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Above Pick up 7� singles at car boot sales or ebay co uk Left Hamburger timer, £4 99, Fabulicious com Right Magnets, from a selection, Paperchase com
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Is it weird cooking for fashion types? “Yeah, when we were doing the cookies for designers they were very much a display piece. I mean to put it this way, I doubt anyone really ate them, they were very visual and so there was a real buzz around them in terms of goodie bags and putting them on tables and stuff. I’ve worked in fashion PR and lasted about five weeks, I hated it because it was so not me at all and I’m just not able to do that whole thing. I can’t look pretty and say the right things, that’s just not me at all, I’m not a ‘yes’ person, I’ve got a big gob and I’ve very likely to say what I think.” What was the thought process behind your videos for i-D online? “The idea behind that was to be really simple, fun and accessible. The whole point is that they are meant to be enjoyable and feel quite young. I’m not a chef and I don’t claim to be a chef. I love cooking and I’m a comfort feeder, and I wear trainers and that was always my thing, I mean, people like me also cook, people who wear street wear and aren’t super-chefs.” Plans for the future? Would you do a book or TV? “Yeah, I’d love to, for me it’s very much about the writing now, I love writing. With the i-D thing I initially pitched to write, I asked if they’d like someone to do some food writing and they said “We’d love you to do some video content”. I had never planned to be in front of the camera, I had always been behind the scenes, it’s just something I’m learning as I go, and it’s the future… print is changing and if you want to get to that audience then digital is what it has to be.” millycundall.com twitter.com/mildilla
Milly’s Kitchen Mix 1. Follow Me – Red Astaire 2. Keep on Movin’ – Soul II Soul 3. Shoop (Guru’s Mix) – Salt N Pepa 4. Think (About It) – Lyn Collins 5. It’s a Shame (My Sister) – Monie Love 6. Dub Be Good To Me – Beats International 7. All Good? – De La Soul 8. I Wanna Sex You Up – Color Me Badd 9. Crazy In Kingston – Beyonce/Beatconductor 10. Senorita – Justin Timberlake 11. Jesus Walks – Kanye West 12. Family Affair – Mary J. Blige 25
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Geisha tinned mackerel, 75p, background fabric (throughout) ÂŁ7 00
Ridley Road Market Tired of supermarket-own-brand products, familiar logos and identikit spag bol ready meals? Venture to the market and discover a multitude of bright colours and exciting possibilities.We predict a serious overhaul of your shopping basket. Ridley Road Market, London E8 2NP. Mon to Thurs, 6am-6pm, Fri and Sat 6am-7pm. 26
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Paper vegetable decorations, 99p
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P A N ground maize, ÂŁ1 69
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Chilli flavoured plantain crisps, 60p
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Solo grape drink, ÂŁ1 00
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Shito hot pepper sauce, ÂŁ3 00
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Muffaletta A tasty sandwich from New Orleans.
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Jumper and trousers throughout by Prada and Issey Miyake, respectively The model is Jazmayne Mildyn and Alice Neale provided fashion assistance
How to make a Muffaletta This delicious and unusual sandwich is excellent for packed lunches, picnics or train journeys as it is actually better eaten a few hours after making, once it’s a little squashed and all the juices have had a chance to co-mingle.The Muffaletta is also a great platform for experimentation; while the special olive mix is an essential, when it comes to the other fillings pretty much anything goes.Try with mozzarella, slices of grilled aubergine, tomatoes, bacon, avocado, grated beetroot, soft boiled egg, spinach leaves or grilled asparagus, it’s all good!
