Contents
Cover
List of Recipes
About the Book
About the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Introduction
General Information
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
Copyright
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781448142033
www.randomhouse.co.uk
This book is published to accompany the television series entitled New British Classics, first broadcast in 1999.
The series was produced by BBC Features and Events.
Executive Producer: Nick Vaughan-Barratt
Producer: Mandy Cooper
Published by BBC Worldwide Ltd,
Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 0TT
First published 1999
Reprinted 1999 (twice), 2000 (five times)
First published in paperback 2001
Reprinted 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008
© Copyright Gary Rhodes 1999
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
Photographs by Sîan Irvine © copyright BBC Worldwide Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Recipe for mincemeat in Home-made Mincemeat and Mince Pies here taken from Delia Smith’s Christmas and reproduced by kind permission of Delia Smith.
ISBN 978 0 563 55100 3 (hardback)
ISBN 978 0 563 53411 2 (paperback)
This book is the biggest collection of recipes that I have written and put together. It’s almost impossible to compile such a repertoire without the support and help of others, so I would like to take this opportunity to express my dearest thanks to all, including those not mentioned by name here.
A very special thank you to Sue Fleming for the many hours it took accumulating the vast quantity of research information required. I’d like to thank Borra Garson, Lissanne Kenyon, Gardner Merchant, my team at city rhodes restaurant, in particular Wayne Tapsfield and Michael Bedford, and the BBC books team: Nicky Copeland, Khadija Manjlai, Andrew Barron, Sarah Miles and Charlotte Lochhead. Another big thank you to the best home economist in the business – Jo Pratt, Sîan Irvine for the beautiful photography, Nick Vaughan-Barratt, Mandy Cooper and the rest of the BBC television crew for the many exciting weeks of filming the New British Classics series.
And, of course, my wife and sons – Jennie, Samuel and George – who’ve put up with me for yet another year and will, I hope, for many more to come.
Thank you – simple words that mean so much.
British cookery has gone through many changes, with different approaches to ingredients resulting in varied tastes and styles. Twenty-five years ago, the UK had a poor reputation throughout the culinary world and little respect. But then an innovative influence, nouvelle cuisine, burst onto the scene, affecting restaurants and home kitchens alike. We did not fully understand its style, but it gave us light at the end of the tunnel, inspiring us to find our place in the world of culinary excellence.
It turned out to be a long journey, but we did not lose direction. Two brothers were responsible for this, showing us that classical methods and long-held traditions are the bedrock of new ideas. They showed how to work with tastes, not overwork them, creating complements rather than conflicts.
The brothers have an aura about them: they have given me nothing but inspiration, and continue to do so. I would like to dedicate New British Classics to the Roux brothers, Albert and Michel, who, for me, are the godfathers of the culinary world.
Thank you.
‘The discovery of a new dish is more beneficial to humanity than the discovery of a new star.’
Brillat Savarin
NEW BRITISH CLASSICS is a book of culinary stories and recipes feeding us with information of the past, carrying many flavours that have survived, with many others re-born. British cookery, as most of you know, is a long-held passion of mine. While other cuisines have had a large influence on its development, its worldwide culinary reputation has always been less esteemed than that of France and Italy. I have never quite understood how and why this was until I started to research this book. Yes, I had heard various views and held many of my own, but the origins and progress of cookery in the UK is more complicated and fascinating than one imagines, and deserves exploration. In each chapter I have outlined the history of the recipes included. I have also interspersed the chapters with features on ingredients, foods and food occasions (afternoon tea, for instance) that I think are particularly, sometimes even uniquely, British.
So, how did the history of cooking start? The first few lines from ‘The Invention of Cuisine’ by Carol Musk set the scene.
Imagine a thin woman
before bread was invented,
playing a harp of wheat in the field.
There is a stone, and behind her
the bones of the last killed,
The black bird on her shoulder
That a century later
Will fly with trained and murderous intent.
They are not very hungry
because cuisine has not yet been invented.
nor has falconry,
nor the science of imagination.
All they have is the pure impulse to eat.
Out of the need to eat for survival came the instinct to put foodstuffs together and cook them for variety and taste – an impulse that developed in most countries at the same time.
The principal characteristic of British culinary tradition is the number of influences it has absorbed over the centuries. As a group of islands to the side of a great continental mass, Britain has always been open to invasion. The invaders came, bringing with them their foods and cooking techniques. The Romans were perhaps of the greatest significance, and during their 400 years of occupation, they introduced many ingredients and ideas to an essentially simple cooking style. Many vegetables, fruits and meats that we consider British-born were actually brought in by the Romans – from pheasants, guinea fowl and deer to figs, walnuts, chestnuts, parsley, mint, chervil, onions, leeks, garlic and many others. Also introduced were two vegetables I have always considered to be purely British: cabbage and turnips.
The Saxons, Angles and Vikings were also influential, as were the Normans after 1066. These ‘men of the North’ – Normandy was itself originally a Viking stronghold – not only brought in ideas from France, and from their own heritage, but from southern Europe too. Norman forces went on to conquer parts of southern Europe, in particular Sicily, which had been strongly influenced by Arab invaders, and food traditions from there were to filter through to northern Europe. Medieval food in England was rich in many ways that were as much Middle Eastern as northern European, in its use of dried fruits, nuts such as almonds, and a multitude of spices. Cane sugar was another introduction, brought back to England by soldiers returning from the Crusades. So rare and expensive were the blocks of refined or brown sugar that they were looked upon as a sweet spice and kept under tight lock and key.
