assassination custard

Getting to Know Fez by its Food

2012-01-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

It’s the second biggest city in Morocco, and it is the country’s culinary capital. Armed with a cook book rather than a guide book, KEN DOHERTY explored the exotic sights, sounds and tastes of Fez

THE BOOK NEVER mentioned the hot tiles of the hammam that sizzled against your skin. Nor the friendly gentleman who, with a slight glint, offered his services in everything from the abrasive art of scrubbing and pulling your body till it felt like someone else’s, to the relative relief of dousing your already overheated skull with a bucket of scalding water.

It was a classic food book, as essential a mosaic to understanding the ancient city of Fez as Ulysses is to Dublin. Although the social customs of eating are explored in exhaustive depth, unsurprisingly it’s a bit thin on the etiquette and mores of sauna politics.

We were on our own, but with Traditional Moroccan Cooking leading us by the hand, at least we would eat well. As we coasted over the meticulously ordered patchwork of green fields, we could have been mistaken for thinking the aircraft was flying over the more lush and pastoral countryside of northern Europe. It was late spring and the oppressive heat had yet to scorch and cull nature’s less hardy elements. Although holiday anticipation might lead to suspension of any previously held critical faculties, there was no denying it was bloom time in Morocco and we were geared to fall under its spell. This was an Arab Spring of a different kind.

We booked a short stay in one the many traditional riads or dars, a traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard, dotted throughout the city.

Since Fez – the oldest, continuously working medina in the Islamic world – was declared a Unesco world heritage site, there has been a scramble to restore mosques, fundouks (inns) and private homes in the city. Government grants have helped locals and foreigners spruce up the crumbling medieval centre. This quiet revolution in building and restoring has been taking place since the early 1980s.

Those tiring of the hedonism and intensity of Marrakesh are heading north to a metropolis that for centuries has been the spiritual, cultural and – of most importance for myself, partner and nine-month old daughter (although she doesn’t know it yet) – the culinary centre of Morocco.

Before low-cost airlines threatened to unravel the arcane soul of its dense and tangled streets, a recipe book, written more than 50 years ago, has done just that.

Traditional Moroccan Cooking: Recipes from Fes by Madame Guinaudeau sought to copperfasten the ancient city’s food heritage before it became corrupted by any outside influence, although she was a foreigner herself. In doing so, she revealed not only the mouth-watering secrets of an often impenetrable city, but also created a vivid document championing human endeavour and ambition. The city, its people and Fassi cuisine jump off the pages. It was the perfect companion.

A quick internet search tailored to our likes (food, authenticity, baby friendly, central) and up popped a gem. The boutique riad Le Jardin des Biehn was perfect for our stay. A vast overgrown and mosaic tiled Andalucian garden heady with the scent of citrus, roses and hibiscus was an ideal playground for our daughter, who was just learning that forward motion on all fours would make things happen far more speedily.

The riad was central in the medina, but not too far in, where the streets become so small and winding they don’t have names. Rumour had it that the staff were wonderful, and indeed they were. What we really signed up for though, was the riad’s own restaurant, Fes Cafe, a place that Madame Guinaudeau might recognise, but not frown upon its more contemporary flourishes. We ate crayfish bastilla, lamb chops and artichoke pizza on different nights.

Most meals were taken in the garden, which came alive after dark, with all manner of mysterious tweets and rustles, a symphony that was accompanied by the haunting and beautiful call to prayer, the sounds of which seemed to pirouette from one of the many hundreds of minarets and become one thrilling celestial reverberation.

The oldest part of the medina, where you will probably spend most of your time getting lost, is essentially made up of two main streets – Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira – that plough headlong down through the swarming souks to the university (the world’s oldest) and the main mosque.

At certain times of the day, there was such a swirl of people joining these streets from the thousands of others that if you stood still for an instant, the momentum and density of the crowd would carry you to your destination, feet hovering just above the ground. Most routes from here lead to the ancient tanneries, where even if you got lost, the smell (think rotten eggs) will tell you that you are heading in the right direction.

These dusty streets and alleyways were where Madame Guinaudeau would have spent her time observing life that has changed very little before or since. “There is constant cries of Balek, Balek; buying, selling, discussing; children pushing and crying; great jars of oil being carried home; donkeys stumbling along; proud distant students passed by hurrying craftsmen; mingled smells-spices, oil, jasmine and orange blossom, remains of stale vegetables and datura. Thick dust makes a hell of the hot, crowded street.” Her words could have been written yesterday.

Most of the food in the medina was served in tiny rooms facing the street, furnished with nothing more than formica or plastic tables and wobbly unmatched chairs. Lamb brochettes, tagines or steaming bowls of bessara (dried fava bean) soup were the order of the day. Don’t haggle over the price, it’s cheap. Mint tea is ubiquitous. Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy all manner of treats. Honey-drenched beignets, cinnamon and sugar-dusted briouats filled with sweet rice and the famous almond stuffed M’hanncha or snake. “Believe me that this is food for the gods”, Madame Guinaudeau wrote.

If cities are representative of human ambition, then Fez is the model city. It is an intoxicating mix of artisanship, intellectualism and spirituality. It is a sprawling antithesis to blandness and conformity.

We came armed with an eloquent cookbook to usurp an ancient cuisine. We left a little more knowledgeable about its rich gastronomic traditions and more enlightened about the intricacies, durability and energy of a living, breathing medieval city. We will be back.

FEZ: Where to . . .

STAY

Le Jardin des Biehn, Maison d’hôtes, 13, Akbat Sbaa, Douh, 30200, Fez Medina, 00-212-664647679, jardindesbiehn.com

EAT

Medina Cafe, 6 Derb Mernissi, Bab Boujloud, Fez Medina, 00-212-535-633430. Near one of the main gates into the medina, this small restaurant serves all the classics including bistilla (pigeon pie), kefte tagine with eggs, and couscous with vegetables. Eat on the roof terrace above the din of the city.

Cafe Clock, 7 Derb el Magana, Talaa Kbira, Fez Medina, 00-212-535-637855, cafeclock.com. Mike Richardson, former maitre d’ of the Wolseley and the Ivy, has given the medina an unconventional meeting point for expats and locals. Famous for its camel burgers.

Fez Et Gestes, 39 Arsat El Hamoumi, Fez, 00-212-535-638532, fes-et-gestes.ma, Romantic riad where seasonal salads and tagines are served in a candlelit courtyard.