To make the olive mix: 100g black olives, drained and pitted 40g pimento stuffed olives, drained 2 tbsp capers, rinsed 4 pickled onions 60g marinated artichoke hearts Salt and pepper to taste To make the sandwich: 1 round loaf of crusty bread eg. a boule 100g sliced ham 100g sliced salami 100g sliced mild cheese eg. Leerdammer 60g rocket
Put all the olive mix ingredients in a food processor and pulse briefly, so the mix retains some texture. Season to taste. Slice the top off the loaf of bread and scoop out all of the soft middle. Thoroughly spread the inside of the hollowed out loaf with the olive mix. Lay the slices of ham, salami and cheese in layers inside the loaf and then add the rocket. Spread the bread ‘lid’ with the olive mix and press it down firmly on top of the loaf. Slice into wedges and either eat immediately or wrap it up and save it for later. 41
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Shabbat shalom, l’chaim and mazel tov! You are invited to Friday night dinner. There will be food, wine and Judaism. When we were at school, it was a source of great angst to my Jewish friend that she wasn’t allowed to go out on Friday nights and instead had to stay in for dinner with the family. She would bitch and moan and eventually be allowed to invite a few of us ’round for the dinner, where we would enjoy the delicious food and sneak a lot of wine until eventually we realised that maybe this staying in thing wasn’t so bad at all, in fact maybe it was better than going out. Since the death of my grandparents my family’s own Shabbats were a more sober affair and I was always jealous of these riotous dinners, when three generations of the family and a rag tag bunch of friends and acquaintances would gather together in a hot room full of chicken soup fumes, progressively getting more and more drunk and singing (shouting) all the Hebrew songs we knew. The images on this page, p44 and p47 (top) are by David Lieb All of the other images are by Jennifer Balcombe
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Oy vey “We forgot to buy kosher wine, so this is Malbec ”
last year, this ‘Jewish deli with cocktails’ ignited interest in Jewish cuisine by re-introducing the London restaurant scene to chopped liver, knishes and bagels with a salmon schmear; food with its heart in Brooklyn and its stomach in pre-war Germany. Ashkenazi Jewish food, that of my childhood Friday night dinners – and of E. Mishkins – literally means the food of the Jews of Germany but draws from many different Eastern European cuisines. It is not to be confused with the glamorous Sephardi or Middle Eastern Jewish food as popularised by Yottam Ottolenghi with its pomegranates, falafel and tabbouleh. The pillars of Ashkenazi Jewish food are root vegetables, specifically the potato, the onion and the beetroot, chicken in every possible permutation, the fat or shmaltz, the livers, the bones and giblets boiled up for stock, and of course, the meat, some severely unglamorous fish such as carp, and if you’re lucky, a bit of beef brisket.This might not sound like much to work with but as with many ‘peasant’ cuisines, simple ingredients are the basis of true culinary alchemy.
As we got older, these Friday nights became more infrequent, but my friend and I still often enthused about how great they had been, wishing we could introduce more people to the wonders of Jewish food and the fun of sitting down to a big dinner with loads of people you know and some you don’t. We frequently wondered if we would ever have our own Friday night dinners with our own traditions that our kids would reminisce about, until eventually I realised that is exactly what I had to do. I would host my own Friday night dinner and invite all our friends to it to try and keep the tradition alive. For it to work, there had to be a few conditions; the food should be authentically derived from – but not a slavish recreation of – the food of my childhood Friday night dinners. In true Jewish fashion, I would have to invite as many people as I could fit in my flat and that we (Jews and non-Jews alike) would do the proper Friday night prayers. Around the same time I started planning my dinner, thoughts of Jewish food were germinating in other, more influential kitchens. Hot off the success of their Polpo group of Italian(ish) restaurants, Russell Norman and Richard Beatty were planning on opening a new venture called E. Mishkins, which would serve Jewish food in a New York Diner style. Opened on the 25th of November
The food was the easiest bit to work out. After a little consultation with friends’ mothers and grandmothers, Claudia Roden’s The Book of Jewish Food and most importantly, the fantastic Singing Kettle Cookbook, compiled by the Jewish Women’s League over half 44
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Plum and Vodka Cocktails
a century ago and passed down through three generations of my family and across two continents, I had my menu. We would start with two pates; hot smoked-salmon and chicken liver served with beetroot, pickles and fresh challah and rye breads. Next would come the chicken soup, the famous ‘Jewish penicillin’, clear, sweet and golden with fluffy floating knaidlach, dumplings made from ground matzo meal.
Wine is not traditionally drunk with Ashkenazi Jewish meals but vodka is, so try a cocktail that’s easy to make and can therefore be topped up throughout dinner.
For the main course there would be chicken, an imperative; whole leg portions roasted in chicken fat to create the most chickeny-tasting chicken ever, accompanied by fried potato latkes, sweet and sour braised red cabbage with apples and carrot tzimmes, a dish in which a honey glaze is fabled to transform the simple vegetable into good luck charms. If people still had room after all that, the pudding would be an apple strudel served with fresh whipped cream, in flagrant disregard of the kosher law that meat and milk should not be eaten as part of the same meal.
