Kitchen - Recipes from the Heart of the Home: Nigella's latest tips the scales at 1890g

The latest orthodoxy about bookselling in these straitened times must be that a book has to be big to sell well. Hence the 492 pages devoted to Nigella’s latest opus Kitchen which weighs in at 1890g or 4lb 2 oz. (Out of curiosity I checked).

Does the world actually need another Nigella book? Or another of Jamie’s or Gordon’s, come to that? Even if you only own one there’s very little chance you’re going to cook through all the recipes. If you’ve bought all seven so far there can barely be room on your bookshelf. Maybe fans feel if they skip a volume some terrible curse will strike them down and all their cakes and souffls will flop.

That said a new Nigella book has much to offer that you don’t get in her tiresomely arch TV programmes. She lives and breathes (heavily) food - I suspect she spends most of her waking hours thinking about it. While some of her ideas are pretty gross (I wouldn’t wish Grasshopper Pie on my worst enemy) others are genius. The ideas of making roasties from gnocchi and ‘chocolate brownie bowls’ in which to serve voluptuous scoops of ice cream are inspired.

Most of her middle of the night brainwaves, it has to be said, seem to involve concoctions that are sugary and/or carb-laden. Nigella is not an author to turn to if you’re on a healthy eating kick. But I will definitely have to try her Marmalade Pudding Cake, not to mention her Pumpkin Scones, Treacle Slice, Beer-braised Pork Knuckles with caraway, garlic, apples and potatoes, Indian Roast Potatoes and Peanut Butter Hummus (why did no-one ever think of that before?). Oh, and a wonderfully puffy Toad-in-the-hole made with sausage patties rather than whole sausages: “the platonic ideal of the Sunday night supper” as Nigella puts it.

What redeems her books - and it’s easy to forget amidst all the pouting and innuendo - is that she actually is a cracking writer having been a serious journalist (and a former deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times). For every incredibly irritating “If you like blue cheese as I swooningly do” there is an elegantly crafted passage that is sheer joy to read (viz the introduction to the Maple Pecan Bundt Cake recipe that shows Nigella at her self-deprecating, humourous best, confessing that she actually isn’t a natural baker).

There are some seriously good ideas about what to do with leftovers (viz the Mixed Meat Pilaff) though the rather messy design of the book makes it hard at times to see where one recipe stops and another begins and some great practical tips in the Kitchen Confidential section. Like how to make your own buttermilk and why you don’t need self-raising flour.

I don’t think it’s as good as ‘How to Eat’ but I find myself being drawn to the book in spite of myself. And at the current discounted price of £13 - less than the cost of a pizza and a cheap glass of wine, for heavens sake - it’s ridiculously good value.

Ryn and Cordie - in search of the perfect partner (the food & wine matching formula)

Leafing through Ryn and Cordie’s new book I realised how untypical it was. You get the impression most wine books - even ones about food and wine matching - are written for middle-aged men. The few for women tend to be of the fluffy Chicklit variety with cartoons indicating that wine isn’t really a subject they need overly bother their pretty heads with.

I suppose it was inevitable that it took a couple of feisty Australians to put a new perspective on it. Ryn and Cordie, a couple of bright women who run their own marketing business have approached it from the perspective of two busy professionals so it’s short on theory and long on recipes with a few basic rules and tips thrown in. Plenty of inspiration, not too much reading.

The recipes are simple and related to the time of day - though R & C are made of sterner stuff than I am if they can face a glass of bubbly with their muesli in the morning. But I like the sound - and look - of baked eggs with Spanish-style beans and chorizo (paired with Tempranillo), char-grilled scamorza with heritage tomatoes (Barbera) and potato and lemon frittata (Hunter Valley Semillon). As you’d expect from an Aussie book there are plenty of Asian-inspired dishes like beef with ginger and lemongrass (Verdelho) and pork gyoza with mint, coriander and chilli dipping sauce (“a super crisp beer”) but also some nice home-made bruschetti, pizzas and pies.

The only downside to the book is that all the wines are Australian but fair enough given that it is self-published (good for them) and that their primary market is obviously going to be their home one. There’s also the odd match that I’m not sure I buy into (like Coonawarra Cab with cauliflower soup) but they’re more than made up for by inspired pairings such as rosewater pannacotta with Turkish delight, pistachio biscotti and pink muscat.

If you already know a fair bit about food and wine matching you may not feel there’s quite enough in-depth info about the subject for you but if you’re a newbie - or giving it to one - it's a perfect introduction to the subject.