GETTING THERE

There are no direct scheduled flights from Dublin to Fez. You can fly with Aer Lingus or Ryanair into one of Barcelona’s three airports from Dublin or Cork. You can then take a connecting flight with Ryanair from Girona to Fez. Ryanair also offers flights from London Stansted to Fez.

Published in the Irish Times on 07/01/12

Truffles are no trifling matter

2010-12-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

Someone once said that a good year for wine is a bad year for truffles. Something to do with a sufficient amount of rain satisfying the grape but sadly not enough to yield a crop of truffles. As we strolled around the pretty cobbled streets of Alba in northwest Italy – the go-to town for the truffle-nut – it looked like a bumper year for the musty fungal.

The town was overcome with truffle triumphalism. Every other shop window was festooned with the real thing or jokey simulacrums to excite the tourists. Having only tasted black truffles, and this being the truffle season, it was the pungency of its white relation that we were after. It started with a plan. The family, two adults and a baby, would, on a tour of the fertile north of Italy, make their way to the food and wine rich trinity of Gavi, Asti and Alba. Setting off from our base at a wonderful agriturismo (countryside BB), we would gobble as much of the region’s culinary specialities as we could.

As the bus rumbled its way up the narrow roads towards the village of Gavi in Piemonte, we sensed a treat in store. Gavi doesn’t just rely on its spectacular setting to woo you in. Its sumptuous vistas are a close second to its main draw. People make the pilgrimage to this tiny hamlet to experience its famous sweet and acidic white wines. We came for both.

Most of its wineries are just outside the town and, since we were car-free and baby-tied, we explored its medieval centre on foot. Its compact and charmingly dilapidated streets and buildings were quiet by late afternoon. On its main drag we stumbled into Antico Caffe Del Moro, pasticceria-bar-canteen-ice cream parlour and breast feeding refuge all rolled into one. We quickly fell prey to the proprietor’s big-hearted welcome and were given an introductory lesson to the intricacies of viniculture in Gavi.

After a quick feed from her mammy, all this nattering had a soporific effect on the baby. We were afforded a few tastings of what the Gavi vintage (from the Cortese grape) and its regional wines had to offer. This braced us for one of the many decent walks around the town.

Asti was different. It bristles with a more rugged atmosphere, especially during the twice weekly outdoor market days. Traders set up stall every Wednesday and Saturday in Campo del Palio but disappear by late afternoon. When we arrived at noon it was in full flow.

Amid all the cheaply-made threads and kitchen paraphernalia there is a wonderful food market that spoke of the season we were in. Stalls heaving with knobbly mushrooms, voluptuous squash and sultry plums made our bellies rumble.

The banter between stall holders and customers was imbued with typical Italian feeling – wildly gestating hands performing in the narrowest personal space possible. And for those who like to overturn historical myths and inaccuracies, the square is spiked with significance. Every September it hosts a bareback horse race similar to the famous Palio in Siena, Tuscany. But wait. In Asti, they claim their race is at least 300 years older!

Alba has the confident air of a regional capital. Situated in the rolling hills of the Langhe, it’s hemmed in by the vineyards that produce the famous Barolo, Barbera and Barbaresco wines. From the bus stop it’s only a short walk to the old town. We noticed that if your appetite wasn’t sated by wine and truffles, you could always undergo some retail therapy in its many expensive designer boutiques.

It was getting late and we were the ones who might need clinical gastronomic therapy if we didn’t see some truffle action soon. We skipped into Vincafe on Via Vittorio Emanuele and were not disappointed. The place was buzzing.

We started with some silky lardo (pure cured pork fat) that sweetly lined our stomachs for what was to come. I swear I could hear the drums roll as our truffle dishes made their way from the kitchen. Both dishes, baked eggs ( cocotte con tartufo bianco ) and pasta ( tagliarini con tartufo ) were decorated with wisps of white truffle. The price did make the eyes water but what the hell, I now understand why a lot of chefs choose it as a death row last meal.

Gavi, Asti and Alba are repositories of all that is good about Italy. Fantastic food, unforgettable scenery and a genuinely warm welcome. So make your way to this part of the peninsula, hardly undiscovered, but a region steeped in such significant culinary lore it can only be a gift that keeps on giving.

published in Irish Times on 24/12/10

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2010/1224/1224286199156.html

Quince, Apple and Cardamom Jam

2010-11-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

Enigmatic and curvacious, quinces enter the food fray every October and November. Get hold of the knobbly and weighty wonders to add still-life inspiration and fragrance to the kitchen or cook a batch to make membrillo (Spanish paste for cheese) or quince aioli. Poached, roasted or tucked into meaty stews and tagines are other typical ways of using up a glut, but a jam with the warming spice of cardamom is just about the best.

1kg quinces
250g apples
900g sugar
10 cardamom pods
lemon juice
water

Peel and core the quinces. Reserve these bits and pop the whole quinces in water with a little lemon juice to stop discolouration. Put the peel and core in a pan just covered with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about and hour. Meanwhile, strain the quinces and chop them into small pieces. Strain the peel and core pan and mix the syrup with the chopped quinces. Add the sugar, lightly crushed cardamom pods, roughly chopped apples and enough water so as the fruits are just revealing themselves. Cook till the fruit is soft and mushy. Pack into sterilized jars. Great with ice-cream, cream cheese or yogurt.
This recipe is adapted from the wonderful 'Persia in Peckham' cookbook.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

'Under Wood Milk', Trattoria da Maria, Genova

2010-10-15T17:21:00.000-07:00

Mushroom Hunt, Avondale house, Co. Wicklow

2010-10-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

Le Chateaubriand, Paris

2010-02-22T13:28:00.000-08:00

The shock of the stew

2010-02-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

When French new wave film maker Francois Truffaut asked fellow director Alfred Hitchcock about a dream project that he might one day complete, the British auteur replied that the life cycle of a fruit or vegetable from field to fork was a journey that might receive his unique cinematic treatment. The master of the macabre would surely have, apart from pre-empting our modern fascination with the provenance of our food, been extremely interested in foods gruesome demise in the hands of Irish hospitals catering departments.

Of the recent fallout and huge public distrust in the health service the one area that seems immune to any real change is hospital food and catering. A sort of culinary elephant in the room. A recent survey by Rate my Hospital, the Irishhealth.com's Michelin type guide to the winners (some) and losers (more) in the kitchen gongs, revealed that 40% of patients and their relatives thought hospital food and service was 'below par'. And a patient survey, carried out by the Healthcare Commission in England, has revealed that a massive 81% of people were dissatisfied to some extent with the food on offer in hospitals.

