A brief ethical guide to help you enjoy your fruit and vegetables…and meat!
Christmas is currently celebrated once a year, but I’m quite sure that if the people who run most of Britain’s food shops had the chance, they’d be lobbying to see if perhaps there could be a second official Christmas in June as well, or maybe even once a month. And if this plan were to go ahead, would we enjoy the whole thing as much? Well, the first year might be rather novel but I’m sure that after a few years, Christmas would lose its magic.
This is exactly what has happened with our food. Now that you can buy strawberries in January and “new season” lamb all year round, many people just don’t know what’s in season any more, or that food eaten in its proper season actually tastes better. The most common question I’m asked by fruit ‘n’ veg junkies is, “so, what is in season?” As I’ve tried to show in this book, each season has loads of treats to offer. Not only is that how and when nature intended them to be eaten, but they won’t be forced up out of the ground synthetically or duped into thinking it’s another time of year with costly heating that causes all sorts of environmental havoc. Most importantly of all, by eating seasonally you are able to enjoy things shortly after they are harvested, and as anyone who has ever had a vegetable patch or allotment can tell you, food flavour and time out of the ground are directly related.
Finally, a real bugbear of mine is the method by which this out-of-season produce gets onto the supermarket shelves: airfreight. A common misconception is that all produce from abroad is airfreighted, and this is not the case. It simply doesn’t make business sense for the supermarkets to airfreight apples which can be grown locally and stored for use, or bananas which can be sent by ship and then ripened on arrival in our ports. What is therefore likely to be sent by airfreight is produce that is expensive, light, delicate – and from far away, obviously. Look at the labels in the supermarket – if out of season, your asparagus is likely to be from Peru, your prepared French beans from Guatemala, and your baby sweetcorn from Thailand.
There is one great big caveat to bear in mind, and it’s an important one to remember before you start to think this is all too daunting: there is no need to be puritanical about eating seasonally. Just as the odd pint at lunchtime doesn’t make me an alcoholic, so feeding my children bananas or tomatoes all year round (and heaven knows it’s difficult to cope without tomatoes all year round) doesn’t make me either a bad parent or an ecological outcast. The message is just that if you make a point of becoming aware of what’s best when and how it was grown, you’ll not only enjoy the flavour more, but over time the scales will tilt in the right direction for the environment, your health, and the welfare of the people who grow your food.
Cooking “My Way”
Cooking: v. cooked, cook•ing, cooks To prepare food by the action of heat, or to become ready for eating through such a process.
Cooking has quite a broad meaning. There seem to be no rules in doing this cooking thing, nor is there any specific result a part from making something ready for eating. (OK, OK, unless you’re baking, or making something French.)
Bearing this in mind, most of the recipes in this book use local produce and can be played with, added to, miss things out, chuck it in, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, oops that’s going to be a bit spicy, I think it needs more wine, hey I think I need even more wine…You might end up with the odd disaster if you get too carried away, but that’s what cooking is about – experimenting and trying new things. So you haven’t got any carrots, use a parsnip! No potato? Try a swede. Substitute your heart out, it can be very rewarding!
Most of the time you can work on the assumption that…
Spinach = chard = kale = pac choi = all the cabbages = dandelion leaves if you’re really desperate
Potatoes = swede = turnips = parsnips = Jerusalem artichokes = beetroot if you’re feeling colourful = kohlrabi if you’re in a box scheme (good luck finding it anywhere else!)
Squash = pumpkin = sweet potatoes = parsnips again = carrots
Rocket = watercress = young spinach = lettuce
Leeks = onions = shallots
Celery = fennel = celeriac
Pears = apples
Broccoli = purple sprouting broccoli = asparagus = peas = green beans = runner beans = broad beans = all the beans
Cooking is also about enjoying yourself in the kitchen and not taking it all too seriously. Don’t stand in silence when cooking – throw on a CD and shake your booty! Sing out loud and embarrass the kids. Take off your clothes and throw on a pinny. Take off your clothes and don’t throw on a pinny! (Mind the Aga…) They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, so make it the place where people want to be, make it fun, and share the experience with your family and friends.
If you think cooking is a chore, you must be doing it the wrong way…
Knowing the slang
Cooking temperatures:
Most cooking equipment varies and has a complete mind of its own when it comes to temperatures. You know your own kit better than I ever will. If you have one of the following you will know what I mean: Aga, gas hob, electric hob, electric fan forced, halogen, ceramic, convection, hot spot, cool spot, top shelf, middle shelf, wood burner, oil burner, slow burner, kettle barbeque, gas barbeque, wood barbeque, camp fire, straight fire, magnifying glass. Nonetheless, here’s a key to the temperatures in this book:
| Farenheit (°F) | Celsius (°C) | Fan oven | Gas mark | Aga 2 oven | Aga 3 & 4 oven |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 350°F | 180°C | 160°C | Gas mark 4 | Lowest set of runners in roasting oven, with cold plain shelf above | Baking oven |
| 375°F | 190°C | 170°C | Gas mark 5 | Lowest set of runners in roasting oven | Top of baking oven |
| 400°F | 200°C | 180°C | Gas mark 6 | Lowest set of runners in roasting oven | Lowest set of runners in roasting oven |
| 425°F | 220°C | 200°C | Gas mark 7 | 3rd or 4th set of runners in roasting oven | 3rd or 4th set of runners in roasting oven |
A Warm Place
If you are lucky enough to have an Aga, there is normally a warming oven that you can use to keep things warm (obviously). Alternatively,