Food for the rich can’t have been boring during and after the Middle Ages, although the many fish days forced on the population by the Church must have made salt fish (most people did not have access to fresh) less than welcome. For ordinary people this simply meant salted and pickled fish, but for the rich there were many more types of seafood readily available – from basics such as plaice, haddock, herring and mackerel to the more extravagant oysters, whales, sturgeon, crabs, lobsters and even seals.
It is said that a plainer feel to British food than that of the medieval style started to creep in during the years of the Commonwealth (1649–60), when the Puritans so disapproved of the use of culinary spices, thinking they led to intemperance and lasciviousness, that they even tried to ban Christmas! I think that British food has always been plain, but not dull, to a greater extent than is often thought, because the majority of the population, denied access to expensive imported fruits, nuts and spices, cooked and ate very simply. The traditions of the yeoman’s and peasant’s table are as important in our culinary heritage as those of the aristocracy. Moreover, the good climate and agriculture, in England at any rate, ensured adequate grain supplies and lush pastures and thus produced good-quality meats. So, basically, for those who could afford meat, there was no need to do anything more fancy to a piece of beef than roast it. The majority of people liked foods to taste of what they were, with ‘the taste of the fire’, and didn’t favour rich complementary sauces or tricksy combinations of foods as the French might. However, then as now, sharp and piquant garnish sauces, such as mint or horseradish, were much favoured.
Following the great world explorations of the sixteenth century, many foods were introduced to Britain from the New World, among them turkeys, tomatoes, sweet peppers, chillies and vanilla (as well as tobacco). The one that was to have the most significance, though, was the potato, which did not take long to become a dietary staple in the British Isles, particularly in Ireland.
The increasing industrialization of the country from the eighteenth century onwards, and enclosures of land, meant that many people were displaced and rural and culinary traditions began to be eroded. Those who had to seek work in the gradually expanding towns became cut off from their former ways of cooking and eating. Food, once again, became simpler. Eating took second place to work in daily life, playing a smaller part in the family budget and was of little general interest. It was at this time that cookshops became part of the culinary culture, offering some of the dishes that most characterize British cooking to many – things such as eels and mash, pies and mash and, one of the most classic, fish and chips. With the breakdown of the rural communities, some traditions were lost and others replaced with outside influences among those who had moved to the cities – notably French cuisine, which dominated ‘refined’ British cooking in restaurants and wealthy private houses in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These dual culinary styles continued until the First and Second World Wars, when food for pleasure became difficult as rations were introduced.
Later, with the introduction of nouvelle cuisine – a new ‘fashion’ in cooking – we seemed to lose our way completely. Perhaps I should say mislay, rather than lose, because in many country districts, those parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland furthest from the urban centres of influence, great traditions did manage to survive. I’ve personally experienced, with nothing but gustatory pleasure, large pots containing all three courses – boiled ham with lots of vegetables and potatoes cooking away with a muslin bag of leek dumpling, for instance, where the vegetables are served with the liquor for soup, followed by the ham and potatoes, and finished with a wedge of the savoury dumpling. In the last few years there has been a more generalized revival of interest in the old ways. Twenty years ago British cooking was looked upon as having nothing to offer but well-done roast beef and soggy Yorkshire puddings. It was in the mid 1980s that the image of British cookery began to change, and I am proud to have played a small part in this, re-introducing to my menus recipes that I consider to be Great British Classics. Lancashire hotpot, faggots, fishcakes and bread and butter pudding are all part of a huge tradition, north to south and east to west, and are all honest and simple, with real, full, delicious flavours. Why did we lose these dishes? Slowly braised oxtail (returning soon, we hope, here) is perhaps one of the best foods in the world. It’s also so exciting and encouraging to see and hear how many of my colleagues in the business are re-thinking their views on British food, and exploring complementary culinary roads.
However, nothing ever stands still, and this is undoubtedly true in cooking. Just think how flavours and tastes have changed in the last twenty years in Britain. Ingredients we hadn’t even heard of, such as chillies, pasta, polenta, vanilla pods and all the fresh herbs, are now virtually commonplace. A lot of people think we are being very adventurous trying out these ‘new’ tastes, but it’s almost a replay of what it must have been like in the Middle Ages, when these new tastes – all those spices, dried fruits, citrus fruits and so on – were making their first appearance. It wasn’t the years of the Raj that introduced us to spices. We had been using them centuries before, and they were and still are an essential ingredient in British cooking. Gingerbread, for instance, with ginger as its main component, is one of our most basic and ancient cake-biscuits; the cloves in apple pie, along with the dried fruits, currants, sultanas, raisins and prunes that appear in so many of our festive cakes and puddings, are a direct survival of a medieval tradition – a British tradition. So, all these new trendy flavours are not so new after all. They have been part of British cuisine for some time and are now playing their part in the Great British revival.
I have always had a strong passion for classics – after all, every new style has been born from them – but putting this book together, taking it from its original idea and researching it, has stirred a new passion within me. Now my feelings for cooking, in particular British cooking, are ‘souffléing’ larger than I ever imagined. It’s a soufflé that won’t overcook, but will keep that gentle, soft texture inside, without allowing any flavours I work with to become abused.