In fact anybody who has the rotten luck to end up in hospital at all has the extra misfortune of encountering its food. The usual cast of characters make their sorry appearance on hospital menus. But of course it is how they are utilized that makes their appearance so sterile and flacid.
Amid the gristle and gruel, the overcooked and the uninspired surely there is an institutional beacon that respects both food and patients alike?

Although the cooking of food doesn't bear much relation to how much it costs, most people would agree that a slighter higher budget would improve the overall quality and choice to patients. But with continuing budget cuts across the health sector it seems enlightened attitudes regarding more funding for hospital kitchens are to be shelved. However in Cornwall a success story has galvanised the public into thinking of a more sanguine future.

The Cornwall Food Programme (with a little help from the Soil Association), which is run at three different Cornish hospitals, aims to increase the “amount of fresh locally produced and organic food to patients, visitors and staff.” And apart from “boosting the local economy” and “cutting down on carbon emissions”, by all accounts, the food is'nt half bad either. What is remarkable about the food programme is that it all comes within the NHS/government food budget of £2.50 per patient that has lead to an “increased turnover” and all round feel good factor for the local population and economy including the “local farmers and food companies.”

The Cornwall Food Programme, run by the Cornwall NHS Hospital Trust, is doing what 'Jamie's Dinner's' did for canteen food in schools but without the celebrity zeal. But while Jamie replaced the dreaded 'turkey twizzlers' with something far more wholesome it was still catering on a large scale. In Cornwall, with organic and local to the fore, a sense of intimacy and respect for food has been acknowledged. Roy Heath, the Sustainable Food Development Manager at the Cornwall Food Programme said the need for re-evaluating the role of hospital food in the south west of England came about by his boss, the head of the Cornwall Hospital Trust, who felt compelled to act on a grievence of one particular patient. “It was the concept of my Boss Mike Pearson. A patient (in one of the Cornwall hospitals) saw a sandwich that had travelled 300 miles and asked why we were buying sanwiches that came from Oxford? He wanted to find local companies who could make sanwiches. (The idea of) having local milk, yogurt, vegetables and cheese was not driven by the government but by us. It was very logical.”

The government in Britain, however, has been slow to see the benefits that the programme has brought to the south coast of England, worried that the needs (i.e. bigger kitchens, specifically trained chefs) of the hospitals are far too great to invest in. But paradoxically, like a lot of hospital kitchens in Britain and Ireland where the kitchens are so small that the food is usually outsourced, the food in the Cornwall Food Programme's three hospitals are prepared off-site and cooked in mobile units. “The hospitals don't have kitchens, they have mobile fridges and ovens on wheels”(or Recove trolleys), says Roy Heath.

Although conventional kitchens with real working chefs who chop, dice, pluck and gut should always be top of any hospital agenda the reality is far more complex for institutions with little or no kitchen space. “Its about us being innovative. All food and dishes are designed for the regeneration process . Its a varied menu with dietary elements”, remarks Heath. He uses the example of freezing sponges for cakes. These sponges are easily re-heated in a Recove trolley, almost on demand and that cabbage and kale are ideal for freezing also.

The paucity of fresh and local produce in most hospitals, unfortunately, is not enough to provoke largescale ire among patients and the public. In Cornwall however the umbiblical chord from farmer/producer to patients in hospital beds is one that doesn't look likely to be severed anytime soon. Roy Heath has seen the benifits first hand. “What do patients like? People in Cornwall like food they can relate too, like the fish is local and the beef comes from the South West. That is very reassurring.”

The catering department in Irish hospitals have a reticent ally in the government. The less government meddling and involvement with food the more likely we are to accept its fate as something peripheral to our lives.

There is no doubt that giving patients better and tastier food would speed up the recovery process. But if patients aren't inspired by whats on offer and reject the food either physically or psycologically there will be an obvious slow down in the rehabilitation process. Hospitals will tell you that all their food and cooking adhere to all the nutritional guidelines, but somewhere along the line our fascination with diet and nutrition has become more important than the pleasures of eating and taste.
Nutritionist Paula Mee agrees. "This is not really a nutrition issue – they may be following the nutrition guidelines drafted by the government but its how they execute it – that is how and when the food is prepared and cooked that has an enormous bearing on the palatability, look, and taste of the food. Mee sees the advance preparation of food as a stumbling block for any nutritious value “Even if you start with top quality fresh ingredients, preparing food in advance to cater for large numbers can leave it nutritionally compromised”, she says.
Besides how much nutrition can a carrot or broccoli have once its inherent usefulness have all been cooked out of it?

Roy Heath would dread a return to the, fairly recent, dark old days. “Some of the food was good but some was dire. Yogurts were dire, the icecream was like wall paper paste. Contracts were hampered by money. (We now) have fish cakes using sustainable local fish and cornish potatoes. And the fish supplier makes the fish cakes to our own recipe. We control the salt.”

Projects like the Cornwall Food Programme, with their ethos based around the idea of sustainability and awareness of the local community, may seem a long way off over here but with the recent public mobilization and huge interest in animal welfare, organic and local growing and the allotment movement we can remain cautiously encouraged that that energy will trickle down, or possible up, to the powers that be. Whether Alfred Hitchcock would have made a suspenseful and ghastly mystery out of it is another matter.

http://www.cornwallfoodprogramme.co.uk/

Hospital Food Blogger.

The Blog, Notes from a hospital Bed is an irreverent look at, among other things, the culinary tribulations of a bed-bound journalist, Traction Man, as he negotiates the NHS's daily kitchen menu. The self confessed 'Poor Sod' asks us to ponder what the effect of using your soup spoon to eat your pudding has such matters of taste. "Not necessarily a bad thing, depending on the unpleasantness of the dessert". He queries his 'last supper' of cream of vegetable soup before an operation. "I would have thought a condemned man might have been able to choose something a bit special like a juicy steak, guinea fowl or humming bird tongues in aspic, but, in the NHS, it appears not". And questions the ubiquites nature of that liquer blanket we call Custard. "There to keep old people hydrated. Old people may not drink water but they lap up custard like a cat". His posts, accompanied by his own, sometimes goulish, photographs, will come as no surprise to anyone who has had to undergo the turmoil of an overnight stay in hospitals over here.

http://hospitalnotes.blogspot.com

This is an extended version of an article that was first published in the Irish Examiner on 19/02/10.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Mackerel Escabeche

2009-09-24T09:13:00.000-07:00

For a fish that is often overlooked mackerel has a physical beauty the likes of cod or salmon can only dream of. Their handsome shape perfectly in tune to the rhythms of the sea. And freshly caught, their oily skin shimmers in natural light. The problem is that mackerel should be eaten as fresh as possible. Too long on a fishmongers slab and their allure soon fades. But if you can't eat it fresh pickle it. A good way of preserving makerel is to make a Spanish escabeche. The fish is first poached, or fried, then immersed in a tangy vinegar. Great with some grilled sourdough.

