Peter Gordon - Savour: Salads for all Seasons

Salads for all Seasons

PETER GORDON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISA LINDER

To Al (and my London Fields)

First published in 2016 by

Jacqui Small LLP

7477 White Lion Street London N1 9PF

Text copyright 2016 by Peter Gordon

Design, photography and layout copyright Jacqui Small 2016

The authors moral rights have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Publisher: Jacqui Small

Senior Commissioning Editor: Fritha Saunders

Managing Editor: Emma Heyworth-Dunn

Editor: Anne McDowall

Cover design, illustrations, text design and art direction: Here Design

Production: Maeve Healy

Digital edition: 978-1-91025-483-7

Hardcover edition: 978-1-91025-449-3

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

2018 2017 2016

Salads have never been as varied or as exciting as they are right now! Today, the idea of having a salad as a main meal instead of just as a starter or side dish, no matter what the season, no longer seems as strange as it did a decade ago. Weve come to appreciate that salads are not just for summer, they can be enjoyed all year round. From what I witness in my restaurants around the world, people are eating differently: sharing plates and small dishes are now commonplace, and the abundance of vegetables in a dish is almost a given. Healthy foods, whether that means more grains and vegetables, less gluten and dairy, less animal protein, sustainably caught fish or animals raised with impeccable farming methods, are what we all seem to want in our diets. These are all things Ive been advocating, and the way Ive been cooking and eating, for as long as I can remember and salads are a terrific way to bring all of this together! In 2005, I wrote a much-loved book called Salads, the new main course. This book is a way for me to update what I wrote a decade ago.

I wanted to write a new book about salads that would inspire you to have the confidence to create an exciting meal just by looking at the ingredients you may already have in the pantry or your fridge. Admittedly, some recipes call for more preparation and shopping than others (though prepping artichoke hearts, podding broad/fava beans or poaching a chicken in a master-stock are all well worth the effort), but in the time-poor days that many of us lead, you can, of course, use prepared alternatives from the shop or freezer.

I love nothing more than combining a variety of flavours, textures and ingredients to make a new tasty salad. In summer, it may be a surprisingly delicious combination of heirloom tomatoes, burrata and a mango dressing; in autumn (the fall), a combo of beetroot (beet)-cured wild salmon with the last of the artichokes and pomegranate; while in winter it could be a warm salad of chicken livers, hazelnuts and mushrooms. What I like about salads is that they can suit your mood: they can be quick and easy (see ) or planned in advance and given the kind of focus a hot meal might receive. Some of the salads in this book are to be served at room temperature and others warm, but many can be served either way, so they neednt be seen as exclusively either winter or summer salads.

What defines a salad? Is it merely a few ingredients tossed together in a bowl with a dressing, or is it more complex than that? My view is that a salad is a mixture of ingredients, individually prepared (as opposed to cooked together in a stew), that work in harmony with each other, either by being very similar in texture and colour or by opposing each other, for example crunch supporting smooth. Some salads are elegantly plated assemblages while others are casually tossed together.

To create harmony, you sometimes need to create a clash of some sort. Adding a contrasting flavour or texture to a mix can often highlight other ingredients in the same dish. In these recipes, youll discover, for example, the shock of a sweet roast grape that highlights sharp citrus notes, or fiery chilli used to enliven sweet mango.