The world has become a global village, providing and making accessible to us all the foods and ingredients from different corners of the Earth. With all of these items available, let’s just make sure we do not forget our basic traditions and classics. I’ve worked to bring our traditional dishes up to a new level of eating so that they will sit more than comfortably with the best from other countries. The simplest of dishes are often the best: a plate of fish and chips executed well is just perfection to eat and can stand up to any international fish dish. British food might have taken on many of its influences from outside, but the end results – what we have today – are as good as those of any other country and this book is a celebration of that fact.
You’ll discover many dishes I want to be looked at as new British classics, such as omelette thermidor, scallops with black pudding, braised beef, caramelized onions and turnip purée, and others that I’ve simply brought back to life, such as baked egg custard tart.
To sum up, the whole book is about taking British ideas (and there are so many) from yesterday and refining them for tomorrow – for another thousand years. These recipes, with their rejuvenated flavours, are here to be enjoyed, and to revive your feelings for good traditional cookery, as well as giving you new culinary inspirations. And, of course, recipes can be adapted to suit your own tastes – as Roger Vergé, one of the great French chefs of the world, says:
‘A recipe is not meant to be followed exactly – it is a canvas on which you can embroider.’
Cuisine of the Sun (translated by Caroline Conran), 1979
Afternoon Tea Pudding
Ale Cake with Golden Syrup Cream
Almond and Celery Soup 
Angels on Horseback
Apple and Blue Cheese Tart
Apple Sauce
Apricot and Almond Pudding
Arbroath Smokie
Arbroath Smokie and Cream Cheese Pâté
Asparagus with Melted Butter or Hollandaise Sauce
‘Banana’ Roasts
‘Burnt’ Mushrooms with Shallots, Crunchy Bacon and Red Wine
Baked Apples with Dates and Walnuts
Baked Egg Custard Tart
Baked Halibut with a Pumpkin Crust
Baked Pork, Prune and Apple Meatballs
Baked Raspberry Puddings
Baked Rice Pudding
Bakewell Tart Ice-cream
Banana and Golden Syrup Loaf
Basic Butter Sauce
Basic Tuile Biscuits
Basic Vinaigrette
Basic White-wine or Champagne Fish Sauce
Bitter Chocolate Sauce
Blancmange
Boiled and Baked Ham
Boiled Bacon and Vegetable ‘Main-Course’ Soup
Boiled Bacon with Pearl Barley and Lentils
Boiled Brisket of Beef and Vegetable Stew
Boiled Eggs
Boiled Leg of Lamb with Caper Sauce
Bolognese Sauce or Beef Fillet, Bacon, Chicken Liver and Red-wine Ragù
Braised Beef Olives with Black Pudding, Button Onions and Mushrooms
Braised Globe Artichokes
Braised Oxtail
Braised Split Peas
Brandy Snap Biscuits
Bread and Butter Pudding
Bread and Butter Pudding Ice-cream
Bread Sauce
Breakfast Bacon
Breakfast Mushrooms
Breakfast Tomatoes
Broad Beans
Broccoli
Bubble and Squeak
Bubble and Squeak Artichokes with ‘Burnt’ Mushrooms
Burnt Cream or Crème Brûlée
Buttered Brussels Sprouts
Buttered Spinach
Cabbage
Cabbage with Beansprouts and Onions
Calves’ Liver Steak and Kidney, with Red-wine Carrots and Rosemary Butter
Calves’ Liver Steak with Blue Cheese Dumplings and Blue Cheese Butter Sauce
Candied Oranges
Cauliflower Cheese with Crispy Parmesan Crumbs
Cheddar and Pecan Cheese Biscuits
Cheddar Apple Cake
Cheddar-cheese Soup
Cheese and Onion Courgettes
Cheese Sauce (Sauce Mornay)
Cherry tomatoes with peppered goat’s cheese
Chestnuts
Chicken Fillet ‘Steaks’ with Chestnut Mushrooms, Sage and Lemon Sauce
Chicken Pot-roast with Carrots and Potatoes
Chicken Stock
Chips and French Fries
Chocolate Treacle Sandwich
Christmas Cake
Christmas Pudding
Christmas Pudding Fritters with Cranberry Ice-cream
Christmas Pudding Scotch Pancakes
Chunky Tomato Soup
Cider-vinegar Dressing
Classic Hollandaise Sauce
Classic Porridge
Classic Roast Potatoes
Classic Scrambled Eggs
Clear Ham Soup with Pea Pancakes
Clotted Cream Ice-cream
Coarse Pork Pâté
Colcannon
Cold Pickling
Coriander Butter Sauce
Corned Beef
Cornish Pasty
Court-bouillon
Cranberry and Walnut Tart
Creamed Cabbage and Bacon
Creamed Parsnips
Creamy Bubble and Squeak Soup with Crunchy Bacon
Cucumber Sandwiches
Cullen Skink
Cumberland Apple Sauce
Cumberland Sauce
Cumberland Sausage
Curly Kale
Curried Eggs
Curry Cream Sauce
Curry Powder
Custard Sauce or Crème Anglaise
Dandelion and Bacon Salad
Deep-fried Cod in Batter
Devilled Kidneys
Devilled Whitebait
Devils on Horseback
Egg and Bacon Salad
Egg Sandwiches
Faggots in Onion Gravy
Fig Rolls
Fillet of Venison Wellington
Fish Stock
Fish, Mussel and Leek Cider Pie
Fresh Peas
Fried Bread
Frozen Orange and Espresso Mousse