Ingredients

4 fresh mackerel, filleted
200mls tarragon Vinegar
100ml water
1 small glass of white wine
150gs sugar
1 red onion
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 tumeric
olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tbls raisins

Heat some olive oil in a large pan big enough to fit the Mackerel fillets. When hot carefully slide the fish in, skin side down. After about 1 minute turn over and cook the other side for the same amount of time.Take out and drain on some kitchen paper. Cook the chopped onion in the oil until soft and coloured. Just at the end add some chopped garlic and dried chilli flakes. Drain and reserve the oil. Put the vinegar, water, wine, sugar and spices into a pot, bring to the boil and reduce a little. Add the raisins and season. Place the mackerel in a sterilized jar and pour over onions and the hot pickling liquor. Seal, let it cool and pop in the fridge. Eat cold or at room temperature.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Bar, Seville

2009-09-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jaggery Spread

2009-09-18T03:47:00.000-07:00

Jaggery or gur is one of those food items that comes cloaked in a little mystery. For the record, its unrefined sugar from the jaggery palm. Cooking with it gives food a molasses or caramel type quality. Usually used in desserts but equally good in savoury dishes chiseled from the block it comes in. This recipe is from journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's The Settlers Cookbook her memoir on the little known Ugandan-Indian diaspora that settled and prospered in East Africa in the 19th century until Idi Amin expelled them in the 1970s after the military coup.

Ingredients

4 tbls Jaggery
4 tbls Butter

Heat up equal amounts of jaggery and butter. As soon as it starts to sizzel take off the heat. Immediately spread over warm chapatis or stir into a freshly made dhal. If the spread is left to cool for about 20 minutes it will turn into a delicious fudge to accompany some tea.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Date Pickle

2009-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

For Muslim's breaking their fast during Ramadan, Phoenix Dactylifera, dates to you and me, are a good source of energy and will slowly help restart the digestive process back to its pre-fasting norm. This pickle uses both the fresh kind and the dried. The fresh taste a little like a sweet coconut apple and the dried have that unique sticky and cloying moreishness.
Popular in Iran and Iraq this gooey pickle is great with fried or scrambled eggs or as a bracing accompaniment to cheese.

Ingredients

500g fresh and dried dates
150g sumac
200g tamarind brick
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
juice of 2 lemons

Seperately, soak the Sumac and tamarind in a little water overnight. Stone the fresh and dried dates and soak them foe a few hours. Then roughly chop them. Add the strained tamarind and sumac, the rest of the spices and the lemon juice. Spoon all the lovely gooeyness into sterilized jars and keep in a cool place. The fridge is a little too cool and the mixture has a tendancy to crystallize but the pickle will probably last longer if refrigerated.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Pear Relish

2009-09-03T11:34:00.000-07:00

Pomologist Edward Bunyard believed that “the duty of an apple to be crisp and crunchable, but a pear should have such a texture as leads to silent consumption”.
The new season pears will be ready for harvesting soon. So if you want to encounter a little of that “silent consumption” let them ripen for a few days after being picked. Or better still pickle them to make a zingy relish. This is great with some seriously strong cheese like an Italian Gorgonzola or our own Milleens from the craggy wilds of the Beara Peninsula.
This is adapted from a recipe by food writer and chef Skye Gyngell.

Ingredients

2 pears
1 apple
2 tablespoons currants
2 tbls barberries
50ml raspberry vinegar (or cider vinegar)
cinnamon stick
25g butter
2 tbls sugar
few sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper.

Soak the dried fruit in some warm water. Core and chop the pears and apple into small dice. Melt the butter in a pan, add the fruit and cook until starting to soften. Add all the other ingredients (except the salt and pepper) and cook for a further 5 to 8 minutes. Remove the cinnamon and season if necessary. Store in a sterilized jar.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Hibiscus Iced Tea

2009-08-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

Dried edible flowers are a surprisingly aromatic addition to the canon of preservation.
The dried leaves and petals of the hibiscus flower make for a particularly tasty iced tea that is drunk all over North Africa and the Middle East. Soaking the leaves in hot water brings out the unique flavour of the flower, that is similiar to a more lemony cranberry juice. Once soaked the ruby petals leech a blood red colour into the water which depending, of course, on how sweet your tooth is needs sugar to offset the flowers tartness.
I picked up these Hibiscus leaves (Karkade in Arabic) in the vibrant food market in Toulon, in the South of France, where the atmosphere echoed the distinct bustle of a North African souk.
And if the health benifits of food is more your bag, well, hibiscus has been known to reduce blood pressure and help with weight loss.

Ingredients

50g dried hibiscus flowers (Karcade)
1½litres hot water
225g sugar

Soak the dried hibiscus in boiling water then add in the sugar. Stir to dissolve. After about 3 hours strain the liquid, pour into sterilized bottles, and refrigerate. Serve with ice.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Blackberry Gin

2009-08-20T06:37:00.001-07:00

Can a more profound and intimate relationship with our food be had than to be seen foraging in prickly brambles on the side of our roads?
A gentle introduction into to the world of wild foods is to pick the first blackberries of the season along the many uncultivated hedgrows and bushes around the country.
Once you become a nibbler of all things wild the temptation to become a full-time gatherer might be too hard to resist particularly when late summer and autumn promise such rich pickings.
This Blackberry Gin was inspired by Pam Corbin's Sloe Gin recipe in the River Cottage preserves handbook.

ingredients

1kg Blackberries
900mls gin
450 sugar

Tumble the freshly picked blackberries into a large glass container or jar, pour over the gin and add the sugar. Stir the ingredients together and leave for the next month and a half to two months. Taste, and once the blackberries have instilled their flavour its ready. Strain the blackberry and gin mixture through a fine sieve. Pour the liqueur in sterilised bottles.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Papaya Chutney

2009-08-13T03:31:00.000-07:00

Our anxieties over the provenance of our food and how far it has travelled will not be eased until the likes of citrus fruits, mangos and papayas grow this far north of the equator. Judging by July’s deluge that seems a long way off. So make use of the abundance of papayas from the many Asian delis around the country. This classic chutney, adapted from Simon Parkes’ and Udit Sarkhel’s cookbook The Calcutta Kitchen, is a delectable introduction to the cuisine of West Bengal.