For a sample of the recipes and pairings in the book check out Ryn & Cordie’s website. You can also buy it direct from the site for A$29.95

A review of Josh Wesson's 'Wine & Food'

It’s almost 20 years ago now since Josh Wesson wrote his first book on food and wine pairing - the ground-breaking Red Wine with Fish: the new art of Matching Wine with Food which he co-authored with David Rosengarten. He then went on to set up the attractive and innovative wine store Best Cellars which groups wines by style

This book takes a similar approach. (It also, interestingly, adopts the presentational technique Mitchell Beazley pioneered in my own Wine by Style published in 1998 which identified wine styles by flavour icons though I have to concede they do it much more prettily here!)

At the heart of the book are 50 recipes grouped to go with each of the wine styles. So, for example, in ‘smooth reds’ you have a flavour profile of the aromas and flavours to expect, the grape varieties that share these characteristics and six recipes that would suit wines of this type accompanied by ‘old world’ and ‘new world’ matches

With many old world producers now making wine in what might be conceived as a new world style I’m not totally convinced about this breakdown, these days. From recommendations with the pan-roasted duck breasts with dried-cherry sauce you might conclude you could only drink Merlot if it was from the New World whereas you could equally well partner the dish with a modern red Bordeaux. But the basic advice is sound and the recipes attractive and lavishly illustrated (despite being published by Bonnier Books in the UK, this is a Williams Sonoma title).

I can’t wait to try the coffee-rubbed back ribs, a good match, Wesson says, with Rioja Rosado or - intriguingly - an off dry white Zin. This book is clearly not for wine snobs.

The main disappointment is that there’s nothing on cheese which would have been helpful, even at this introductory level but if you want an unscary wine book to give to an enthusiastic cook who is always expressing his - or more likely her - frustration at not knowing more about wine this is a good option.

Personally I still find Wesson’s first book, of which I still have a well-thumbed copy on my bookshelf, more exciting.*

NB Oddly I can't find a copy of this edition on Amazon. I picked it up in a branch of Waterstone's in Oxford Street where it was selling for £16.99. You may have to order it from a bookshop or contact the publisher direct.

Matching Food & Wine by Michel Roux Jr

You’d think, wouldn’t you, that most chefs would be pretty good at food and wine matching, not least French chefs. Well, you’d be wrong! I’m constantly shocked by the number of chefs who haven’t the faintest idea what wine goes best with their recipes or indeed, who drink wine at all. (Some of them possibly because they’ve, er hem, enjoyed it a bit too much in the past . . . )

Well Michel Roux of London’s Le Gavroche isn’t one of them. He loves food (though frustratingly has the physique of a marathon runner - which is exactly what he is). He loves wine. And he knows how to combine the two in an exceptionally creative way.

This is basically a recipe book with some great wine suggestions. And not just classic French ones either. M. Roux isn’t averse to an Australian Shiraz, a warm sake or even a bottle of Newcastle Brown ale. He also caters for fine wine lovers who have a special bottle to show off so you’ll know what to cook when it’s time to open your Chateau Latour 1982.

For me, however, the most interesting section of the book is the section on cheese which contains some sound advice on matching - or rather not matching - red wine and cheese and some imaginative ideas for cheese courses including this elegant dish of Roquefort-stuffed pears.

 

Hot Pears with Roquefort and Walnuts

Pears, like apples, go well with lots of cheeses because of their sweet and sour taste. This recipe could be eaten as a starter or a cheese course. Double the quantities given if serving as a starter.

Serves 4

2 ripe pears, William or Passe-Crassane
120g Roquefort cheese, crumbled into pieces
60g walnuts, roughly chopped
1 tbsp creme fraiche
1 tbsp tawny port
1 spring onion, sliced
Salt and pepper

Take the pears and cut in half lengthways. Remove the seeds and core then carefully scoop out some of the flesh without splitting the skin. This should leave you with four ‘boats’.

Roughly chop the pear flesh and add to the crumbled cheese with the walnuts. Fold in the creme fraiche, port, spring onion and seasoning. Fill the ‘boats’ and bake for 15 minutes at 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Put under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes to brown.

Wine suggestions

Michel suggests a Bonnezeaux, a sweet old oloroso sherry or a tawny port.

“Bonnezeaux is a sweet Loire Valley wine made from the chenin grape. It’s velvety and amber when aged with a good amount of residual acidity and, served lightly chilled, makes a good partner for blue cheese and walnuts. A medium-sweet old Oloroso would also be a good match as is the blue cheese stalwart - Tawny Port.

For more about Le Gavroche visit www.le-gavroche.co.uk

Image © Silvano Rebai - Fotolia.com