Frozen-pea Soup
Gâteau Opéra
Game Stew or Pie
Game Stock
Garam Masala
Garlic Cream Potato Cakes
Gingerbread Biscuits
Golden Oatcakes
Gooseberry Sherbet
Gratin of Grated Turnips
Green Beans and How to Cook Them
Green Lemon Butter
Green Pepper Butter
Griddle Scones
Grilled (or Pan-fried) Dover Sole with Lemon and Nut-brown Butter
Grilled Baby Leeks
Grilled Herrings with Braised Lentils
Grilled Kippers
Grilled Lamb with ‘Irish’ Cabbage and Mashed Potato Sauce
Grilled Trout Fillets with Sautéd Lime Pickle Potatoes and Courgettes
Gruyère Cheese, Leek and Mushroom Flan
Haslet
Hazelnut Tuiles
Home-made Crumpets
Home-made Haggis
Home-made Malt Loaf
Home-made Mincemeat and Mince Pies
Home-made Pancakes
Home-made Pork Pie
Home-made Redcurrant Jelly
Home-made Salad Cream
Home-made Scones
Home-made Tomato Ketchup
Horseradish Sauce
Hot Cross Buns
Hot Pickling
Iced Vanilla Parfait with Nutmeg Clotted Cream and Caramelized Apples
Individual Roast Beef with Bitter Onions
Irish Stew
Jam Omelette
Jam Roly-poly
Jam Sandwiches
Lancashire Hot-pot
Lardy Cake
Layered Steak and Onion Pudding
Leek and Potato Broth
Leeks with Prunes
Lemon and Parsley Carrots
Lemon and Thyme Dumplings
Lemon and Vanilla Sponge Cake
Lemon Syrup Loaf
Lobster ‘Bisque’ Soup
Lobster Casserole
Lobster Omelette ‘Thermidor’
Lobster or Shellfish Oil
Macaroni, Artichoke and Mushroom Cheese Pie
Mango Chutney
Mashed Potatoes
Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise-based Cider Dressing
Mini Toad in the Holes
Mint Sauce
Mussel, Leek and Tomato Casserole, with Spinach and a Warm Poached Egg
Mustard Butter Sauce
Nutmeg Ice-cream
Nutty Apple Crumble
Omelette Arnold Bennett
One-piece Roast Pork with Caramelized Apple and Chestnut Brussels Sprouts
Onion Gravy
Orange Marmalade
Pan-fried Cod with Carrots, Parsley and Over-cooked Bacon
Pan-fried Fillet of Red Mullet with Seared Oranges and Spring Onions
Pan-fried Red Mullet with a Tomato and Leek Soup
Parkin
Parsleyed Cod with Mustard Butter Sauce
Parsnip Potato Cakes
Peppered Mushrooms
Piccalilli
Pickled Damsons
Pickled Limes
Pickled Shallots or Onions
Pieces of Braised Beef with Slowly Caramelized Onions and Turnip Purée
Pigs’ Trotters Bourguignonne
Plum or Damson Cheese
Poached Eggs
Pork Crackling and Scratchings
Pork Sausages
Port and Stilton Cheese Toasts
Potato Cakes
Prawn (or Lobster) Cocktail
Preserved (Confit) Bacon
Pressed Guinea Fowl Terrine with Shallots, Mushrooms and Bacon
Pressed Ox Tongue
Pressed Tomato Cake with Peppered Goat’s Cheese
Queen of Puddings
Quick Puff or Flaky Pastry
Rabbit Leg Casserole with Marjoram and Mustard
Rabbit, Pork and Cider Potato Pie
Rack on Black
Radish and French Bean Salad with Seared Scallops
Raspberry Cranachan
Red-wine Sauce
Rhubarb and Apple Charlotte
Rhubarb Tart
Rich Pigeon Faggot on a Potato Cake with Mustard Cabbage
Rich Warm Chocolate Cake
Roast Chicken Legs with Sea Salt and Thyme
Roast Chicken Sandwich
Roast Chicken with Liver-thickened Gravy
Roast Fillets of Hare Wrapped in Ham, with Port and Walnuts
Roast Grouse
Roast Guinness Lamb
Roast Leg of Lamb
Roast Loin of Pork with an Apricot and Sage Stuffing
Roast Mushroom and Leek Shepherd’s Pie
Roast Parsnip Soup, Glazed with Parmesan and Chive Cream
Roast Partridges with Their Own Toasts and Wild Mushrooms
Roast Pheasant with Bacon-braised Barley and a Whisky Cream Sauce
Roast Rib of Beef
Roasted Figs with Brown Sugar Parfait
Roasted Parsnips
Rowan Jelly
Saffron Bread
Sage Broad Beans with Bacon and Tomato
Sage Fritters
Sally Lunn Cake or Bread
Salmon Fish Cakes
Sardine and Tomato Toasts
Sausage Rolls
Sausagemeat Loaf
Sautéd Potatoes
Sautéd Sea-salt Potatoes
Scallops with Grilled Black Pudding à I’orange
Scotch Eggs
Scotch Woodcock
Scottish Fruit Tart with Whisky
Seared, Cured Salmon Cutlets with Leeks, Bacon and a Cider-vinegar Dressing
Sesame Seed and Orange Tuiles
Shepherd’s Pie Fritters
Shepherd’s Pie or Cottage Pie
Sherry Trifle
Shortbread Biscuits
Shortcrust Pastry and Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
Simnel Cake
Simple Hollandaise Sauce
Slow-honey-roast Belly of Pork
Slow-honey-roast Duck
Slow-roast Shoulder of Pork with Pearl Barley and Sage ‘Stuffing’
Smoked Eel Kedgeree
Smoked Haddock
Smoked Haddock and Welsh Rarebit Tartlets
Smoked Haddock with Welsh Rarebit
Smoked Salmon Rolls
Smoked Salmon Terrine with Warm Potato Salad
Soft Herring Roes on Caper Toasts
Soused Mackerel
Spicy Scrambled Eggs
Spicy Smoked Haddock and Saffron Soup
Spicy Tomato and Mint Relish
Spinach Dumplings
Spotted Dick
Steak and ‘Kidney Pie’
Steak and Kidney Pudding
Steak and Oyster Pie
Steamed and Braised Mallard with a Parsnip Tart
Steamed Halibut and Cabbage with a Salmon Gravadlax Sauce