It is usually served at weddings as a rite of passage, after a hot curry, along with poppadoms.

Ingredients

1kg Papayas

A walnut sized piece of seedless tamarind and/or 1 tbsp tamarind paste

2 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

1 medium sized mango

2 tbsp groundnut oil

Teaspoon mustard powder

Tsp mustard seeds

100g raisins

6 medium sized chillies, chopped

100g sugar

Salt

1 tbsp flour

Peel the papayas, de-seed them and cut them into bit-sized chunks. Soak the tamarind in about 350mls of water, then rub through a sieve to extract the thick pulp and add the liquid. Add some tamarind paste, if you wish, for extra tamarind-ness. Blend the ginger and mango together to a paste. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and powder. When the seeds start to pop, add the raisins. When the raisins balloon, add the papaya and the sugar. Stir for a few minutes then add the tamarind pulp and liquid and salt to taste. Make sure there is enough water to cover. Simmer for about 8 to 10 minutes or until the papaya is just starting to break down. Dissolve the flour in a little water. Add to the pot and stir continuously to avoid lumps. Juts before removing from the heat add the ginger and mango paste. Cool, put into sterilized jars and refrigerate. Best served at room temperature.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Raspberry Vinegar

2009-08-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

The raspberry, the first soft fruit of summer, deserves a transformation other than to mere jam. A raspberry vinegar perfectly captures late summers giddy sweetness. Initially used to combat coughs, colds and even flatulence raspberry vinegar is now a useful store cupboard standby for splashing into soups, drizzled over savoury tarts and added to meat and red wine sauces for extra piquancy. A few spoonfuls into a glass of champagne or cava makes for a refreshing aperitif.

500g raspberries

400g sugar

150ml white wine vinegar

150ml cider vinegar

Lemon juice.

Soak the raspberries in the mixture of white wine vinegar and cider vinegar for two to three days. Then overnight strain this mixture in a muslin cloth or a fine sieve. Add the sugar to the resulting liquid. Heat gently for about five minutes until the sugar dissolves. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and cool. Pour into long, thin sterilised bottles and seal.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

recipes! read all about it

2009-08-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

follow the recipes here and in Metro Eireann every week.
A sort of peoples larder. Pickled and preserved. Check the archive for older recipes.

http://www.metroeireann.com/articles/recipes

Ful Medames

2009-08-05T05:10:00.000-07:00

Broad beans have the reputation of being a cosseted bunch of legumes. These kidney-shaped beans, sheltered away in their furry pods, seem indifferent to our demands. But we will forgive their apparent aloofness as we are won over by their sweet and bitter nuttiness.

Fresh broad beans are great eaten raw or only very lightly blanched and simply drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and topped with shaved pecorino cheese.
Ful medames, a little like hummus, is almost the national dish of Egypt and variations of it are eaten all over the Middle East. The broad beans for this recipe were picked up at Sonairte organic farm and ecology centre near Laytown in Co Meath. If you drop everything and hurry, you may catch the last of this season’s crop.

Ingredients:
250g broad beans
5 large tomatoes
1/4 tsp cumin seeds or powder
Olive oil
1 lemon
3 tbsp tahini (optional)
3 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Sumac

Pod the broad beans and with the larger ones remove their jackets, then set aside. Cut the tomatoes into quarters and add to a frying pan with the olive oil and cumin seeds. Cook gently until the tomatoes break down, then add the thinly sliced garlic and broad beans. Cook for a further ten minutes.
Meanwhile put the tahini into a bowl with some water to make a wet paste. Add some lemon juice. Take the pan with the tomatoes and broad beans off the heat and after a few minutes add the tahini and mix well. Season and add a little more lemon juice, olive oil and a sprinkling of sumac to serve. Best served hot with some flatbread.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Pickled Peaches

2009-07-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Next time you are eating a peach examine the stone nestled deep within its flannel like jacket, encased in pulpy fruit. This succulent summer fruit is a distant relation to the bitter almond and both members of the Rosaceae or Rose family. According to wide-eyed polymath Mark Twain their divergent paths to a fruit and nut was all down to a little nurturing. “Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond."

Fruit poached in a sweet vinegared syrup has always been a lip puckering way of preservation, from Spain to Italy and from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.

Try these pickled peaches with cheddar or blue cheese.

Ingredients

1kg fresh peaches

750 mls red wine vinegar

3 cloves

½ teaspoon mustard powder

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp powdered ginger

250g sugar

¼ tsp black pepper

1 tablespoon of fresh tarragon

2 tbsp barberries

Make the syrup first. In a large pan pour in the wine vinegar followed by the spices, sugar and tarragon. Bring to the boil until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Drop the peaches into boiling water for about a minute or two. Cool under cold water and peel the skin. Be careful when cutting the peach into segments. Bring the syrup back to the boil and drop in the peach segments followed by the barberries. Poach for about 3 or 4 minutes, you want the peaches a little soft but to keep their shape. With a slotted spoon, fish out the peaches. Now boil the liquid till it reduces and becomes a little syrupy. Pack the peaches into sterilised jars and pour over the syrup. It might be difficult but leave for at least a week before trying.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Cherry Compote

2009-07-23T02:16:00.000-07:00

Fruit and alcohol have always been sweet bedfellows. Think plums and brandy, apples and calvados, raisins and sherry and the trinity of peaches, prunes and pears with white or red wine.
And of course, cherries and kirsch are another brilliant saccharine combination.
The small French region of Alsace is famed for its kirsch, a fermented drink made from morello cherries.
The distilled brandy is a vestige from the German Empire’s presence in the region in the late 19th and early 20th century.
This cherry compote is a decadent addition to yogurt or crème fraiche.

Ingredients:
200ml kirsch
250g cherries
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Wash and stone the cherries. Put them in a large saucepan on low to medium heat and add the sugar, cinnamon and a little water. Gently stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to the boil. When the cherries are soft, strain the liquid into another pan and add the kirsch. Boil until the liquid reduces a little. Put the cherries into sterilised jars and pour over the reduced liquid, seal and refrigerate.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Apricot Jam

2009-07-14T10:36:00.001-07:00

For the people of Beit-Jala in Palestine, the apricot is a fruit of longing. According to food writer Christiane Dabdoub Nasser, it is the fruit that most emigrants from this part of the West Bank miss most about their region.
This apricot jam recipe, adapted from Nasser’s Classic Palestinian Cuisine, proves once again foods’ importance in sustaining memory and identity.
The apricots lend themselves well to slow cooking with sugar. The result is a thick and sticky jam with a burnt orange glow that would make even the sun jealous. Serve with toast or yogurt.

