With the unsettling but necessary closure of restaurants, chefs, like the rest of us, are turning to their home kitchens for nourishment, comfort and connection in this period of lockdown. Here, we’ve reached out to chefs in our community to get their thoughts on what a good meal can do for morale right now; hear what food they are leaning towards and learn how they’re making ingredients go further to minimise waste. Check back in the coming weeks for Tomos Parry, Nicholas Balfe, Seppe Nobels, David Gingell, Shaun Searley and Clare Lattin’s thoughts.
Jeremy Lee of Quo Vadis
It always starts at home for me. My mum was gifted in the kitchen and cooked for her family every day of her life. When I was young, we ate good plain simple food, which I love still. Scotland has a wealth of beautiful produce that required very little in the way of embellishments. As I grew older, British and French regional cookery began to appear and so was laid the bedrock of the food I love best to prepare, cook and serve; in the restaurant and at home.
Finding myself, along with the rest of our dear world – as an insidious presence stalks our lives – at home, most often alone, one great solace is having that rarest of luxuries: time. Time to cook in an unhurried fashion. Buying fresh produce and cooking every day is proving to be a very great pleasure. I love buying small amounts of the best quality produce I can find and making several good things from them.
A favourite salad is green beans, sprouting broccoli dressed in anchoiade, which is anchovies pounded with garlic, egg, olive oil and lemon – capers are a welcome thought here too. This is very good with most meats, such as a few slivers of duck breast.
A trip to a fishmonger or a butcher, or delivery of, say, a whole duck, guinea fowl, chicken or a rabbit goes a long way. Putting the joints of these into braises, soups, preserves, pots and crocks is a happy use of time, using all and every part to make good things. Soups have pleased mightily, be it a great pan of coarsely chopped vegetables, beans, lentils, split peas, greens and herbs.
Good olive oil and good bread are, of course, vital. Lightly curing joints of bird or beast and fillets of fish is proving equally helpful and delicious. If at all possible, fresh herbs and freshly ground spice are a boon to the home cook.
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发表于 2020-8-4 07:25:12
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