Steamed Leek and Cheddar-cheese Pudding
Steamed Lemon Sponge with Easy Lemon Sauce
Steamed Slice of Smoked Salmon on a Potato Cake, with Seared Lemons and a Caper Dressing
Steamed Turbot on Cabbage with ‘Truffle’ Sauce
Steamed Upside-down Blackberry and Apple Pudding
Stewed Prunes
Stewed Red-wine Beef with Anchovy Scones
Sticky Toffee Apple Pudding
Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice-cream
Stilton and Red-onion Salad with Peppered Beef Fillet
Stilton and Sesame Seed Biscuits
Strawberry Cheesecake Swiss Roll
Strawberry Jam
Stuffed Herrings with Apples and Tarragon
Suet Pastry
Sunday Lunch Roast
Summer Pudding
Syllabub
Tartar Sauce
The Classic Steak and Kidney Pie
The Great British Fried Egg
The Great British Omelette
Toad in the Hole
Traditional Roast Turkey with Sage, Lemon and Chestnut Stuffing and all the Trimmings
Tuile Biscuits
Twelfth Night Cake
Variation: Whisky Scotch Eggs
Veal or Beef Stock or Jus
Vegetable Stock
Vegetarian Cheese and Onion ‘Sausage’ Rolls
Vegetarian Scotch Broth
Warm Port and Fig Broth with Cream Cheese Ice-cream
Warm Spiced Pineapple Cakes
Watercress and Cream Cheese Sandwiches
Wayne’s Porridge
Welsh Rarebit
White Chocolate Coffee Ice-cream
White Lamb Stew
White Pudding
White Sauce
Whole Roast Sea Bass
Yorkshire Pudding
I INCLUDE HERE a few hints and tips which you might be interested in, some culinary, some about ingredients or products used in my recipes.
Line the tin/ring/case with the rolled-out pastry and leave it to rest, preferably in the refrigerator, for 20–30 minutes. Now line the pastry case with baking parchment, foil or greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans (or pulses kept especially for the purpose), and bake at the suggested temperature for the recommended time. It is best, when blind-baking, to leave the excess pastry hanging over the rim of the container, because pastry shrinks as it cooks. Once it is cooked, you can trim off the excess and you will have a perfectly neat, even finish.
The butter I use most is unsalted because it gives greater control over the seasoning of a dish.
Chocolate basically consists of two components: cocoa solids (including cocoa butter) and sugar. Chocolate with a cocoa-solid content of 85 per cent or over is considered unpalatable because it is too bitter. Extra-bitter chocolate ranges from 75 to 85 per cent cocoa solids, but is palatable. A bitter chocolate will be in the 55–75 per cent range, when it should hold 31 per cent cocoa butter. Valrhona ‘Grand Cru’, which falls into this category, is probably the best for cooking. There are also bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolates: the bitter-sweet varieties must always include a minimum of 35 per cent cocoa butter within the solids, which makes it easier to work with.
I have always bought my cooking chocolate from Valrhona, or Callebaut, a famous Belgian company. These makes are not always easily obtainable, but Lindt, the Swiss chocolate, is readily available, is good to work with and carries a good depth of flavour. Some supermarkets also sell their own brand of good, high-cocoa-solids chocolate.
White chocolate is a blend of cocoa butter, sugar and milk, and, for a quality product, should contain no more than 50 per cent sugar.
This is made by pasteurizing milk before the cream has formed. The milk is then separated into cream and skimmed milk. The cream is pasteurized again, to give it extra shelf life, and selected lactic cultures are added to give it acidity. It can be used to finish both sweet and savoury sauces. Double or clotted creams contain an average 48 per cent fat, crème fraîche just 30 per cent.
All eggs used in the recipes in this book are large.
Fromage blanc is a soft, unripened cheese, usually made from skimmed cow’s milk with a culture. Fromage frais is fromage blanc, beaten to a smooth consistency. Both contain between zero and 8 per cent fat, unless they have been enriched with cream. Fromage frais can replace yoghurt in ice-creams, mousses, and so on.
Grouse – 12 August to 10 December
Mallard (wild duck) – September to January
Partridge – 1 September to 1 February
Pheasant – 1 October to 1 February (best between December and January)
Quail – All year
Venison – March to October
Wild hare – July to February
Powerful butane gas canisters can be used as a blow torch in the kitchen to give a crispy glaze to many desserts. They are available from almost any hardware store and can also be found in the kitchen sections of department stores. Follow the instructions carefully, use carefully and, of course, keep away from children.
If you substitute dried herbs for fresh herbs, remember to use only half the amount specified.
