You’d have to be living on another planet not to know that the world is in the throes of a food crisis. From England to Egypt, there are shortages of staples like rice and flour, while the rising price of wheat has sent the price of meat soaring.
The head of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) called the global food shortages, “a silent tsunami which knows no borders sweeping the world”.
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After all the culinary gymnastics and trumpeting of molecular gastronomy and other mystifying cooking methods, simple cooking seems to be the theme for cookbook writers this year. This is a smart move, because then they can capitalise of a huge market of time-poor people who want to cook delicious meals.
One of the best books I’ve seen in a while is One Perfect Ingredient: Three Ways to Cook It by Marcus Wareing. I haven’t had the opportunity of eating at his Michelin-starred restaurant Petrus, but I have tried his recipes, seen him at work at food shows and on television. I enjoy looking at him cook because he’s one of the most technically proficient chefs on the box these days.
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There’s always something to put you off when you plan to cook an ambitious meal. A few weeks ago, I wanted to treat some friends to a really lovely Indian dish to commemorate Phagwa and so to pay homage to this vibrant festival, I put together a menu of Caribbean Indian delicacies and North Indian inspired dishes.
My guests would be treated to saheena, kachowrie, pitod ka saag (chickpea flour dumplings in yogurt sauce), subz miloni (seasonal vegetables in spinach and garlic sauce) and gulab jamon.
It all started so well, waking up early to make the saheena and the kachowrie and moving quickly on to the chickpea flour dumplings which needed to be rested and done just before serving.
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