They say that no food disappears from the culinary bibles altogether. Sometimes they may vanish for a while and then make a renaissance decades later, or they may lay dormant before somebody brands them as ācoolā and markets them as the latest in a long line of āsuper foodsā. Or, as is the case with this tale, you could be sat wistfully reminiscing and then, suddenly, flavours and memories come flooding back.
When I was younger there was fennel in the garden; growing tall ā or maybe I was just short ā it tended to act as a quasi-fence separating grass, soil and path; other times the clumps became battered goalposts; and then, it was used to cook with.
But, for some reason, it vanished.
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Today, for those who are unaware, is Saint Patrickās Day. The one day a year where everybody, including myself, becomes Irish, celebrates and dons some emerald coloured clothes.
So, what could be better than combining Ireland and food for todayās entry to the CS Catering blog?
The answer, clearly, is nothing.
References to the tradition of Irish food can be traced back right to the formative years of Irish literature. The hero of Irish mythology, Fionn mac Cumhaill, gained his intelligence and wisdom from eating a salmon.
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Paella is synonymous with Spanish cuisine, but after witnessing a rapid evolution of its composition in recent years, three chefs are aiming to reclaim one of Valenciaās most iconic dishes from being continually debased.
Wikipaella has been created to āpoliceā paella, so says co-founder Guillermo Navarro. āItās a dish thatās really trendy;ā he laments, āand thereās a lot of people taking advantage of it and selling what they call authentic, traditional or Spanish paella.ā
Initially, Navarro thought it was a problem unique to foreign countries, but a visit to Madrid wielded equally unsavoury results. āIn Madrid, 90% of the paellas that you eat canāt be compared to real paella.ā [ Read More ]
So today is the day where we all rummage through the cupboards, find all the eggs, flour, milk and butter we can find, mix them all together and whack it in a pan.
Surely it hasnāt creped up on you?
Poor puns aside, today isnāt solely about naleÅniki, panqueques or palaÄinka. As lovely as crepes are accompanied by a modicum of freshly squeezed lemon juice drizzle and a sprinkling of sugar, sometimes we just want a little bit more.
Not that thereās anything wrong with that, variety is, after all, the spice of life. [ Read More ]
The UK Art Fund has just started a new fundraising initiative that will hopefully raise money for museums and galleries in the British Isles, but also get people into the kitchen!
With the rise of the āfood pornā trend ā where people take pictures of their dishes ā the Art Fundās campaign goes one step further by aiming to replicate historical and iconic masterpieces from the ingredients in your fridge.
Who needs to look at a finely sculptured duck confit when you could gaze at a De Stijl inspired slice of Battenburg cake and ponder about the reduction of the world around us to its rawest and simplest of forms?
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To round off our potato themed week of blog posts where we pondered if the perfect chip could exist, talked about chip week and genetically modified potatoes, and introduced the Bake-King Mini, it is time to round these past few days off with a tip or two on how to make some of the best baked potatoes around.
Chips may reign supreme, whilst mash is incredibly adaptable, but sometimes you canāt beat a great jacket; crisp, crunchy skin covering the white fluffy innards with a topping, gently melting over it.
It doesn’t get better than that.
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Given that it takes only two ingredients to make a portion ā those being potatoes and cooking oil ā it can be incredibly hard to come up with a recipe for the perfect chip.
Actually, such a thing might not exist.
Even with just two elements, chips can vary: Chip shop chips are dissimilar in taste, appearance and texture to the French fry, and the current favourite, double, or even triple, cooked chips taste different too.
Spuds can be split down the middle with those falling on one side of the dividing line, like Maris Peer potatoes, being waxy, whilst the varieties in the other camp, such as King Edwards, have a more floury texture.
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It is certainly soup weather at the moment.
On these gloomy – and being British, decidedly wet and windy – days, it often takes more than an alluring smell to perk up interests and inject a little spring in the steps of people who are feeling the ill effects of the endless horizon of grey clouds.
It is a time of year when the family meal would often consist of hearty foods: stews, puddings and casseroles, that kind of thing.
To preface most main Sunday meals a soup would be served.
In order to provide a little uplift in spirits, hereās a soup recipe that will immediately grab the attention of your senses and leave you with a lovely little fuzzy feeling (the good kind!) in your stomach.
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Cooking fish, inside a parcel of foil is a common practise in the kitchen. Not only does it saves time and labour when it comes to the washing up process, but it also ensures that all the flavour and aromas are secured, creating a mixture of Ā wonderful infusions.Ā
This recipe uses a real local favourite of ours, rhubarb, together with its traditional flavouring companion of ginger.
Fish parcels with rhubarb and ginger
This recipe is designed to serve four people, whilst the preparation and cooking time is about 30 minutes. Perfect for those who donāt want have countless hours to spend in the kitchen!
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Revered for a pungent odour that has been likened, rather diplomatically, to raw sewage and a formidable thorn-covered husk, the Durian has unsurprisingly failed to make any inroads into the culinary habits on our shores just yet.
But, prepare yourselves; whilst the infamous south-east Asian fruit has been available in Great Britain for some time, a new, more repugnant variety is set to hit the shelves. Banned in many public establishments and spaces in Singapore, the Durian splits opinion; a bit like marmite only a lot smellier.
Writing in The New York Times, Thomas Fuller waxes lyrical about the fruit stating that āyouāll experience overtones of hazelnut, apricot, caramelised banana and egg custard.ā Yet, āwords failā in describing just what lies inside the barbed casing. Others just point to towards its pong as reason enough never go near it.
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Author
Damien Wilde