I recommend using an ice-cream machine for the best results: as it churns, the mixture becomes lighter and the texture smoother. Fill the machine half to two-thirds full, to leave room for the mixture to increase in volume.
If you don’t have a machine, you can still make ice-creams: freeze the ice-cream mix and whisk it every 20–30 minutes until it is set. It will still taste good, although it may be a bit grainier because of the larger ice crystals.
These come from India and, without doubt, are the best to eat. They are plump and meaty, and have a natural fudge-toffee flavour that is perfect for many dishes.
Caul is the lacy lining of a pig’s stomach. It is quite difficult to get hold of but you should be able to order it through your butcher. It must be soaked in cold water for 24 hours first, which makes it easier to use, then drained. It’s used almost like cling film, rolled around meat or a meaty mixture, to which it will cling. If caul is unavailable, cook without a covering or use buttered foil.
Sausage skins are the intestines of the pig, and must be ordered from your butcher as well. They, too, need to be soaked for several hours and rinsed before use.
These fine bones are found in round fish fillets, that is, red mullet, trout, salmon, cod and so on. The bones run down the centre of most of these fillets and are easily removed with fine pliers or tweezers. It’s worth spending the time needed to remove them, as the fish then becomes more comfortable to eat.
Unless otherwise stated, ‘season’ or ‘seasoning’ simply means seasoning with salt and pepper – preferably freshly ground white, or black.
‘It may be that there are some men who seek gold, but there lives no man who does not need salt, which seasons our food.’ Cassiodorus, AD 468–568
This is single or double cream that has been treated with a souring culture and contains about 20 per cent butterfat. You can make soured cream at home by simply adding a few drops of lemon juice to either double or whipping cream.
Small plastic bottles with narrow spouts can be bought in good kitchen departments. They can be filled with something like a sauce or coulis (a sieved puréed sauce, usually fruit-related), which can be squeezed out for a neater finish on the plate or food.
I give a number of stock and sauce recipes throughout the book, but there are also many good bought alternatives (fresh, dried or cubed) available in supermarkets.
This is the hard white fat surrounding beef kidneys, and it is shredded and floured for use in the domestic kitchen. It is vital in making traditional British suet pastries and puddings. Hard vegetable oils are now prepared in the same way for use by vegetarians.
Vanilla pods are the fruit of a tropical vine. When you buy them, they are long, thin and black. They can be split to allow you to use the tiny seeds within, or the pods, which are very fragrant in themselves, can be used whole. Keep the pods in an airtight jar with your caster sugar, and the sugar will be infused with the vanilla flavour – giving you a constant supply of vanilla sugar for desserts and cakes.
All vegetarian dishes in this book have been marked with the symbol .
I use a selection of vinegars in this book. Red-wine vinegar is a favourite. Because many of those available are thin and not very red-wine-flavoured, I urge you to spend a little more and buy a vinegar that bears the hallmark of a good wine – a Bordeaux vinegar, say, or my current favourite, Cabernet Sauvignon. Balsamic is the vinegar of the moment and, again, do spend a little more to get a good-quality product. The older it gets, the better, it tastes – and the more expensive it is to buy – but because of its strength you won’t use it up too quickly. I also like to use good-quality cider vinegar.
All the recipes in the book have been tested in both metric and imperial. Do not work with a mixture of the two.
Spoon sizes: My tablespoon measurements are 15 g (½ oz) for solids and 15 ml (½ fl oz) for liquids, my dessertspoon measurements are 10 g for solids and 10 ml for liquids and my teaspoons are 5 g for solids and 5 ml for liquids. All spoon measurements are level.
Three types of yeast are available – fresh or compressed yeast, granular dried yeast, and easy-blend dried yeast. Fresh is very perishable and should be used quickly, or frozen; the dried yeasts should be stored in a cool place, and a close eye kept on sell-by dates.
Fresh and granular dried yeasts need to be activated in lukewarm liquid before being added to a flour; easy-blend yeast doesn’t need to be activated with water and can be mixed straight into the flour. Dried yeast is twice as potent as fresh yeast, so use 15 g (½ oz) dried, say, when a recipe specifies 25 g (1 oz) fresh yeast. Two level teaspoons is approximately 15 g (½ oz) dried yeast.
Low-fat or skimmed milk is treated with a culture of selected lactic ferments to make natural (unsweetened and unflavoured) yoghurt. The butterfat content is between 8 and 10 per cent, making natural yoghurt healthy to eat and to cook with.
Boiled Bacon and Vegetable ‘Main-Course’ Soup
Spicy Smoked Haddock and Saffron Soup
Leek and Potato Broth
Clear Ham Soup with Pea Pancakes
Lobster ‘Bisque’ Soup
Almond and Celery Soup
Chunky Tomato Soup
Roast Parsnip Soup, Glazed with Parmesan and Chive Cream
Cullen Skink
Creamy Bubble and Squeak Soup with Crunchy Bacon
Frozen-pea Soup
Vegetarian Scotch Broth
Chicken Stock
Veal or Beef Stock or Jus
Game Stock
Fish Stock
Court-bouillon
Vegetable Stock
Once man had succeeded in making fireproof containers (saucepans), soup would probably have been the very first episode in the long-running British cookery show. Diet no longer had to consist of individual foods such as grains or seeds, leaves or berries, or a hunk of meat charred over flames. Now these ingredients could be mixed and cooked in water to achieve different flavours and textures. Soup was originally known as ‘pottage’, a name that stuck for hundreds of years. The principal early vegetables or ‘potherbs’ used were leeks and kale, but after the Roman occupation of Britain, many new ingredients became available, including onions, cabbages and pulses such as beans and peas.