1 punnet of plums (roughly 680g) 1 tsp ground cinnamon 100g of brown sugar Vodka (I used Russian Standard) Soda water Ice cubes Slices of plum to garnish
To make the puree, de-stone the plums and cut them into eighths, then place in a pan. Pour over just enough water to cover and add the cinnamon and sugar. Simmer this mixture gently, stirring it occasionally and after about 30 minutes or when the plums have started to break down, remove from the heat. When it has cooled a little, pass the plum mixture through a sieve, then return to the heat and reduce by about half. Add more sugar to taste, let your puree cool and then pour it into a squeezy bottle. To make the cocktail, combine equal parts (25ml) of the plum puree and vodka in a tumbler, add ice (about three cubes) and a slice of plum and top up with soda water.
While the menu pretty much wrote itself, the guest list was more difficult. I was sure the dinner would be fantastic and a great success, but I didn’t know who, if anyone, would choose to come to a semi-religious dinner over all the other diversions available on a Friday night, particularly one I was asking them to pay for. Yes, that’s right, to cover my costs I had realised I would have to charge a small fee to each dinner guest, a practice which was definitely not kosher. I settled on a ‘suggested donation’ of £10, the minimum needed to cover my costs, then tentatively sent out some invites on Facebook. The response was much better than I had hoped for, apparently people didn’t think this was the worst idea in the world ever, they were excited.The pressure – and the dinner – was on.
Hot-Smoked Salmon Pate This is a riff on that modern-day Jewish dinner party staple, smoked salmon. It is quite important to use hot smoked salmon as it will give the pate a much better texture than the cold stuff. If that’s all you can get then just change the ratio of the mix to 300g smoked to 600g poached. Or you can hot smoke some yourself at home, but that’s a whole other story.
When the night itself arrived, I was in a fantastic mood. Most of the dinner had been prepped beforehand and I was totally ready to play hostess. In my best Jewish wife outfit of little black dress and fake Louboutins, I graciously greeted and then was hit by an enormous wave of who-are-these-people-and-why-are-they-in-my-house? I’m obviously not a natural entertainer. “They are my friends” I told myself, “they are here because I invited them” and, re-assuring myself thus, I only bloody went and hosted the best Friday night dinner that they or I had ever seen. Sure, a few things went wrong, half the guests ‘forgot’ to BYO, I got a bowlful of scalding soup tipped over me, necessitating a quick change into another LBD and the gap between main course and pudding was so long that about half my guests left during the wait, but it was a hell of a good night. Everything got eaten, nothing got broken and I was asleep face down on the dining room table by 1am. I’d never have made it up for Shul in the morning.
400g hot-smoked salmon 400g poached salmon 8 tsp freshly grated horseradish root 4 tbsp crème fraîche 4 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste 4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper 4 handfuls of finely chopped dill 2 small raw beetroots peeled and cut into matchsticks, to serve Mash about half of the hot-smoked salmon with the crème fraîche, horseradish, and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Flake the rest of the fish and fold it into the blended mixture with the pepper and dill. Season/add lemon juice to taste and spoon the mixture into preserving jars to refrigerate until needed. 45
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Chicken Liver Pate
Dice the celery, carrots, onions and leeks and, using a little oil, soften these under a gentle heat in your biggest pot.When they are slightly soft and the onions are translucent, add the giblets and the wings/drumsticks if you are using them and brown these. Once the meat has a little colour, add your carcass (if you are using one) and cover the lot with boiling water.
This is no traditional Jewish chopped liver as it contains cream and has a smoother texure, but it is very good. If you want to keep kosher, leave out the dairy, forgo blending, and add chopped boiled egg towards the end. 1kg chicken livers 300ml double cream 4 cloves of garlic 50ml brandy Butter or vegetable oil Salt Black pepper Matchsticks of sharp, garlicky dill pickles to serve.
Season with the salt and white pepper, add the saffron and bring to the boil then cover and simmer for 4 hours. After four hours, taste the liquid and season accordingly. If you deem it ready, it can now be strained. First strain through a sieve and then though a muslin so just the liquid remains. Once strained, pour your soup back into the pan. Now if you like, you can leave the soup cloudy, but otherwise, to clarify it mix two egg whites with the broken up shells of the eggs in a bowl and whisk lightly. Pour this mixture into your (cool) soup and bring to a gentle simmer while stirring constantly. Do not let it boil.The egg should begin to cook and rise to the surface, bringing the soup’s impurities with it. Stop stirring and turn the temperature down as far as possible and cook for another 30 minutes. Again, don’t let it boil.
