Your shopping doesn't have to be led by the supermarkets. Let the seasons guide you, writes Hugo Arnold
The menu read like a vegetarian's delight, its descriptions starting with the vegetables: broccoli, spinach and hake with sauce vierge, for example, or braised endive with caramelised grapes and foie gras. We were in Paris, and in each restaurant I was struck by the protein's appearance towards the end of each description.
We, by contrast, buy fillets and sirloins of beef, black sole and cod, chicken breasts and racks of lamb that we accompany with vegetables, potatoes chief among them. Yet potatoes vary hugely: pink fir apples are a world away from Maris Pipers. The same is true of many other vegetables: lettuces, tomatoes, even humble beetroots turn up in various guises. The choice, if we could get it, is staggering.
Vegetables, if we let them, drive change and variety. Denis Cotter of Cafe Paradiso, in Cork, says his menu is virtually written by his suppliers. Weeks before many restaurants reluctantly let go of purple sprouting broccoli he had moved on, having worked through all his supplier could provide. By the end a woodiness was coming through anyway. Time to move on.
We are a society that seems to relish change in so many areas, yet consistency is the watchword for food. Supermarkets get the blame for much of this, but I am not so sure. Perhaps we are all a little guilty. On holiday many of us think nothing of spending the morning shopping for and cooking lunch, yet once at home we return to the weekly shop.
Farmer's markets are a signal change. But we need more farmers to sow these different seeds, raise the animals, harvest in smaller quantities. Why pork when we could be eating Middle White, Gloucester Old Spot or Tamworth? Breeds that grow slowly, integrate delicious fat into their meat and deliver succulence and flavour. Good things take time.
All recipes feed 4
PORK AND NOODLE SOUP
100g glass noodles (thin transparent rice noodles)
1 litre chicken stock (made with a few slices of ginger, onion and two cloves of smashed garlic)
200g pork loin, thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
4 handfuls spinach
4 tbsp frozen peas, defrosted
50g bean sprouts
bunch coriander, roughly chopped
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced on the diagonal
Soak the noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes, or until soft, drain and rinse in cold water. Bring the stock to the boil. Add the pork and soy sauce. Return to the boil and simmer for five to 10 minutes, or until the pork is cooked. Put the spinach and peas in four bowls with the noodles. Add the stock and meat. Top with the bean sprouts, coriander and spring onions. Serve with extra soy sauce on the table, so people can take some if they want more.
PAN-FRIED COD, ASPARAGUS, ROAST CHERRY TOMATOES AND BLACK OLIVES
1kg asparagus, trimmed
olive oil
1kg cod
450g cherry tomatoes
100g stoned black olives
1 lemon, trimmed and quartered
Cook the asparagus in plenty of salted boiling water for five minutes, or until just tender. Refresh under cold water and toss gently in a bowl with four tablespoons of olive oil. Cook on a preheated griddle pan until charred, turn and repeat. Put the tomatoes in a moderately hot saucepan, add four tablespoons of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, then cover. Cook for five or six minutes, or until the tomatoes just start to burst. Cut the cod into large chunks, about six centimetres square. Pat dry, lightly coat in olive oil and season well. Fry over a moderate heat in a lightly oiled pan for three or four minutes on each side, or until cooked. To serve, pile the asparagus, tomatoes, black olives and cod onto a large plate, or four serving plates, and add lemon wedges.
POTATO SALAD
500g waxy potatoes
3 eggs
2 tbsp finely chopped chives
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
Peel and slice the potatoes. Blanch in boiling salted water until just tender, then refresh under cold water (but not too much, as you want them to stay warm - the key to this salad). Boil the eggs for four minutes, drain and refresh under cold water. Peel, chop and combine with the chives and olive oil, then stir to amalgamate. Add the still-warm potatoes, a dessertspoon of white wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. You may need more oil or vinegar.
CHARGRILLED LAMB, AUBERGINE PUREE AND COUSCOUS SALAD
4 leg-of-lamb steaks
olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped (no need to peel)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
juice of 3 lemons
1 red pepper, sliced
1 aubergine, cut into 1cm discs
1 dessertspoon tahini paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
300g couscous
1 bunch radishes
1 cucumber, deseeded
1 tbsp each chopped parsley, mint and chervil
Combine the steaks, four tablespoons of olive oil, the red onion, one of the garlic cloves, the juice of one of the lemons and a seasoning of pepper. Toss gently so everything is well coated, cover and set aside for at least an hour (overnight is better). Chargrill the pepper and aubergine slices until the pepper is black all over and the aubergine is golden. Transfer the pepper to a covered bowl and set aside. Put the aubergine in a blender with the tahini, juice from the second lemon, 100ml olive oil and the remaining garlic clove. Blitz briefly (you want to retain some texture). In a dry frying pan, lightly toast the cumin seeds and add to the aubergine. Combine an equal volume of couscous with boiling water, cover with a tea towel and set aside for five minutes. Fluff up with a fork, add the juice of the final lemon and six tablespoons of olive oil. Trim and chop the radishes and cucumber, then combine with the herbs and enough olive oil to moisten. Add to the couscous. Brush the marinade from the steak and chargrill for three minutes on each side. Allow to rest for five minutes, then serve with the couscous salad and aubergine puree.
RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY COMPOTE
500g trimmed weight pink rhubarb stems, washed and cut into 3cm pieces
50g caster sugar or to taste
Seeds from a vanilla pod
450g small, ripe strawberries
Put the wet rhubarb and the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Gently heat until the sugar melts and the rhubarb begins to simmer gently (about 15 minutes). Add the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod. Once the rhubarb is just soft, remove the pan from the heat. Taste, adding more sugar if necessary, then add the strawberries and gently shake the pan, to incorporate them into the compote. Leave to cool before serving with cream or ice cream.