Through the succeeding centuries, pottage remained one of the three main staple foods for all classes of British society (the other two being bread and ale). The peasant’s one would consist of water with whatever else he could find, grow, or had dried for the winter – a little grain, a few root or pulse vegetables, some wild herbs or seaweed with, occasionally, a little meat. But quite often it might just be water and the local grain. A pottage was likely to be the dish of the day for a working man, either for breakfast or supper. The rich would probably include more protein or nourishing vegetable in theirs, and, often, a fine wheat version, known as frumenty, might serve as an accompaniment to meat or fish. Cereal pottage for breakfast still survives now in the oats porridge (the Scottish classic) with which many of us start our day. And pulse varieties were taken to America by early colonists, to be returned to Britain centuries later as Boston baked beans.
Often the pottage would be poured over what were called ‘sops’, pieces of bread or toast served in a tureen or bowl. In France the dish became known as soupe, and the name soon transferred, in the latter seventeenth century, to a thinner version enjoyed by the British gentry. Other French influences had crept in as well. Meat began to be cooked in and served with sauces (rather than being an integral part of pottage), and vegetables were boiled separately and buttered. The concept of a meal consisting of individual courses was gradually adopted. The new ‘soup’ became a course by itself at the beginning of a meal, and was known as a ‘remove’ dish because, after the soup was eaten, it was removed from the table to be replaced, usually by a fish dish.
Soups became even more ambitious in their ingredients. In the eighteenth century, turtle soup – made from green turtles brought live in tanks from the West Indies – became popular. On many banquet menus, it was served in several different ways – as thick, clear calipash (the part next to the upper shell), calipee (belly) and fins. (Mock turtle, an infamous English soup, was made from a calf’s head simmered in stock and served in an empty turtle shell.) Meanwhile, pottage, or the thicker vegetable, meat or fish soup, remained a basic food for the poor, as it has always been in more northerly countries.
Soup is one of the very few foods that has a virtually unlimited repertoire. Flavours from everything that is edible can be cooked, mixed and mingled; and the end result can range from a clear consommé to a thick, creamed soup. This wonderful variety of consistencies suits different eating times, both of day and year. In the following chapter, you will find a ‘pottage’ to fit almost every category. Here are a few examples of what I would choose: for lunch, Vegetarian Scotch Broth or Cullen Skink; at a dinner party, the Clear Ham Soup or Lobster ‘Bisque’; and for supper on a cold, slushy, winter evening, it would just have to be the Boiled Bacon and Vegetable ‘Main Course’ Soup (opposite), served with loads of bread. How’s that for starters?
BACON AND VEGETABLES are a common combination all over Great Britain, and have been for centuries. Bacon was always available throughout the year, and vegetables would be grown at home. This is a dish I found many years ago while filming in Northumberland. I’ll always remember having the vegetables served in a bowl of stock for the first course, which was then followed by slices of the bacon with pieces of potato and some of the liquor. The ‘pudding’ was a chunk of savoury leek dumpling, also cooked in the liquor. So, basically, all three courses were cooked in the same pot, something that has always been very traditional.
This is really a main-course soup, with the bacon served with the vegetables. If you also fancy the leek dumpling, the recipe for it is included as an optional extra.
900 g (2 lb) bacon collar, boned and tied, soaked in cold water for 24 hours
1 bay leaf
Sprig of fresh thyme
350 g (12 oz) button onions, peeled
3 large carrots, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) dice
4 celery sticks, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces
2–3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) dice
1 large swede, cut into 2.5 cm (1 in) dice
25–50 g (1–2 oz) butter
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)
250 g (9 oz) self-raising flour
250 g (9 oz) leeks, sliced
125 g (4½ oz) shredded suet
1 dessertspoon English mustard powder
1 egg, beaten
About 100 ml (3½ fl oz) cold water
Salt and pepper
Once the bacon has been soaked for 24 hours, which removes excess saltiness, wash off well and cover with cold water again in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and then place under cold running water to totally refresh. This will take out any remaining excess salt flavour and impurities.
Now cover again with water, adding the bay leaf and sprig of thyme. Bring to the simmer and cook for 1¼ hours. After this initial 1¼ hours’ cooking time, the vegetables can be added and cooked for the last 45 minutes. The total cooking time will be approximately 2 hours. This guarantees the vegetables are cooked through completely to an over-cooked stage, when they soak up all of the bacon-stock flavour.
Once completely cooked, after 2 hours, turn off the heat and leave to rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
Remove the bacon and either just break it or carve into slices. Remove the thyme and bay leaf from the stock. Add the butter and stir in. Check the seasoning, adding pepper and salt only if necessary. Present the meat in large bowls and divide the vegetables and stock between all four. Finish with a sprinkling, if using, of chopped parsley. The one-pot meal is now ready to enjoy.
To make the leek dumpling, mix together the self-raising flour, leeks and suet. Season with salt, pepper and mustard. Mix in the egg and enough of the water to create a soft dough. Blanch a muslin cloth in boiling water, before squeezing out well until almost dry. Dust with flour. Place the dough on the muslin and tie into a dumpling. This can now be added to the bacon one hour before cooking finishes and be served with the finished dish.
