Cookbook Club at Home: The Knowledge

COOKBOOK CLUB at home

BOROUGH MARKET: THE KNOWLEDGE BY ANGELA CLUTTON

COOKBOOK CLUB at home

ANGELA CLUTTON

The Borough Market Cookbook Club has broken out of the Market gates and into members’ homes.

Since March 2016, we have been gathering together to share a love of good food, good cookbooks and good company. Friendships have been forged, shopping and cooking tips swapped, and encouragement given over literally thousands of dishes that Cookbook Club members have cooked at home and brought along to share with others.

As members, you now have the opportunity to create your own Borough Market Cookbook Club events at home, and in your own communities. Each month, I choose a cookbook to be the focus of that period’s Cookbook Club at Home gatherings. These are a mix of new books and old faithfuls; ones you know well, and amazing discoveries yet to be made. We send out an online pack that includes a simple guide to hosting, a synopsis of the book and its author, and (where possible) a couple of recipes.

One of the many exciting aspects of doing this is that every single event, wherever it takes

place, has its own distinct personality. Our hope is that people will bring along food to share from the chosen cookbook, and that the emphasis will be on exchanging thoughts, experiences and opinions on cooking from the book. The Cookbook Club has always been about the joy of cooking and sharing –it has never been a cooking competition!

That sense of exchange is essential. We want you to share on social media the build-up to your event and what happens at it. Your Cookbook Club at Home stories, photos, videos, tips, culinary triumphs (or even disasters..!) – we want them all.

The Borough Market Cookbook Club at Home is a great way to gather together friends and family. Whether they’re experienced cooks or novices, all they need in common is a love of food. New friends will be made as food does what food always does, and the Borough Market Cookbook Club does what it always has: brings people together.

Read on for a guide to how these events might run, whether you’re hosting or attending.

COOKBOOK CLUB AT HOME

A beginner’s guide

THE BOOK. The Borough Market Cookbook Club nominates a book to be the focus of each month’s event. The schedule of books is chosen a few months in advance to give you plenty of time to select an event and plan your gathering.

They will always be books that are easily available to buy via high street or online booksellers, borrow from libraries, or view through the ckbk online cookbook resource (which members have limited free trial access to).

PLANNING. Your event could take place any time in the calendar month that the cookbook has been chosen for. Any day, any time of day. You will need to think carefully about where to host (for example, at home or in a local venue). Decide on how many people to invite, and who. Let them know what the cookbook is. Give them the event date and time. And send them the link to this guide.

Make sure you ask about any allergies or dietary requirements so that no one goes hungry or risks eating something they shouldn’t.

Decide if you want people to cook different things from the book or if a crossover of dishes is fine. Decide whether you want them to let you know in advance what they’re bringing, or just turn up with it and surprise you. We strongly encourage people to choose a dish that is safe to serve at room temperature, and to bring their dish ready to serve.

Will people bring their own drinks? What about plates, cutlery, glasses – and the washing up!?!

SHOPPING. One of the joys Cookbook Club events is hearing about members’ favourite places to shop and their exploits in tracking down ingredients. If you can, make the shopping as much as part of the Cookbook Club experience as the cooking or the event itself. That could mean coming to Borough, visiting your local food market, or seeking out small independent shops.

COOKING. Take care to prepare your food in a hygienic environment. The dish you make is for the consumption of others, so be sure to maintain the highest standards of cleanliness throughout its preparation.

THE EVENT. Cookbook Club events work best when people feel relaxed enough to be honest about how their dish went and what they think of the book. Try really hard not to judge each other (or each other’s food) and listen to what people think. Give everyone space to talk and share their views. Not everyone will agree – and that’s okay!

THE DISCUSSION. Here are some possible topics for discussion, to get you started: How familiar were you with the writer? Did you know about them or own any of their books before coming along to this event? Were there plenty of dishes in the book you wanted to cook? What else (if anything) have you made from it? How does it compare to other cookbooks you might know and love? What dishes have you tried at the event that you might now want to try out at home? Will you buy or keep the book? Has your opinion of the book changed over the course of the event, from eating the food and hearing other people’s experiences?

SHARING. Please take lots of pictures and videos while you’re shopping, cooking and attending the Cookbook Club at Home events. Then share them via Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and make sure you tag us @boroughmarket .

IF YOU CAN, MAKE THE SHOPPING AS MUCH AS PART OF THE COOKBOOK CLUB EXPERIENCE AS THE COOKING OR THE EVENT ITSELF. THAT COULD MEAN COMING TO BOROUGH, VISITING YOUR LOCAL FOOD MARKET, OR SEEKING OUT INDEPENDENT SHOPS

Borough Market: The Knowledge

by Angela Clutton (Hodder & Stoughton, £27)

BOROUGH MARKET: THE KNOWLEDGE BY ANGELA CLUTTON An introduction

The fishmongers and the butchers. The greengrocers and fruiterers. The dairy and the bakery; and store cupboards bursting with olive oils, teas and so much more. Those are the chapters of The Knowledge. Each – I hope – as packed with deliciousness and insight and energy as a trip to the Market itself.

