THE COOK TELEGRAPH Winter 2014
HELLO! Going back a few years, we used to do regular customer newsletters – a behind-the-scenes look at COOK, if you will. I decided we should resurrect the idea because: (a) people seemed to like it; (b) just because we’re bigger I don’t want people to think we’ve lost our soul or sold out; and (c) we’re very proud of what we do and while hiding one’s light under a bushel is all very worthy, it’s also a bit dull. So here it is. I’d love to know what you think, good or bad. Send any comments to edwardanddale@cookfood.net
THE MEANING OF GOOD FOOD There’s a famous quote from Margaret Mead, an American anthropologist: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” With that in mind, meet JP Campbell, the founder of One Feeds Two. A couple of years ago, he quit his job as a corporate lawyer to sell soup from a van in Edinburgh. He probably made decent soup (we never got to taste it). But what he definitely had was a Big Idea: every time he sold a soup, he also provided a school meal to a child living in poverty through a charity feeding partner. But after visiting Kenya, and the feeding programmes he was supporting, JP realised this idea was much bigger than soup - big enough to potentially change the world. So he sold the van and set about launching One Feeds Two as an ethical standard any food company could adopt. We’re delighted to be JP’s first national partner. This Christmas, many of our seasonal starters and main courses will be One Feeds Two: each time you buy a portion, a school meal will be provided to a child living in poverty in Malawi. The school side of things was important to us. Handouts won’t begin to resolve poverty and hunger in the long run, but education, feeding young minds and ambition, just might. JP defines the purpose of One Feeds Two as: rethinking the meaning of good food. We’re right on board. We genuinely believe that good food shouldn’t just taste good, but it should also do good in the grand scheme of things. We’re far from perfect but we’re hopefully on the right path.
GETTING IT WRONG We’ve recently made a few blunders regarding some of your favourite recipes. Luckily, we’ve realised the error of our ways and are executing a rapid, “reverse ferret”. Here’s our hall of shame: Meatballs in disguise: This summer we decided to tweak the recipe for our meatballs and called them “Polpette” instead (Italian for “meatball”). Pretentious and foodie? Yes. Clear to meatball lovers? No. Lesson learned. Meatballs are back. They’re called meatballs.
THE ICE MAN COMETH... Two summers ago, I was due to go to the South Bank Food Festival in London with my old friend Matt, who’s been part of COOK since the very beginning. As is the way of things, some last minute childcare issues meant I had to cancel. But I thought I’d have a quick look at the list of exhibitors anyway. One name caught my eye, for obvious reasons: The Ice Kitchen. I clicked on the link to its website and instantly fell in love with what I saw. On the screen was a kaleidoscope of amazing lollies: Peach & Hibiscus, Moroccan Mint Tea, even a Mojito for heaven’s sake – beautiful madness. I resolved there and then that we had to get these lollies into COOK. The man behind The Ice Kitchen turned out to be the delightful, softly-spoken Cesar. When I first got in touch he was cooking in his parents’ spare room in North London (yes, he clearly has very nice parents). He’s since moved to a commercial kitchen unit nearby, from where he supplied our shops with amazing lollies through the summer. He also found time to publish a lolly cook book with his aunt, Nadia, and become a bit of a media darling. For Christmas, Cesar has put together a cocktail lolly multi-pack, perfect for grown-up parties. If you haven’t tried them yet, I implore you to give them a go – they are mind-blowingly good.
Chicken & Mushroom Lasagne: We got rid of this old favourite and replaced it with a Chicken & Red Pepper version that simply wasn’t as good. Fear not, the mushroom version is making a comeback. Salmon & Asparagus Gratin: In our wisdom, we decided it would be a good idea to change the name of this very popular dish to Salmon & Asparagus Fish Pie. It wasn’t. Confusion reigned. We’re sorry: “Gratin” will be back on the label forthwith. Chocolate & Raspberry Roulade: We thought that with a Chocolate Roulade and a Raspberry Pavlova, nobody would miss the Chocolate & Raspberry love child. How wrong we were. It’s back. Chocolate Cake: What were we thinking? No room in our freezers for Chocolate Cake! Sanity returns – so does Chocolate Cake.
LIZ JOINS THE FAMILY Liz Dove has been our pudding maestro for 16 years. In the beginning, she made her remarkable puds from her home kitchen in Caterham, Surrey. “The family was very used to sharing the kitchen with mountains of puddings,” she recalls. “My son Archie (now manager of COOK in Fulham) is still very happy with Chocolate Roulade for breakfast.” But there’s a limit to the number of puds you can produce from a house in Surrey. So 10 years ago Liz upped sticks and moved her family to a farm in Somerset and converted a barn into a dedicated kitchen. Liz always kept her business independent from COOK, even though we were her only customer and never had a contract. But this year we decided it was time to consummate our very lengthy courtship (in a business sense), and Liz and her team have become officially part of the COOK family. Her puds have proved so popular that we’re building a new, bigger kitchen nearby her farm. For her last Christmas making puds in the barn, Liz and her team have been pulling out all the stops. Don’t miss the new, super-festive Pear & Mulled Wine Tart; her stunning Berry Delice; and the return of the spectacular Double Chocolate Bombe.
HOW TO CHOP We’ve recently created a “learning wall” at the COOK Kitchen, with the notion that we can teach each other some pretty useful stuff over the course of a lunch hour. Alison in our People Team has done a session on “Difficult Conversations” (very popular); our IT geeks have done one on geeky IT stuff; and finance have done one on understanding our company accounts (we’re none the wiser). But by far the best course has been Knife Skills, run by our Kitchen Prep Team. Boy, can they chop. And fast. Here’s some crazy knife lore: 1. They no longer cry when they chop onions! We’re not sure if this is scientifically proven, but years of onionchopping has made them immune. They’re Jedi.
2. You can kill a knife! If you don’t sharpen it regularly, it will steadily lose its sharpness until it’s beyond rescue. Your favourite blades should be honed once a week. 3. “The Claw” is the secret to chopping vegetables fast. Thumb tucked under palm; finger tips tucked away; using the middle finger joints to guide the blade (making sure not to lift the knife too high); keeping the point of the knife on the board and chopping with a rocking motion.
Check out the video at cookfood.net/chopping
BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE COOK CHRISTMAS PARTY
One afternoon in August we descended on founder Edward’s house for a very unseasonal Christmas party, all under the pretext of taking photos for our Christmas menu. We draped twinkly lights, did fancy table settings, and generally felt like a career in wedding planning beckoned. We also thought we should share some of the little crafty things we did: We finally found a use for pine cones: they make great name holders for a table setting. The lovely border design for our menus and place settings can be downloaded from cookfood.net/timetodine and printed at home. Spray-painted tins make very pretty flower pots. Two novel uses for jam jars: (1) for drinking cocktails, just because... (2) wrapped with twine to make pretty tea light holders. You can find more photos, videos and downloads at cookfood.net/partytime