Ingredients:
500g fresh apricots
200g sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon or orange

Halve and stone the apricots, put them into a medium-sized pan with the sugar and gently stir so that the sugar coats the fruit and melts.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer for about an hour till it reaches a jammy consistency. Add the lemon or orange juice a few minutes before the end.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

2009-07-13T15:16:00.000-07:00

'We mistook the full moon as a loaf of bread and raised our hands to the sky'......Rumi

Gingered Gooseberry Chutney

2009-07-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

A rather reluctant member of the berry family the gooseberry is a much unloved summer fruit. Its hairy and veiny exterior alone would scare off even the most forgiving berry fanatic. It prefers the relatively milder summers of northern Europe. It's sourness far too teeth-clenching for those looking for a sweeter hit. This Chutney is an excellent way of dealing with a glut of gooseberries that might come your way. Denis Cotter of the great Cafe Paradiso in Cork generously donated his gooseberry chutney recipe to this column. Ginger is the key ingredient and gives the chutney a more eastern inspired flourish. In Paradiso this chutney is served with grilled Haloumi. Also good with grilled fish.

Ingredients

1Kg gooseberries, topped and tailed
100g grated fresh root ginger
½ tsp mixed spice
300g sugar
juice of 2 lemons
Put everything in a pot and simmer for 30-50 minutes until the gooseberries have broken down and the chutney has become thick. Store in sterilized jars.

Ken doherty is a chef and journalist

radish, pecorino salad w/ pomegranate and truffle oil, bocca di lupo, london

2009-06-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Granita

2009-06-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

“A famine of snow, they themselves say, would be more grievous than a famine of either corn or wine.” 18th century author and traveller Patrick Brydone's keen observation indicates not only the importance of chrystalline matter in the development of a cultures cuisine but that this pivotal moment was due in no small part to the arab influence on southern Italian cuisine.
The snow in question is that nestled around Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. The snow provided an icy alchemy for the arabs who used it to make sarbat (later to become granita and sorbets).
Unlike ice cream and sorbets you dont need an ice-cream machine to make granita.
Get hold of the juiciest Irish strawberries to make what could become a regular cooling ingredient in your freezer this summer.
In Sicily Granita are often served, for breakfact, with a dollop of whipped cream alongside warm brioche for dunking.

Ingredients

450g strawberries
400ml water
200g sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Make a stock syrup with the water and sugar (Mix the water till the sugar dissolves). Wash the strawberries and leave them to dry. Blitz them with the lemon juice till you get a pulp. Add the stock syrup and blitz for about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a container and put into the freezer, preferably overnight.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Japanese Sainbaizu Dressing

2009-06-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Umami might sound like the name of a Marvel comic strip character battling to the purge the earth of dark and pernicious forces but along with sweet, salty, bitter and sour it more humbly represents one of the five tastes. According to food scientist Harold McGee bonito fish flakes (katsuobushi), here representing umami, the fifth taste, are “to the Japanese tradition what a concentrated veal stock is to the French.” Umami (translates roughly as delicious or tasty), a natural glutamate, initially found in seaweed by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, enhances and gives body to food.
Parmesan cheese, fish sauce, soy sauce, mushrooms and tomato ketchup also satisfy our umami cravings.
This vinegar dressing gives a welcome fragrance to a wakame and cucumber salad. Deepens and concentrates stocks and soups (Bonito flakes are the key ingredient in Dashi a Japanese stock). Good with quick fried squid, foil baked whole fish and as poaching liquer for fish fillets.

Ingredients

250mls rice wine vinegar.
320mls water
25mls soy sauce.
60g sugar.
dash of mirin.
2 or 3 tablespoons bonito flakes

Bring the rice vinegar, water, sugar, mirin and soy to a boil til the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and stir in the bonito flakes. Leave infuse for about ten minutes. Strain the liquid, bring to the boil again and let it cool. Refrigerate after use.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Sorrel Syrup

2009-06-11T11:38:00.000-07:00

It is not often that a herb comes with both a knockout description and a warning. Sorrel, says Richard Maybey, is “marvellously cool and sharp when raw like young plum skins, but perhaps too acid for some palates”. Although sorrel aids digestion it can be too astringent for some. Its tangy, lemony flavour is due to high levels of ascorbic acid. In fact those with kidney problems should not over-indulge in this spinach-like perennial. In Jamaica red sorrel is used to make a refreshing cold drink. Common sorrel, no relation to Jamaican, is a good substitute and is avaliable here for most of this, so far glorious, summer.

Ingredients

Cut or tear the sorrel leaves and put them in a pot with enough water to barely cover. Add the star anise and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about ten minutes. Take the pot off the heat, cool and infuse overnight. The next day strain the liquid into a clean pot, add the sugar or honey (the sweeter the better), lemon juice and the ginger powder (if are using fresh ginger cut into thin slices and add them to the simmering sorrel at the beginning). Boil the liquid again until the sugar dissolves and it reduces a little. Strain again if using powdered ginger, pour into strerilised jars and refrigerate. Dilute and serve with sparkling water, champagne, cava or prosecco.

1 kg Sorrel
2 tablspoons ginger
1 star anise
1 Lemon
Sugar or honey
water

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Persian Carrot Jam

2009-06-04T11:34:00.000-07:00

Those used to lathering their toast with marmalaide, honey, strawberry and rasberry jam will, of course, scoff at the notion of eating carrots first thing in the morning. But this unusual jammy delight should appeal to all those with the sweetest tooth. This recipe was inspired by a recent trip to the Persian emporium Persepolis, in Peckham, south London, run by Sally Butcher and her husband Jamshid. Sour cherries sit alongside dried whey balls, herbs and spices nestle alongside dried limes and rose petals and, no doubt, if it can be pickled and preserved they will have it. Videos, cds, musical instruments and rugs give the shop a more bazaar feel. Freshly baked (in Tehran!) pastries and sweets decorate the window and would tempt most passers by.
We left with our wallets lighter, our bags heavier, a badge proclaiming 'I love Peckham' and a sense that a little known cuisine had been enthusiastically shared to total strangers. Its that sort of shop.
A recent book 'Persia in Peckham: Recipes from Persepolis' can only add to our understanding of Iran's rich culinary legacy.
This jam is great spread on hot toast or mixed into plain yogurt. Also interesting as an accompaniment to grilled fish or added to chicken or lamb casseroles.

