Blackiston - Galton Blackistons summertime

CONTENTS

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 authors and publishers rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781448132867

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Virgin Books 2009
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3

Copyright Galton Blackiston 2009
Photography Tara Fisher 2009

Galton Blackiston has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

First published in Great Britain in 2009 by
Virgin Books
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA

Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781905264636

Galton is a true food hero. He turned his back on a glittering career as a cricketer for a glittering career as a chef and as a missionary for all that is best about Norfolk and its produce.

I first came across his cooking when he represented his region in the Great British Menu. Galtons dishes were the kind that made me sit up and hum with pleasure. He had a brilliant cooking technique and an unerring sense of taste. It turned out that he was as engaging a fellow in the flesh as he was good a chef in the kitchen. Since then, of course, he has gone on to endear himself to countless numbers of television viewers on further series of the Great British Menu and on Market Kitchen. But hes never allowed celebrity to cloud his vision of what good cooking should be.

Its not just that he cooks food good enough to win a Michelin star. Its not just that he has fine judgement on how and why ingredients go together. He is also a passionate and eloquent advocate of Norfolk produce and Norfolk cooking. He has turned Morston Hall into a place of pilgrimage for anyone truly interested in the best of British cooking using the finest local ingredients.

But hes more than just a Michelin-starred master of the range. As his appearances on Market Kitchen showed, he is able to come up with dishes that are as delightful for the domestic cook to rustle up as they are delicious to eat. And here, at last, is Galtons Summertime cookbook, true to Galtons own approach to summer eating and true to Norfolk and its wonderful produce.

The idea of writing a book on summertime cooking had been swimming around my head for a couple of years. I dont know whether its just me or perhaps its an age thing but Ive noticed that for the past few years, come January I invariably start dreaming of the summer. Although there are certain aspects of the winter I do like mainly Christmas with the family, with hopefully a little sprinkling of snow its the warmer months I really look forward to. Once the football season is out of the way, ideally with the least amount of damage possible, its time once again to get the boat into the water and to clean up the barbecue.

My earliest memories of cooking are from childhood summer holidays on the north Norfolk coast, when we stayed at the Watch House near Blakeney. Im the youngest of five boys and, along with my brother Jamie, Id mess about in the water channels, cockling, shrimping and catching flat fish like dabs, butts and even the odd plaice. Wed smother the cockles with vinegar then have to keep them in our cheeks for about five minutes while the taste of the vinegar subsided! I remember making my first prawn cocktail too, which was then the height of sophistication.

Wed also watch the terns diving for whitebait, which meant they were being chased by mackerel, which wed then try to catch ourselves. One trick was to put silver milk bottle tops in the water the mackerel would be fooled into thinking the glint was more whitebait, and then wed grab them!

Once wed caught them wed go back to the Watch House and fillet and then pan-fry them, obliged to use such simple cooking methods by the lack of facilities. We also used to dig for lugworms in the sand, then set up a line between two pieces of wood, adding baited hooks a yard apart. When the tide went out wed leave the line and go back next morning to check on our haul.

Another source of fun was taking the boat and exploring the coastline, stopping off at Stiffkey to pick winkles and whelks on the mud flats. Of course, you had to watch out for the tides or you could get stranded! We used to pick raw samphire and eat it, but it wasnt a huge hit as it was so salty. Sea kale too. Everything we ate had to be child-friendly, although the one thing that definitely wasnt was my fathers homemade wine, made from elderberries and other hedgerow produce.

Nowadays, fishing plays a large part in our family summer holidays anything to do with the boat is highly popular with our sons, Harry and Sam, who are both real outdoorsy children. We also occasionally go fruit-picking at Wiveton Hall, just down the road near Blakeney, but the children generally just end up lobbing fruit at each other!

The summertime meals I enjoy most are the ones that take the least time to make, and this probably means salads or simply fried or grilled dishes. Or I love packing a few bits and pieces together and getting out on the marshes with my wife, Tracy, and the boys and having a picnic. My favourite thing to do is to take one of those little camping stoves and a frying pan, then go cockling, collect some samphire and catch a few brown shrimps from the creeks using a net, then use the ingredients to knock up a stir-fry; its just brilliant fun and something Ive done since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.

Summertime represents something completely different for me and, I must say, Ive found it very exciting writing about dishes that will make you smile when you eat them and which are essentially uncomplicated, in most cases can be made in advance and most importantly are perfect for home cooking.

Theres no doubt about it: to cook well you need good ingredients, a little confidence and really, wherever possible, to source your ingredients seasonally and, in my case, regionally. Thats not to say you need to buy the most expensive ingredients around; on the contrary, good ingredients could include decent tomatoes, lovely herbs and pulses just as happily as pricey prime cuts of meat.

Although I am a professional chef, I like to think of myself as a person who loves to cook and gets excited about being able to cook simply yet well. Too many young, aspiring chefs seem to want to prove their culinary worthiness by creating unnecessarily complicated dishes, rather than letting the main ingredient speak for itself. While Im all for trying out new combinations of ingredients, I will never risk overpowering dishes with overbearing flavours.

We have such a great larder out there, embracing so many different cultures and styles, and all it takes to make the most of it is a little knowledge and confidence and thats what I hope this book will give you. I hope youll follow the recipes and use them again and again, and feel free to adapt and change whenever you see fit. I would love everyone who buys this book to get it dirty in my view theres no greater acknowledgement of a favourite book than one that has lost its cover, is completely messed up with stains and the like, as it shows how much use youve got out of it.