Fruit and vegetables are arranged alphabetically, roughly by type and family, but also by how they are used in the kitchen. Pumpkins and winter squash, for example, form one section. They are in the same family and they can be substituted for each other in most recipes. Onions and shallots share a section, but their fellow allium, the leek, has its own.
Each section gives basic information about a fruit or vegetable, including its season, when it is ripe, and how to keep it. ‘Making the most of a surplus’ tells you what to do when you have more perishable produce than you can eat.
Instead of starting with a recipe, simply buy what looks nice at the farmers’ market, supermarket, or wherever you shop for fresh produce. Then read about the fruit or vegetable. Perhaps you will learn a basic recipe (polenta or pizza), discover a new method (smashing garlic), or get an idea (broad bean paste).
As you cook, make substitutions and alter quantities to taste. The recipes are simple and forgiving. They are meant to be eaten at home, not in a restaurant. No recipe is immutable, anyway: it is merely a record of a meal someone somewhere enjoyed once. I think healthy eating is important, but the recipes are not low-fat. Nor are they rich. They suit me, but if your tastes lean in either direction, adjust them.
My cooking philosophy is best expressed in the recipes, but here are some maxims.
I hope the book makes you a more adventurous, confident, and independent cook. If you were to buy Jerusalem artichokes at the farmers’ market, read about them here, try one recipe, tweak it to suit, discover you love Jerusalem artichokes, and never use a recipe again, this book would be a success. Cooking without lists, without recipes, without scales and measures, is one of life’s great pleasures. Eating food the way you like it is another. Please yourself.
SERVINGS
On the assumption that many of us cook regularly for a few people, many recipes serve two or four. ‘Serves 2 to 4’ means the recipe makes two servings if it is the only vegetable you are eating, or four if you are eating other vegetables.
INGREDIENTS
Parsley means the flat-leafed kind. Sugar is caster sugar. Some recipes call for vanilla pods, which are lovely, but not cheap. One teaspoon of real vanilla extract is usually a good substitute. Vanilla Sugar makes the pod go further. Split a pod and keep it in a jar of sugar. It keeps for months. Cayenne, serrano, or jalapeño peppers will usually do for fresh chilli, but if the variety of pepper matters it is specified. Pepper means freshly ground black peppercorns. Mustard seed, yellow or brown, is a wonderful spice, cheap and easy to find.
Salt means any sea salt, rich in trace elements and iodine, an essential nutrient. If it matters whether you use flakes or rock salt, the recipe says so.
A word about salt in cooking. Sodium is an essential nutrient, but processed foods contain far too much – an attempt to compensate for lack of flavour and freshness. But fresh, whole foods need salt, too. Starchy vegetables and grains don’t taste right if they are not salted during cooking. Salt enhances flavour, even making sweet things taste sweeter. Mind the salt in stocks, especially store-bought, or you will over-salt the final dish.
Buy locally produced untreated honey. Commercial honey is filtered, blended, and cooked. This process destroys flavour, as well as trace elements and pollen, which can relieve allergies. Raw honey has the distinctive taste of local, seasonal flowers. Gardeners rely on bees for pollination – another reason to buy local honey.
Best olive oil means the best you can afford. Use it cold, when the taste really matters – say, for crostini and special dressings. Olive oil is for everyday use – good-quality oil for dressings, marinades and sautéing. For health and flavour, olive and other vegetable oils must be cold-pressed, extra-virgin. Cook them as little as possible.
The original recipes call for “oil for frying” and “your best olive oil.” Today I don’t distinguish between cooking and dressing; I use the best extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive oil I can find and afford for everything from sautéing to dressing cold salads. I don’t use any vegetable oils made from grain or seeds, such as corn, canola, soy, or safflower.
Some processed foods are cheap, nutritious, tasty, and just what a busy cook needs. Tinned tomatoes, including passata (see Basic Recipes) are essential. Dried chick peas and cannellini beans take hours to cook; I use tinned. To deepen their flavour, cook them in their stock with sautéed garlic or herbs. I do make my own stock (see Basic Recipes), but store-bought is handy. I use an organic one, Kallo, in many flavours.
Most importantly, a note on the main ingredients – fruit and vegetables. Variety names such as Opal (a courgette) are in italics. I hope this encourages cooks to seek out superior varieties, and farmers to grow them.