Ingredients

600g carrots.
300ml water.
400g sugar.
1 dried lime.
1 lemon
1 tablespoon rose water
Peel the carrots and grate or julliene them into small strips. Mix the sugar with the water and bring to the boil. Add the carrots, lemon juice and dried lime and simmer until the carrots are cooked and the jam thickens. Add the rosewater at the end. Pour the jam into a liquidizer and blitz until you get a pulpy fruity mess. This gives the jam a more spreadable quality. Pack into sterilized jars and refrigerate. Best used within a couple of months.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Honeyed Walnuts

2009-05-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

According to Pliny the Elder “Cattle that have eaten poisonous honey throw themselves to the ground, seeking to cool their bodies which are running with sweat.” Apart from the bizzare imagery the chances of poisoning anyone, let alone cattle with honey, seem remote. Maybe its an ancient human smear campaign against the phenomenon of bees and their complex and dilligent work ethic. The hardworking summer bee swoops from flower to flower gorging on liquid necter that results in a miraculous sticky and sweet ambrosia. Syrups are a useful way of combining flavours that like to mingle with honey including spices, orange blossom, rosewater and lemons. Nuts preserved in honey are a particular favourite of the South of France. Walnuts, which turn rancid fairly quickly, are best smoothered in a honey syrup. Add honeyed walnuts to yogurt, muesli and ice-cream. Use as a filling for tarts or for a sweet crunch with pecorino cheese.

Ingredients

350g clear honey.
450g walnuts.
1 lemon.
½ medium sized cinnamon stick.
Water.
Lightly toast the walnuts in a frying pan for a few minutes. Set aside and cool. Put 500mls of water in a pan with the honey, cinnamon stick, lemon juice and rind. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer to get a good syrupy consistency. Tip the walnuts into the syrup and mix. Immediately transfer everything to two 250g sterilized jars.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Crispy Pigs Cheek, Dandelion and Mustard. St. John, Bread and Wine, London.

2009-05-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

Asparagus with Paprika Alioli

2009-05-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

To miss the short Irish asparagus season would be to risk incuring the wrath of mother nature. A myth, if there was one, would show that if the current asparagus season was missed the following one would yield zero. These glorious green spears, are criminally undervalued here and with the season, if you are lucky, lasting from the end of April to the end of June any you can get hold of should be consumed with relish. Ideally eaten as soon as they are plucked from the ground before losing their natural sugars. Simply blanched and dipped into a fiery Catalan mayonnaise makes for a great shared starter. Ok, all together now, 'Im Asparagus!'

Ingredients

6 garlic cloves.
300ml olive oil.
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar.
1 egg yolk.
½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
Salt.
Crush the garlic and salt to a paste with the top of a knife, transfare to a bowl and add the egg yolk and vinegar. Slowly whisk in the olive oil till you get a thick consistency. Gently mix in the sweet paprika.
The asparagus does'nt need much cooking. Snap off the hard bottoms (they could be used later for a stockpot). If they are particularly large cut them into two and blanch in boiling water for about a minute or two. To stop the cooking process refresh under cold water, drain and serve with alioli on the side. Alternatively cook the asparagus on a griddle pan for about seven or eight minutes, turning occasionaly. Eat immediately sprinkled with flakes of Maldon sea salt.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist.

Sweet Aubergine Relish

2009-05-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

Its almost as if cooking was invented for the likes of the aubergine. The most mysterious and misunderstood of the night shade family the aubergine becomes, in pickles and relishes, a great carrier of flavour. This preserve is somewhere between an Indian relish or pickle and an Italian caponata. Great as a side with curry's and stews or add to pasta for an eastern twist. The fruity and spicy element are a great accompaniment for sandwiches in need of a lift.

Ingredients

2 medium sized aubergines.
1 red onion.
10 grams of fresh ginger, chopped.
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced.
½ teaspoon of mustard powder.
½ teaspoon of mustard seeds.
½ teaspoon of dried chillies.
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.
1 teaspoon of coriander.
1 teaspoon of tumeric.
Olive oil.
2 tablespoons of tomato puree.
30g Sultanas.
30g pinenuts.
120ml red wine vinegar.
30ml port.
1 tablespoon of muscovado sugar.
Cut the aubergines into small chunks. Put them in an oven proof dish drissled with a little olive oil and some sea salt. Mix together so the aubergines are coated in the oil. Roast in the oven at about 170 degrees til browned and soft. Meanwhile fry the spices, in a medium sized pot, to release their aroma. Add the onion and a little more oil and fry till soft. For the last minute of frying add the chopped garlic and chilli flakes. If too dry add some more oil at this point. Drain the soaked sultanas and mix with the onions and spices. Pour the red wine vinegar and port into the pot with a little muscovado sugar and on a low heat and let it reduce and thicken. Add the aubergines and toasted pinenuts and cook for a further ten minutes. The relish should be sweet, sour and spicy. Transfer to sterlized jars and once opened keep in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Labneh

2009-05-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

You dont need a long white coat and a blue hair net to make cheese. Yoghurt, a muslin and a little time should be sufficient. By making your own cheese you become a producer of food with a sense of mystery and no less alchemy. By straining the whey from yogurt it becomes a lot thicker with a hint of sourness that places it somewhere between yogurt and cheese.
The Middle Eastern Labneh is great dappled among sweet roasted vegetables or placed like thick snowy peaks on bulgar and couscous salads. It can be formed into little balls, stored in strerilized jars and topped with olive oil. These cheese balls can be rolled with fresh herbs or spices. They make a great addition to slow roast lamb or beef. For a dip mix it with mashed smoked garlic. Add swirls of honey or fresh fruit for an early morning sweet kick or a refreshing after dinner soother.