That was certainly the intention: to corral into a book the glorious breadth of skills and know-how the traders abound with. They have so much knowledge (see what we did there with the title?) and this was the chance to wrap a lot of it together, then let my 80 or so recipes spring out of that.

You’ll find in the book trader features and Q&As that go beyond simply telling the traders’ stories, but let them tell the stories of their produce. Tucked among these pages are Tom Haward (Richard Haward Oysters) talking about the sustainability and seasonality of oysters, Marianna Koloktroni (Oliveology) on the importance of harvesting and processing techniques to olive oil, and Eduardo Florez (The Colombian Coffee Company) on the ethics of coffee. And those three offer just a glimmer of insight into the trader voices included. The further away we get from the book having been out in the big wide world, the more astounded I become at the breadth and scope of what it set out to include.

Have you ever wondered about how to fillet a fish as well as Max Tucker at Furness Fish Markets, or make Ratan Mondal of Tea2You’s perfect cup of tea, or fix a martini like they do it at East London Liquor Co? They’re all in

here too. Nestled up with the most beautifully photographed insights into five types of clams, radicchios, cultured butters, tinned fish….

You can probably imagine how exciting, challenging, even daunting it was to write recipes that celebrate the traders and their produce, while also being the kind of things that I – and hopefully you – want to cook and eat at home. The ones here in the Cookbook Club pack are certainly some of my favourites. Others that people have been kind enough to tell me they’ve made and loved include:

— Ginger and pink peppercorn baked cheesecake, which has stem ginger chopped into its biscuit base, then ricotta and mascarpone as the baked cheese. An absolute winner, and can be made ahead too so a good one for a dinner or celebration.

— Walnut and pomegranate baby aubergines with saffron quinoa . Great for serving on a big, beautiful platter for people to help themselves to.

— Broth of white beans and winter greens. This recipe being a favourite makes me especially happy as it is so simple and so nutritiously comforting.

The Knowledge set out to be a true kitchen companion. A book to return to again and again, whether to find out something about something or to cook a recipe. When you open up its covers, I hope so much it gives something of that special feeling of walking through the Market gates.

BLACK RICE AND FETA-STUFFED CHARD WITH SPICED YOGHURT

Serves 3-4 as a main or 8 as a sideor

small plate

Rainbow chard is right up there among the most aesthetically pleasing vegetables at the Market. It’s almost two vegetables in one, really, as its leaves and stems should be respected for how they cook at different paces. Here they’re cooked separately, then reunited in bundles filled with spices, feta and black rice. You’ll find black rice at specialist stockists like Spice Mountain, and it’s well worth seeking out for its exceptional flavour and colour, which isn’t so much black as a divine deep purple. Kath Dawson at Ted’s Veg is absolutely right that choosing vegetables shouldn’t be about perfection, but for this you do need leaves that are as perfect as possible. The filling would otherwise fall through any holes.

Ingredients

250g black rice

12 rainbow chard stems with large undamaged leaves (or Swiss chard, or a mixture)

1 leek

4 tbsp olive oil

5 cloves of garlic

1½ tsp fennel seeds

1½ tsp ground cumin

250ml white wine or vegetable stock

200g feta (drained weight)

A handful of mint and dill

For the spiced yoghurt

200g natural yoghurt

2 tsp dukkah

Method

Rinse and drain the rice. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the rice and simmer for about 30 mins until tender (check the packet instructions first, as varieties can vary in cooking time). Drain and set aside.

While the rice is cooking, prepare the chard leaves and stuffing. Trim off and discard the very woody ends of the chard stalks. Separate off the leaves and at their very base cut out a ‘V’ pointing up the leaf (this makes them easier to roll).

Bring another large pan of salted water to the boil and wilt the chard leaves in it for just 2 mins, then drain, rinse in cold water and drain again. Set the leaves aside.

Dice the chard stalks along with the leek. Heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Saute the diced chard stems and leek until softening but not colouring. Peel and crush the garlic cloves with the back of a knife, then chop and add along with the fennel seeds and ground cumin.

Cook for another 10 mins, then pour over 150ml of the wine (or stock) and let that bubble for a minute or so to reduce. Take off the heat and, when the rice is tender and drained, stir the vegetable mixture through. Crumble in the feta, chop the herbs and add those too. Taste for seasoning.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Unfurl the chard leaves and lay them out flat, with their ribs uppermost. Spoon the feta and rice stuffing into the middle of each leaf. Roll the point of the leaf over the filling, tucking the sides in and working tightly down to where you cut away the stem. Sit each roll in a baking dish, seam-side down. Pour the remaining 100ml of white wine (or stock) into the baking dish and brush the tops of the chard rolls with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake for 20 mins. Use that time to make the spiced yoghurt by simply mixing the yoghurt with the dukkah. Season well and serve alongside the baked, stuffed chard.

