, fresh flavours - herbs, chillis lemongrass. You should try it
If you like cheese, you like peas, you'll love Cheezy Peaz!
Paneer is now widely available in supermarkets and is a bit like halloumi in that it stays together when you cook it, so if you fry it in spices it will collect them like tofu would
Not authentic in any way
But if someone says they’d like a spring roll, then I’m here for them!
Sometimes you just need to make stuff
This is it, no need to mess with it at all, but you can obviously
Fish on toast is the best thing in the world
Well, you know...but this is fabulous!
Yum Yum! This is a beautiful thing
This is a very beautiful hot and sour soup from Thailand. You can just about make it vegetarian, but the fish sauce is important in my view.
Crazy, mixed-up squid
Yep, you normally cook squid for a short amount of time and when you go over it's like an inner-tube. Squid is like a lot of other ingredients; lots of people don't like it but that's because a lot of people including restaurants don't know how to cook it.
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.
It's lots of butter and is the basis of any Cheese Sauce, Parsely Sauce, or . . . you get the idea
It's simple but you can cock it up if you try to rush it. But then it only takes a couple of minutes anyway so why mess around? this makes about half a pint but you just increase each of the ingredients in this proportion. the important bit s that you have equal amounts (weight) of butter and flour
This is a version of Puttanesca.
A puttana is a sex worker in Italian and it is thought to have been named because it was quick and easy for people with a "busy schedule" to cook and eat between appointments.
Not a gravy but not as pretentious as it sounds
So everything is a jus now but there are 2 important distinctions between jus and gravy. Gravy is pretty much a velouté which really means it’s thickened with flour and/or dairy of some sort. And gravy can have lumps of onion or whatever in it. Jus should be clear of any lumps.
Don’t use cheap Lager, Not just for this, it's a general rule.
Beef in beer, Guinness works well or anything brown. You can adapt it with Pork and Cider for a nice change
Ahem, sorry about that
Having listened to this two part report from the food programme, we’ve been eating a lot more beans at home.
"Pan" on anything pisses me off quite a lot: What else would you fry in? Bucket-fried? Even the colonel fries the chicken separately from the bucket he puts it in
Anyway, you can just cook the salmon in the pan on the hob (fry it) or start it in the pan and then put the pan in the oven (pan-roasted). Pan-roasted is fair enough I suppose
This is what cheap olives are for
There's no real recipe for this in terms of proportions, make it how you like and adjust as you go
Chicken and wine - them Frenchies know what they're about!
Not the best picture in the world I'll grant you but a lovely thing
Rice. Lovely, sticky, deeply-flavoured rice. Lick the plate
Risotto is sold to cooks as a dark art that normal people can’t do – it’s all about timing, hot stock and standing around for 20 minutes while it comes together.
Vinegary rabbit is not everyone’s thing
Umbrian Rabbit is from The Classic Food of Northern Italy (Anna del Conte). I love it but the vinegar hit, and the rabbit for that matter, are not to everyone’s taste so I’ve adapted it by using chicken instead of rabbit and wine instead of vinegar. It’s worth trying the original though.
The real reason we have roasts on Sunday
There are several ways of making this, but the traditional description of gravy is that it’s made from the juices from the meat. Well, if you’re Achilles on the beach of Troy sacrificing 20 white bulls for the death of Patroclus then you might have enough juices for that but the rest of us use oxo.
I love Massive Attack's Karmacoma.
I think of it when I cook this: Keemakorma (“What? Jamaica and Roma”). No? Just me then
Yes, I know it sounds weird: Bonkers but beautiful
This is adapted from a recipe in Sophie Grigson's Eat Your Greens - the only book on cooking vegetables anyone needs
Easy-peasy Lemon (or orange or lime or whatever you want or vinegar for that matter) squeezy!
Ahh, it trips off the tongue but you'll never eat mint sauce out of a jar again! So is it just a posh version of mint sauce? Not really. It has basil and parsley as well as mint and can be eaten with anything: try it with fish, it is fabulous.
It's all about the Dimethyl Sulfide, stupid!
Basically when you cook cabbage it produces Dimethyl Sulfide which is that nasty smell and not a great taste. However all you need to do is cook it properly - either quickly or slowly. Anything in between is pants. I'll put another recipe on for cooking it quickly but this is lovely
Not that yellow stuff, this is much, much better
Don't get me wrong, I love standard paella; the yellow one with seafood, saffron, chorizo and tomatoes. It tastes of sun, sangria and sex
No, nothing at all to do with French Nazi sympathisers
We all just love this! Just do it!
This is the original and easiest version using shop-bought pesto. It’s really nice and easy but not as nice as fresh pesto.
What a Pulava!
This started as a conversation with Meg about rice (I know).
Like porridge but nice!
When I had it in Hong Kong it seemed as though the rice had been broken up which made it smoother. I just use rice
Fried leftovers! Fantastic!
Named after one of Meg's school friends, its a bit like coq au vin but tarragon gives it a lovely fresh lift
Do this in a heavy-bottomed casserole and if you can get chicken with skin on so you can roast it and get it lovely and crispy on the outside and gives the stock a lovely flavour. Whole legs are good but if you don't like bones then skin-on breasts are ok
Everyone thinks their recipe is the best.
But they’re wrong. This is.
Can I have some more please?
Gruel? Really? That’s what this translates as? Blimey, I’ll have some of that!
Makes me happy when we have this: "Tonight we're dhaling, Darling"
You've got to love this stuff. It costs pennies; you can make more than you need and it will keep; and it is delicious!
Wouldn't be a Bradford Christmas without this!
Remember, there's more to life that Cheddar!
Much more!
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck . . . fry it!
Duck is fatty but only really in a single thick layer between the skin and flesh – the meat itself is rich but lean. Get the fat out and use it for something else (Roasties)
It's not exactly cooking
Well, this is predominantly a food site, even if I am using it to blog about spending a couple of months in Spain.
When life gives you lemons, make a posset…
… or a Gin and Tonic. Your call but I’m less interested in the posset now I've though of that.
My grandson’s favourite thing in the world!
Heads and tails, heads and tails…
Clown divorce: custardy battle
There are 2 versions of this, I wanted to make it thicker for a trifle so reduced the milk to 350ml and took an egg out but left the same amount of everything else
Bechemal for grown-ups. You don’t always want milk in your dinner unless you’re 1yrs old.
Velouté is based on a roux in the same way as Bechemal but you add stock, wine or something else instead of milk. The classic velouté is a “white stock”; not beef or lamb, so think fish, chicken or veg. The absolute classic is veal stock.
Ruben Sandwich Featured
This is a truly beautiful thing.
Look at the previous recipe (salt beef) about a week before you want a sandwich. Yeah, I know.
Eggs Benedict in a crispy edible bowl
This is taken from a recipe by Rachel Khoo and is lovely. It looked a bit easier when she did it using french sliced loaf which looked a but bigger but it works.
It's what the mackerel would have wanted!
This is a very basic recipe which you can play with by adding different flavourings if you like: garlic, spring onion, chilli, up to you
Taazi Khumben Alu Mattar Kar - or curried mushrooms, potatoes and peas to you and me.
This is slightly adapted from a recipe in Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook
Beef in loads of soy sauce. It’s lovely.
But, do as I say, not as I do!
Potatoes and bacon with wine, cream and cheese. And not just any old cheese - it's Reblochon!
You can make this as a side dish (this recipe) or you can beef it up a bit with chicken and make it almost like a fish pie (a bit more wine and cream) with the potatoes on the top of a creamy chicken and bacon base
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”.