Ingredients

500g Greek Yoghurt
½ teaspoon Sea Salt
In a bowl mix the salt with the yogurt. Scoop the yoghurt out and into a muslin cloth, tie up and hang over a bowl to catch the whey (which can be discarded later). Alternatively the yogurt can be strained through a fine sieve. Leave for at least 24 hours or longer if you want the cheese to have a firmer set.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Anchovies with Cime di Rapa

2009-04-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

Great foods should have a sense of mystery: From sweet Spanish hams to the fragrant wheels of Parmesan cheese, from the fruity drama of figs and pomegranates to the alluring nightshades of aubergines and peppers. Stretching from Spain and North Africa to Italy and the Middle East tinned and jarred food have a glorious reputation not just as a store cupboard staple but as a mysterious and evocative link to the mediterraneans shared culture. Tinned anchovies in olive oil are the midnight treat of preserves. They are the base note for many dishes and sauces. Their saltiness compliments the sweet, like onions and tomatoes and they love the company of garlic, butter, lemon, capers and olives. They add complexity to meat, particularly lamb.
Anchovies coating the spring green cime di rapa (turnip tops) makes for a subatantial starter.

Ingredients

Serves 4
100g good quality tinned anchovies
½ chopped red chilli.
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced.
Butter.
olive oil.
Cime di rapa (turnip tops) or purple sprouting broccoli.
Put a good dash of olive oil in a pan, followed by a knob of butter. Add the garlic and chilli and stir for one minute. Pour the anchovies with its oil into the pan. Melt them (sciotte in Italian) till you get a rich unctuous sauce. Meanwhile blanch the cime di rapa in boiling water for one minute to get rid of its slight bitternes. Drain the cime di rape and tip into the sauce. Stir to coat all the leaves. Serve straight way on its own or mixed with orecchiette pasta, traditionaly served with cime di rape in the Puglia region of southern Italy.
If using purple sprouting broccoli, blanch or steam for about 2 minutes before adding to the sauce.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Kimchi

2009-04-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

Food that gets a dedicated museum to honour its importance should be approached with trepidation and no less awe. The Kimchi Museum in Seoul, South Korea, makes it difficult to say anything new about this ancient preserve while at the same time inspiring a devotion few foods can match.
'Kimchi!' is the word Korean's shout, instead of 'cheese!', when getting their picture snapped. The defining characteristic of all Kimchi, apart from the heat, is the sour notes that a few days fermintation brings on. It is commonly used as the centrepiece in an aray of banchan (side dishes) that accompany a main meal.

Ingredients

2 Chinese (Napa) Cabbage
1 small Korean radish
2 tablespoons of Korean chilli powder
1 tbls of Sugar
2 tbls of fresh Ginger
1 head of Garlic
half an Onion
Salt
6 Spring Onions
1 tbls Nam pla fish sauce or anchovy essence (optional)
Rub salt into the cabbage leaves. Leave in a bowl for a few hours till it shrinks to at least half its size. In the meantime make the spice mix. Put the peeled garlic, chopped ginger and onion into a blender with a little water to make a paste. Mix the paste in a bowl with the chilli powder, sugar and sliced spring onion. Thinly slice the radish and add to the chilli paste. Rinse the cabbage under cold water to get rid of the salt. At this stage rubber gloves might come in handy. Mix the paste and cabbage together making sure all the leaves are covered. Put in sterilized jars and press down. There should be enough liquid to cover, if not, add a little water. Leave about 2 inches at the top and seal. Leave to ferment for 3 days and then refrigerate. It will last about 3 weeks. Any longer and the fermination might be too strong for most tastes. Serve cold.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Rhubarb and Rose Water Jelly

2009-04-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Next time you are in a busy restaurant or bar listen out for the rumblings that seem to be a paen to a seasonal herbacious plant. The sound of 'rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb' might be lost on many but foodies would realise that it is perfectly in tune with the seasons. This late spring and early summer edible plant makes for a wonderful jam or conserve but with the added fragrance of rosewater and Persian limes it becomes a more complex and seductive preserve.
This jelly is ideal for adding depth to stews or caseroles, sweetness to game dishes, a filling for tarts or simply serve with ice cream or a dollop of yogurt. In Turkey and Iran something sweet like this would be stirred into tea or coffee.

Ingredients

1 kg Rhubarb.
400 ml water.
Juice and zest of 4 limes.
1 and a half teaspoons of Rose water
For every 300mls of juice add 200g of sugar.
Method
Chop the rhubarb into chunks and add to a pan with the water. Boil until the Rhubarb becomes mushy. Pour this into a muslin over another pan and let the clear juices run out, preferably, over night. Next add, and disolve, the required amount of sugar with the rhubarb juices. Add the rose water, juice and zest of the limes and boil rapidly. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until the jelly reaches a setting consistency. This could take anything from 30 mins to an hour and a half. To test if the jelly has set pour a spoonful onto a cold plate, leave for a minute, and if it wrinkles when touched its set.
Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Preserved Lemons

2009-04-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

As the days get longer and spring strides optimisticly into summer there is one versatile fruit that reminds us of far sunnier climes. Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East enjoy a climate and geology where lemons are in abundance. Fresh lemons, particularly their zest and juices, lift a mundane meal to a more memorable one. Preserved lemons are something else altogether. It would be hard to imagine bulghar and couscous, tagines and Moroccan salads without those zingy complex notes. Their bursts of sunshine would not only be bottled for the leaner months but preservation brings out a particular unique characteristic. They are an easy and worthwhile addition to any larder.
March and April is a good time to pick up some new season Mediteranian lemons from the many Middle Eastern and Indian deli's around the country.

Ingredients

10 small to medium sized unwaxed lemons.
Salt.
Water.
Cut a cross section into the lemons about ¾ the way down so they open like a flower. Fill each lemon with about 2 teaspoons of salt. Close the lemons and pack them tightly into a sterilized jar. Leave for a few days so the salt can draw out some of the natural juices and sugars and they become softer. For the preservation to really start working its magic cover the lemons with a mixture of lemon juice and water. Leave for three to four weeks. They will last for about a year in their preserving juices.

ken doherty is a chef and journalist

Food and Memory: Savouring the Taste of Home

2009-02-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

Ken Doherty takes a tour of some of Dublin’s multitude of ethnic restaurants and shows how for many immigrants, the connection to their culture and traditions is kept alive through the prism of food......

see.....www.metroeireann.com/article/savouring-the-taste-of-home,1669

Calcots, La Boqueria, Barcelona

2009-01-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

La Boqueria, Barcelona

2009-01-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Ismael Kebap, Dublin

2008-12-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

Cafe Paradiso, Cork

2008-08-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Gort na Nain, Cork, August 2008

2008-08-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Gort na Nain, Cork, August 2008

2008-08-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Poppyseed Cheesecake, Good Things Cafe, Durrus, West Cork, July, 2008

2008-07-12T09:54:00.000-07:00