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Saucy and juicy, the seafood flavours are wonderful mopped up with the yolky yellow tortilla. I like sucking the sweet garlicky coating off the prawns, then shelling them and devouring the tender meaty chunks within. The chilli will have your mouth wonderfully tingling too. And the squid has good smoky paprika as the resounding Moorish ingredient. This is something I only discovered when I opened my little shop in Brixton market. There are many varieties of this magic dust, and it usually comes in beautiful little tins. I use a hot Santo Domingo, which is imported by Brindisa and will bring a smouldering heat to almost any meal. These smells remind me of Marrakesh and Barcelona all in one, full of mystery and hot reds.
The way you manage this meal is up to you: the prawns could be served as a starter or all together with the squid and tortilla. And if you don’t want to do both the squid and the prawn dishes, double up the quantities of one and serve it with a simple green salad. Though if you are using this for wooing, you might just check that your lover doesn’t have an aversion to seafood. It is a bit like Marmite: you either love it, or you hate it.
Balsamic Onion Tortilla
1 medium free-range egg
3 medium free-range egg yolks
500g new potatoes
lots of olive oil or butter
100g balsamic onions (or pancetta)
Maldon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
The essence of a tortilla is patience. First, whisk up the egg and yolks in a mixing jug and set this aside. With the fine flat blade of a mandolin, finely slice the potatoes. Heat lots of olive oil or butter on a low heat in a good non-stick frying pan. This is so that the potatoes (with their high starch content) don’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the potatoes and attentively turn them, while also allowing them to become golden in parts. When they are beginning to look transparent, after about 20 minutes, use a flat-ended wooden spoon to slightly mash them up. In doing so, the potato pieces will be able to lie side by side to make a compact cake like a jigsaw puzzle.
Chop the balsamic onions (or pancetta) and scatter over the potatoes. Season with lots of pepper and salt, and then pour in the egg mix. This should be just enough to bind the tortilla, which is much lighter on the egg front than an omelette. Continue to cook on a very low heat until it begins to come away from the edge of the pan. Using a flat plate, turn out the tortilla so that it can then be returned to the pan to brown the top side. This will take 5 minutes, much less time than the first side. When you are happy with the golden colour, remove from the pan, and slice like a cake.
Hot Spanish Squid
1 red pepper
4 garlic cloves
2 chillies
lots of olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
3 tubes of squid
1 teaspoon golden caster sugar
juice of 1 lemon
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bunch of fresh parsley
For the squid dish, deseed the pepper and cut into hunks. Whiz them up with the peeled garlic and the chillies to make a purée, using a hand-held blender or Magimix. Warm some olive oil in a pan and fry the paprika, cumin and caraway seeds. This is the best way to release the aromas of spices. After a few minutes’ frying, add the pepper purée. Cook at a very low heat for about half an hour, or until the juices are a little reduced. If it begins to dry out, add a tablespoon of water at a time to loosen and continue breaking down the flavours. During this time, rinse the squid under a cold running tap and chop into rings 1cm wide (you may need to remove the cartilage, which lies inside the white squid sac. See Feasting Fiestas, page 121). Add this to the pan at the last minute, along with the sugar, lemon juice and parsley, which should be roughly chopped. It will need a minute or two to combine all the flavours and cook the squid, which will go from milky clear to white, but not rubbery please. You may need to add another teaspoon of sugar to balance the flavours, so taste to check.
Garlic Fried Prawns
6 garlic cloves
1 fresh chilli
a big knob of butter
12 large king prawns
1 glass of white wine or rosé
To cook the prawns, heat the butter in a pan, peel and finely chop the garlic and chilli and throw them into the pan. Allow them to fry long enough to smell but not turn brown; a few minutes. Add the prawns and then the wine, so that they have just enough time to turn from translucent to pinky-white, and the alcohol from the wine has had time to evaporate. You will need to turn over the large prawns so that each side gets well cooked. It will take 3 to 5 minutes. Then take off the heat. Roll up your sleeves, and enjoy the mess.
