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Last weekend, my family congregated at a restaurant in Edinburgh to celebrate my parents’ diamond wedding anniversary. Good though the meal was, the farewell lunch my mum prepared the next day sparked more in the way of fond reminiscence. With her retro feast of chicken kiev, oven chips and peas, we could almost have been back around our kitchen table 30 years ago (in those days, though, my mum would never have allowed the younger generation to add ketchup).
It’s also the kind of meal that feels apt for the change of season, for the first weeks back at school or work, when everyone’s finding their feet and wants something easy and familiar. Thomasina Miers’ fish fingers and mushy peas fit the bill, too, as does Rowley Leigh’s fish pie and Tim Hayward’s nan’s corned beef, with yet more chips and peas. If all that’s too much of a good thing, my own corned beef hash might appeal instead? For a more specifically Scottish take on that combination, I love Colman Andrews’ idea of adding black pudding to classic mince and tatties (Rachel Roddy’s hearty cheese and chip omelette, meanwhile, would have been brilliant if we’d actually had any chips left over – time may move on, but teenagers don’t change).
In the same vein, Angela Hartnett’s take on sausage and beans has a bit more of an Italian feel than the kind we used to eat from a tin, and Rachel’s rich sausage ragu looks a cut above our own 1990s spag bol; also on the Italian theme, Stanley Tucci’s father’s eggs in tomato sauce (pictured top). But he and Rachel may wish to look away at the mention of Chris Russell’s 1960s-style spaghetti with fried eggs; perhaps a little less authentic, but no less delicious.
Although Chinese restaurants were an occasional treat, I’m not sure we ever ate fried rice at home, but Allegra McEvedy’s versatile recipe feels cut from the same simple, satisfying cloth. As does Kay Plunkett-Hogge’s pad krapow moo and Meera Sodha’s buttery mustard greens with corn roti. Likewise, though it didn’t feature in my childhood, Jacob Kenedy’s grandmother’s recipe for sauerkraut and pork bake sounds intriguing enough to become part of my adult repertoire.
We had rhubarb crumble for pudding on that Sunday, but on a weekday, you might prefer a quick and easy bowl of sliced bananas and cold custard. That said, if you have more time on your hands, Ruby Tandoh has a rather fancy baked version, or you could even – whisper it – opt for a dish of butterscotch Angel Delight. Sadly, it seems we don’t have a recipe for a homemade version of the latter (though Claire Ptak’s butterscotch cream looks like a rather decadent substitute) – once I’ve unpacked from my trip, it might well prove a new project for a new term. Watch this space.
My week in food
Takes the biscuit | Iced shortbread sandwiches, or empire biscuits, are rarely seen outside Scotland, despite the fact that these cousins of the linzer cookie were known throughout the UK as German biscuits until the outbreak of the first world war (and continue to carry that name in Northern Ireland, or so I’m told). If they’ve been renamed once, it seems reasonable to suggest that they might be so again … In any case, I had such an enjoyable example from the Boardwalk Beach Club at Silverknowes, in Edinburgh, that I’m determined to have a go myself.
Plum job | My icebox is full of plums, and one of the benefits of living alone is that I am quite sure no one has eaten them; in fact, I love them so much that I am miserly about their consumption. The čačanska najbolja and golden transparent gages I bought from the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale in Kent are too good not to eat from the hand, but the Welsh denbigh cooking variety proved delicious in an oat and plum knickerbocker recipe from Jeremy Lee’s new book, Kitchening. I’m also so tempted by the pork and plum meatballs in Ed Smith’s latest Rocket & Squash newsletter that I might seek out more punnets before they disappear for another year.
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Slop for dinner | I’m not alone in finding the uncanny images proliferating in food advertising less than appetising. But I was, perhaps naively, startled to discover that AI has made its way on to our plates, too. According to a piece in the New Yorker (£), some pretty high-end restaurants are using it for inspiration, to generate “images and ideas foreign to classically trained chefs by pulling ingredient pairings and plating ideas from across the world”. Given that posters and flyers are already starting to look the same, I find this a bleak prospect for our palates.
More retro delights | I was recently given 15 issues of the Fanny and Johnnie Cradock Cookery Programme, “from concept to the last sprig of garnish”. Originally published in weekly parts during the early 1970s, it was found by a friend in a Suffolk charity shop. As anyone familiar with Fanny’s work might guess, the food styling is what caught her eye (sauteed pigeon breasts accessorised by wings in full feather, anyone?), but a cursory glance reveals greater treasure within, from W Somerset Maugham’s cook’s recipe for avocado ice-cream to a striking egg dish entitled L’oeuf monstrueux, or How to Show Off Very Easily. I’m looking forward to cooking my way through it, albeit selectively. In the meantime, I’m reminded of Cradock’s book Coping With Christmas, recently reissued and for which I wrote a foreword. If you happen to be in the mood for an utterly OTT celebration this year, I note that it is currently on offer online at a rather insulting 40% off.
