A Cause to Welcome Spring

I’m sure it’s as much a surprise to you as it was to me that I don’t feature alongside Heston’s mechanical sweet shop, Tom Kerridge’s chocolate grenade and Coracle fishing in the Observer Food Monthly’s “50 things we love in the world of food in 2016”.  I’m not bitter.  Other notable mentions go to Sustainable Eels, Istanbul and a wine bar restaurant called Noble Rot … I think I need to find a cause.

More thought provoking was Jay Rayner’s contribution to this month’s edition of the nauseatingly smug (think Nigel Slater) magazine.  His brief critique of food protectionism – the desire to “preserve” a specific cultural activity, recipe, process or ingredient in relation to its location, usually as a protest against the corporate dominance of the food chain – exposes the fact that this approach is neither a real life reflection of how our food culture evolves, or at times, practical.

I’m all for preserving one’s natural and cultural heritage, but a consequence of this approach is to stifle the way in which food works for us as cooks.  Recipes, skills and knowledge of ingredients constantly develop, as do ingredients themselves, hence there is never one definitive version of a dish; surely there is joy in this.  As Rayner puts it, “None of us is entitled to say one item is more true than another.  They are just different.”  Some would ask whether this protectionism is actually for the greater good, or merely to support self-serving, niche marketing labels.

One thing that can never be trademarked are fresh green leaves in Spring – Sprouting Broccoli, Black and Curly Kale, Swiss Chard and Wild Garlic.  I simply steam them over a little water for a minute or two, serve them scattered with Maldon sea salt and a little butter or a good virgin oil (olive or rapeseed). Partnered with spanking fresh turbot or sole, surf clams and a little lemon, nothing could scream Spring more clearly, whilst simultaneously flicking two fingers at Winter.

I find that the more I focus on one or two really good ingredients in a dish - the better it is.   The key is in learning what’s really good, and what’s not quite.  Jay Rayner sums it up, “food should be measured by one criterion and one only: does it taste nice?”

It’s not easy at times to develop one’s own approach as a cook.  The pressure you feel cooking in front of others, trying to use other people’s recipes, or simply scrolling, green eyed through your Instagram feed can all sow seeds of self-doubt.  Simply asking yourself at every turn “does it taste nice” might just be the mantra one needs to move forward.  I think I may have found a cause.