Vietnamese Salad with Steak (#ulink_102ad72c-4dfb-59e9-bd13-2f722e12ddc3)
For 2
This salad will always remind me of a summer date, in the early throes of romance. We’d been to a private view at my friend Piero’s gallery, and when we finally hailed a taxi back to Brixton it was much later than expected. Luckily for my date, I’d thought ahead: the fresh, crunchy flavours of the Vietnamese salad had been marinating all afternoon, and so we were at the table in minutes, devouring this awesome Asian feast.
I mix and match the salad ingredients according to my mood: sometimes heavy on the carrots, sometimes lighter on the coriander. With noodles. With poached chicken pieces. It’s an endlessly evolving prototype, so feel free to experiment. Whatever you decide on, this dish is full of colour and texture and abundance and is really impressive.
I cannot stress enough how much I love my mandolin slicer. It makes everything that comes under its knife look seriously svelte. And where a grater releases a lot of the juices, a mandolin is sharp enough to leave the vegetables unbruised. There are few things that are imperative in a kitchen, but I would say that the mandolin is one. So…
The Salad
4 medium carrots
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
3 spring onions
3 tablespoons slightly salted peanuts
a big handful of fresh coriander
a big handful of fresh mint
juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2
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tablespoons rice vinegar
1 dessertspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
With a mandolin slicer on the fine setting, slice the peeled carrots over a nice big salad bowl. Slice the peppers and spring onions lengthways into matching shards. If you have a Magimix, pulse the peanuts to crumbs, but not dust. I usually put them into a plastic bag and attack them with a rolling pin, which can look a little crazed if someone unexpected finds their way into the kitchen. Finely chop the herbs and then mix everything together in the bowl with your hands. Finally mix up the remaining ingredients with a fork and pour over your salad.
The Steak
2 fillet steaks, weighing about 180g each
5 tablespoons soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon soya paste (which can be bought at Korean and Japanese supermarkets: see My Favourite Places to Eat, Drink & Shop, page 338)
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Now for the steak: first, don’t hold back on the price, especially if you like it rare, because if it is not good quality it will be tough. Although I don’t advocate big spending, it really is worth it here. Marinate the steaks in 3 tablespoons of the soy sauce and lots of black pepper for an hour at the least. Meanwhile, thoroughly mix the remaining soy sauce with the soya paste. This will be the accompanying dipping sauce for rare steaks.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil so that it is piping hot. Add the steaks and turn down to a medium heat. Fry them for just long enough so that they are sealed and browning in parts, which will be about 4 minutes on the first side. Flip and do the same on the other side, adding any leftover soy sauce to the pan. For rare steak, when you press it, it should feel like the flesh between your thumb and index finger, when spanned and relaxed. Remove quickly from the pan, and serve up with the salad as a vibrant feast.
Pyrenean Duck with Champ (#ulink_740f752a-6e02-5f82-a81c-3fecead56fea)
For 2
The fattiness of a duck breast is amazing, and anyone who removes it is insane. The best duck I have ever eaten was with Pat, in the heart of the Gers. We were staying at his parents’ beautiful home, in the shadow of the Pyrenees. They fried it on their open fire and we all huddled around to ward off the January frosts. It was a rare and wonderful moment. The skin of the bird became sweet and crisp, but the flesh was still rare and tender. Sheer indulgence, and possibly the best way to eat this game.
In this recipe, the aim is to have really crisp skin on top and tender, rare flesh underneath. When you carve the breasts, a fair amount of juice will run out. Catch this, and pour over the champ after plating it all up. This meal is great for real meat lovers, with wonderfully conventional tastes. I tested the recipe out on the lovely Miranda and Mr Smiley, and even converted him to the merits of fruit with meat, so was very satisfied indeed. The fruit against the tangy champ is yet another great dynamic on the plate. Serve with a little broccoli or wilted spinach leaves or green beans.