Recipe from Borough Market: The Knowledge by Angela Clutton (Hodder & Stoughton)

Rainbow chard

Ted’s Veg

Black rice

Spice Mountain Feta

Borough Cheese Company

SLOW-COOKED CUTTLEFISH & WHITE BEANS

Serves 4

Cuttlefish – like squid, which could be used in this recipe instead – are best when cooked either very fast or very slowly. We’re going for the latter here, alongside fennel, aromatics and beans for something that becomes a cross between a stew and broth. Preparing the cuttlefish is a bit fiddly, so it is best done by the fishmonger. Ask to keep the ink sacs and freeze for later use with pastas, risotto, spelt or added into pizza or flatbread doughs. Serve with bread to soak up the juices –perhaps following the advice of Olivier Favrel at Olivier’s Bakery and go for a white sourdough.

Ingredients

650-750g cuttlefish body, wings and tentacles, prepared by the fishmonger

3 tbsp olive oil

2 onions

1 fennel bulb

2 cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

1 tsp smoked paprika

150ml fino or manzanilla sherry

1 orange

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

300ml fish stock

500g drained weight white beans (butter beans, cannellini beans… I used a large jar of Brindisa judion butter beans)

A small handful of flat-leaf parsley

Nutmeg, for grating

Method

Slice the cuttlefish body and wings into strips approximately 1cm wide, and the tentacles into three sections. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wide pan or a shallow casserole dish that can go on the hob. Peel the onion, slice into thin half-moons and cook in the hot oil for 10 mins until softening. Trim and slice the fennel and add to the pan, leaving to cook for another 5 mins. Peel and chop the garlic and add as well. Then the bay leaves, thyme sprigs and paprika go in – stir briefly for the paprika to release its colour and smell.

Mix in all the cuttlefish, followed by the sherry. Let it bubble for a minute before grating in the zest of the orange and adding the tin of tomatoes. Pour in the fish stock, if using –otherwise rinse out the tomato tin with water and add that. Stir, season, bring to a high simmer, then put a lid on, turn the heat as low as it will go and leave it to cook gently for 1 hour. Check occasionally that it isn’t bubbling too fast, or in case you need to add more water to keep the cuttlefish just about submerged.

The drained beans go in for the last 10 mins of the cooking time. Chop the parsley leaves, add to the pan and finish with a good grating of the nutmeg.

Recipe from Borough Market: The Knowledge by Angela Clutton (Hodder & Stoughton)

Shop

Cuttlefish

Shellseekers Fish & Game

Fennel Turnips

Smoked paprika

Brindisa

ORANGE BLOSSOM DOUGHNUTS

Makes 12 doughnuts

The Bread Ahead Bakery doughnuts at the Market are iconic, legendary and incomparable. They are also pretty big. Eating one is a challenge I can’t say I haven’t succeeded at, but sometimes the kind of doughnut I want to make and eat is something a little smaller. So these fluffy rounds of doughnut are only a little bigger than bitesized, with a hint of orange blossom worked into the dough. They are ideal for dipping. That’s where having a jar of Porteña dulce de leche in the cupboard pays dividends. Or I might make some rich chocolate sauce as in the recipe below. Go wherever your doughnut inclinations take you.

Ingredients

20g unsalted butter, at room temperature

75ml whole milk

210g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting

7g sachet of fast-action yeast

½ tsp fine salt

25g caster sugar, plus 3 tbsp extra for finishing

1 egg

1½ tbsp orange blossom water

1 litre sunflower oil or other deep-frying oil

Dulce de leche, for dipping

Method

Cut the butter into small pieces into a small bowl. Gently warm the milk in a small saucepan until almost boiling (about 80C), then pour it over the butter to melt it. Set aside.

Put the flour, yeast, salt and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg and add that too, along with the orange blossom water. Add the slightly cooled butter and milk mixture and start to bring it all into a dough with your hands. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 10 mins, or until smooth and springy. Shape the dough into a large ball, put it in a bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warm for about 1 hour to double in size.

Shape the risen dough into 12 equal balls, about 30g each. Sit them on a lightly floured tray somewhere warm for 30 mins to rise a little more.

Spoon the extra caster sugar into a shallow bowl. Pour the oil into a large deep saucepan –the oil should come about a third of the way up the pan. Heat to 160C, then use a slotted spoon to slide the dough balls into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan – just fry three or four at a time.

Fry them for 2-3 mins until the undersides become golden brown, then flip over with a spoon or fork and fry for another few minutes. Lift out with the slotted spoon, drain briefly on kitchen paper, then roll in the caster sugar.

Serve your doughnuts with the dulce de leche or a dipping sauce of your choosing.

Recipe from Borough Market: The Knowledge by Angela Clutton (Hodder & Stoughton)

Butter Hook & Son

Orange blossom water

Arabica

Dulce de leche

Porteña