KEDGEREE BECAME A popular breakfast dish (see here) following the years of the British Raj in India. It’s made from a blend of rice, smoked haddock and curry, and this soup brings two of these old friends together again, only omitting the rice (although cooked rice could be added at the end if preferred). The spicy flavour here comes from a medium curry powder, and the saffron adds to this taste, working well with the curry and, at the same time, enriching the colour of the soup.
Butter
1 medium leek, washed and cut into rough 1 cm (½ in) dice
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into rough 1 cm (½ in) dice
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon medium curry powder
Good pinch of saffron strands
350 g (12 oz) natural smoked haddock fillet
350 ml (12 fl oz) water (or Chicken Stock, for a stronger flavour)
250 ml (8 fl oz) milk
100–125 ml (3½–4 fl oz) single cream (or double, for an extra-rich finish)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper
10–12 fresh coriander leaves, to garnish (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan and, once bubbling, add the chopped leeks and potatoes and crushed garlic. Cook for a few minutes on a medium heat, without letting the vegetables colour. Add the curry powder and saffron and continue to cook for a few minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, the haddock can be poached. Lay the fillet in an ovenproof roasting pan or dish; pour the water or stock and milk on top. Add a good knob of butter, cover with foil and bring to a soft simmer. This is best finished in the oven, for 5–6 minutes.
Once it’s cooked, remove the fish from the liquor and keep to one side. The cooking liquor can now be added to the soup vegetables. Bring to the simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes until all the vegetables are completely tender.
The curry soup can now be liquidized to a smooth purée. For a very smooth, silky finish, strain through a sieve. The cream can now be added, along with a squeeze of lemon juice to liven up all the flavours. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
While the soup is cooking, the haddock fillet can be skinned and have all its bones removed; flake the flesh. Add the haddock flakes to the soup and serve. To finish, roughly chop the coriander leaves (if using) and sprinkle over.
Note: I like to eat this soup with lots of good crusty bread, to dip in and wipe the bowl clean.
Spicy Smoked Haddock and Saffron Soup
LEEKS WERE EARLY pottage vegetables, and, even when potatoes were introduced, they tended not to be cooked in the same way. However, throughout Europe the combination has proved long-lasting – in France this soup is the famous potage bonne femme.
The classic recipe consists basically of leeks, potatoes and a white stock. I’ve added a few more ingredients to enrich the flavours – some onions, a touch of cream and butter – which will lift the soup, making it a bit more exciting. The double cream can be omitted or replaced with crème fraîche for a lighter touch, or even soured cream to give a slightly acidic finish.
50 g (2 oz) butter
1 large onion, sliced
2 large potatoes, cut into 1 cm (½ in) dice
600 ml (1 pint) Chicken or Vegetable Stock
450 g (1 lb) leeks, shredded or cut into 1 cm (½ in) dice
150 ml (5 fl oz) double cream
Salt and pepper
Melt a quarter of the butter and add the sliced onion. Cook for a minute or two, until softened. Add the potato dice and also cook for a minute or two, stirring, before adding the stock. Bring to the simmer and cook until the potatoes have become just tender. This should take 8–10 minutes of simmering.
Increase the heat until the stock is almost boiling. Add the leeks and continue to simmer for 5–6 minutes, until the leeks are tender.
Add the double cream and remaining butter. Re-warm to simmering point and season well with salt and pepper.
The leek and potato broth is now ready to serve and eats beautifully with good crusty bread.
Note: If using crème fraîche or sour cream, take a ladle of the hot liquor and whisk it into either cream to emulsify and bring it up to temperature before pouring into the pot. Crispy strips of streaky bacon also work very well in this soup.
ENGLAND HAS ALWAYS been famous for her hams, and many counties have developed different cures. There are a lot of ham recipes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cookery books, but the combination of cured pork with peas – not quite so sophisticated as here, I must admit – is an ancient one.
In the past, such a soup would have been a thick pottage, but here I am making a liquid with the clarity of a consommé. To create this, of course, takes rather a lot of time. First, the ham stock has to be made (after soaking the hocks for 24 hours), then it has to be chilled. The next step is to clarify the stock, which leaves you with a clear soup. Making a good consommé does bring a great sense of achievement. If that’s what you enjoy, then please do try this recipe. This recipe will give you a minimum of 1–2 litres (2 pints) of finished consommé.
Now all you need to do is to make the pea pancakes, which are a wonderful garnish for the soup. They can be served just floating in the consommé or as a separate garnish. It’s not essential that you make them. But pea and ham is a great British soup that I’ve turned around. The ham is the leader this time, with peas close behind. This quantity of mix will give you at least 14–18 small pancakes.
1 onion, roughly chopped
2–3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 leek, roughly chopped
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
Butter
Sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
Few black peppercorns
2 raw ham hocks (knuckles), soaked in cold water for 24 hours
450 g (1 lb) chicken wings
At least 3 litres (5¼ pints) water
1 large chicken breast
1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 small carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 egg white (2 for extra body and security!)
Salt and pepper
225 g (8 oz) frozen peas, cooked
1 egg
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons plain flour
3 tablespoons double cream
50 g (2 oz) unsalted butter
50–75 g (2–3 oz) ham, finely shredded (optional)
Oil or butter, for frying
Salt and pepper
For the stock, in a large pot, lightly soften the vegetables in a knob of butter, without letting them colour. Add the thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns, ham hocks (knuckles) and chicken wings and cover with plenty of water.