Cathcart Helen - The A-Z of eating: a flavour map for the adventurous cook

FIG TREE

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia
India | New Zealand | South Africa

Fig Tree is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published 2016

Text copyright Felicity Cloake, 2016
Photographs copyright Helen Cathcart, 2016
Illustrations copyright Giulia Garbin, 2016

The moral right of the copyright holders has been asserted

Design by Giulia Garbin

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

ISBN: 978-0-241-27876-5

This is a book for people who are beyond cookbooks. For those brave souls who feel they have a fairly firm grasp on the basics, who know its easier to make tomato sauce than to go out and buy a jar (even if they dont always bother), for whom fish holds no fear and baking birthday cakes is a cause for celebration, not panic in other words, people who can already cook. (Or who, like me, feel theyre on their way there at least.)

This is not a book to teach you how to fry an egg, or make a hollandaise; I reckon Ive covered that all fairly comprehensively elsewhere. Its a rough guide when youre hungry for inspiration, not instruction, one I hope will make you look at familiar ingredients in a new way, and welcome new ones with open arms in the chapters that follow, Ive picked out twenty-six food ideas I love, each of which has something special to offer the adventurous cook. From basics like yeast and eggs to delicate wild flowers and decadent jellies, all deserve a place in your personal culinary arsenal.

Much as I enjoy tackling the classics for my Perfect column in the Guardian its been a real treat for me to cook with a completely free hand here, and an eye-opener too, shaking me out of well-worn gastronomic grooves and encouraging me to look beyond the more obvious possibilities of some of my favourite ingredients.

)?

Although I selected these ingredients for their culinary potential, in the course of writing this book Ive been surprised and delighted anew by just how versatile many of them are. So, in a sense, we go hand in hand together here I hope you enjoy the ride.

Though I wont offer an inventory of useful kitchen equipment here so as not to repeat myself (theres a complete list in Perfect Too), I do feel strongly enough about a handful of things to recommend them for getting the best results from the recipes that follow.

Measuring spoons: Theyre cheap, they last for ever, and theyre essential for baking in particular. Teaspoons and tablespoons vary wildly in size depending on their design; measuring spoons do not.

Stick blender: More of an investment this, but a less significant one than the countertop variety, and far easier for soups, sauces and pures. Electric beaters are also very handy for anything more than a small amount of cream or mayonnaise, and cheaper and more versatile than a stand mixer.

Cooking thermometer: Why faff about trying to guess oil temperatures with breadcrumbs, the stages of molten sugar with a glass of water, and the progress of your roast pork by violating it with a skewer, when you can harness the wonders of modern technology and know for sure? Digital varieties with a probe on a lead are the most practical (or the point and shoot ones are even better if you can run to one).

Decent food processor: These dont come cheap, but theyre almost infinitely useful. Make sure you get one with a small bowl for smaller amounts. Id also suggest a pestle and mortar for crushing and a mandoline for super-thin slicing; invaluable for the potato pie . (Always use the guard supplied for the last; I lost a fingertip to perfect dauphinoise.)

Oven thermometer: Few ovens, if any, are the same temperature from top to bottom, and many vary quite considerably from that shown on the dial. An oven thermometer will give you a good idea of how yours performs, and allow you to adjust cooking temperatures accordingly. My oven has a fan in it to help distribute the heat more evenly; if yours doesnt, then youll need the higher conventional temperatures in the recipes that follow, or indeed the relevant gas mark if its gas fired. Bear in mind that, baking aside, the temperature or cooking times are rough guides only; you should be the one to decide when your food is ready based on how it looks and smells. Trust your instincts.

All eggs in this book are medium unless otherwise specified. And all recipes are fair game for playing about with please feel free to use them as a starting point for some new favourites of your own. Happy cooking!

Ive thought long and hard about it (seriously), and almonds are definitely my favourite nut. Pistachios have their considerable merits, and its surprisingly tough to imagine life without the humble peanut, but neither can touch the almond for elegance and versatility.

No nut slips so easily between the sweet and the savoury, or blends as happily into a rich Indian curry as a delicate French pastry, or indeed makes such an addictive accompaniment to a salty sherry. Truly the almond is the king of nuts. (Or perhaps the queen. Those lovely curves are decidedly feminine.)

Almonds are a booming business, in demand worldwide, but only happy in a very narrow climatic region, with mild wet winters and warm summers and theyre priced accordingly. California is the worlds largest producer, followed by Spain and Italy, though theyre cultivated from Afghanistan to Australia and I have heard boast of fruiting trees in UK gardens.

Strictly speaking, theyre not a true nut at all, but a drupe, part of the Prunus family, where their closest relative is the peach look at an unshelled almond and a peach stone, and youll see the resemblance. We prize most drupes for their juicy flesh, but that of the almond is thin and fibrous; instead, the real prize, the kernel, is ) and amaretti biscuits to round out the flavour, and anything sold as pure almond extract is likely to have been made from them too. Beware of artificial flavourings, which are only worth a look if youre catering for a nut allergy, and dont confuse almond extract with sweet almond oil, which is better for massage than marzipan.