The Champ
500g King Edward potatoes, or any other British floury variety
6 spring onions
50g butter
100ml double cream
freshly ground black pepper
Maldon sea salt
Peel the potatoes and cut them into quarters. Place in a large saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Put a lid on top, and simmer on a medium heat until they slip off a sharp knife (up to half an hour). In the meantime, finely chop the spring onions, using as much of the green parts as you can. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pan. Add the butter and the cream. Mash thoroughly, until creamy and smooth, then season with pepper and salt. Champ is much more velvety than its English brother mash, so really put some elbow grease into it. You could even use a hand-held whisk. Finally, add the spring onions.
The Duck
2 duck breasts
50g butter
1 nectarine
Now for the breasts: score the skins so that you go almost as deep as the flesh. Using a griddle pan, if you have one, heat the butter on a medium to high heat so that it is near to smoking. Attentively place the duck in the pan, skin side down. This will create some serious spitting. Fry for 10 minutes, or until the skin is beginning to brown and become crispy, then turn the breasts over. Continue to cook, allowing all the fat to melt out of the bird, while finely slicing the nectarine. Once the breasts have had another 5 minutes and they are to your taste (like steak, it is up to you how rare you want them – for me, the bloodier the better), remove and let them relax on a chopping board. Add the sliced nectarine to the pan, so it cooks in the duck juices. Quickly pan-fry for a few minutes, then with a heavy fork mash it a little so that it is almost like a chutney. Carve the duck into morsels and pile the champ on to the plate, with the nectarine alongside.
A Ceviche Fish-off with Corona & Guacamole & Tomato Salsa (#ulink_5661d887-af8b-57a7-b38c-5524fb22e9e3)
For 2
I’m planning a fish-off with Raf. He’s going to cook tuna marinated in grapefruit juice and soy sauce, and I’m seducing him with ceviche and Corona. Do eat it with beer, though: I’ve made the mistake of eating this with red wine, and spent a good few minutes hopping around trying to assuage the heat of the chillies.
Most famously from Peru, ceviche is seafood marinated in lime juice. You can use any white fish or shellfish: scallops, prawns, squid, sea bass, cod and so on. Partially cooked by the lime, it’s just a small step from sushi, and therefore exceedingly enticing for fish fanatics. The chilli heat is tempered by the tender fish that will melt in your sizzling mouth. The first time I made this dish, it really did blow my mind.
The flavours in the fish are fresh and zesty and chilli hot, and suit equally fresh vegetables like this salsa and guacamole. You’ll need to buy a sack of limes. You have been warned! The ceviche and salsa can be served with fried plantain, pitta, crispy tortilla chips or with the corn cakes in Dawn Chorus (on page 33). I like the pic’n’mix style – an array of little bowls to get entangled over. But of course, guacamole is one of those favourite foods that everyone loves, especially if there’s a big bowl of it in the middle of a table of waiting and drinking friends. I often make this to whet everyone’s appetite, whether having an Americas meal or not.
The Ceviche
12 tiger prawns
200g sea bass or sea bream
1 fleshy index-finger-sized chilli
2 generous handfuls of fresh coriander
6 limes
Start with the ceviche, as it needs time to marinate. You need to prepare your fish carefully, so with a very sharp knife, cut down the back of the prawns and remove the black string. Strip them of their legs and shells, carefully removing the head. Take the skin off the fish and cut into slivers about 1cm wide. Place the seafood and fish in a freezer bag. Finely chop the chilli and coriander, and add this to the bag. Squeeze in the limes and give it all a really good mix around. Tie up the bag and leave to marinate in the fridge, sitting in a bowl, for a couple of hours.
The Guacamole
2 garlic cloves
2 really ripe avocados
3 cherry tomatoes
juice of 3 limes
1 fleshy index-finger-sized chilli, with seeds
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red onion