Prep your livers by removing any white or greenish bits, as these will make them bitter. Cook your garlic in a little of the oil/butter in a large pot, ensuring it doesn’t burn. Brown the livers for about 10 minutes on each side on a medium/high temperature, then pour over the brandy and cook off the alcohol for a further 10 minutes. Test to see if your liver pieces are cooked through; this is very important, if they aren’t, cook them a little longer.
Line a sieve or colander with muslin and carefully ladle your soup through it into another pan or a bowl, starting first with the clouded eggy bit.You might need to change or rinse out the muslin a few times as it gets clogged quite quickly. The egg should ‘catch’ the last of the impurities, leaving you with a clear soup, ready for your kneidlach.
When they are done, remove from the heat and allow them to cool a little, then blitz with a hand blender, adding the cream until you have achieved your desired texture. Remember that the pate will set further during refrigeration. Season thoroughly to taste, then spoon into preserving jars, pouring over a little clarified butter to seal, and refrigerate. Remove from the fridge about half an hour before serving.
Knaidlach (Matzo Balls) The big question is whether you like your knaidlach dense or fluffy; these are the fluffy kind, the best, in my opinion.
Chicken Soup The original Jewish penicillin, known to cure all ills, this is chicken soup for the stomach and the soul, to be eaten as a starter, lunch or snack, pre-made and stored in the freezer in case of heartbreak or ill-health.
1 chicken carcass or 750g of chicken meat on the bone 750g chicken giblets (preferably necks and gizzards) 6 sticks of celery 3 leeks 2 large onions 2 carrots 2 eggs White pepper A good pinch of saffron Salt Vegetable oil Parsley
1 cup of matzo meal 4 eggs, lightly beaten 4 tbsp of poultry fat or vegetable oil 1 tsp of salt A pinch of white pepper A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg 4 tablespoons of soda water
Put the dry ingredients in a bowl adding the eggs, fat and soda water and mixing everything together very lightly. The less you work the mixture, the fluffier your matzo balls will be. Cover and refrigerate for half an hour (longer is fine if you are making in advance). Put a large pot of salted water on to simmer and with wet hands form tablespoons of the batter into balls – again working as lightly as possible – and when the water is ready drop them in. Cover the pot and cook them for 30-40 minutes.While you are doing this, also put your soup 46
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Superstar of David “Right now, I’m chanelling religious pride through accessories ”
Big gulps Wash down that chicken soup with a hearty draft of vin rouge 47
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Pretty sharpish Warning! There may well be tears grating fresh horseradish
on to heat up.The cooked balls will have expanded to be large and fluffy and should be floating.To make sure they are ready, you can cut a test one open to check that the batter is cooked all the way through.When they are done, ladle your soup into bowls and add a matzo ball and some chopped parsley.
every 15, and then turn the temperature up to 220° for the final 15 minutes so they brown. Make an incision at the joint of one piece and check the juices run clear.
Roast Chicken
Though not traditionally Jewish, all the ingredients in this vegetarian dish are commonly used in Ashkenazi cookery.
Pumpkin Stuffed with Mushrooms
Traditionally, Jewish mamas would eke out the humble roast chicken over many meals using every scrap, so it feels rather decadent to buy individual leg portions, though in actual fact it doesn’t work out as too expensive and makes plating up super easy. Make sure to buy the best chicken that you can (I used Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference free-range) as this recipe is so simple that there is nothing to hide behind.
1 baby pumpkin 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed 2 tbsp olive oil 300g mushrooms of your choice 30g butter 1 white onion, diced Small handful of parsley, chopped
16 chicken legs (or one per person) 300g duck or goose fat Kosher salt Black Pepper
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Cut the pumpkin in half, widthways, and scoop out the seeds. Cut a little off the top and bottom of the pumpkins so they stand up like bowls. Mix half of the garlic with the olive oil and a little salt, then brush this on the inside of the pumpkins. Caramelise the onions in half of the butter, and when they are lightly browned add your mushrooms and the rest of the butter, stir, then cover and cook for 5 minutes or until wilted.
While the over preheats to 190°, rub the chicken legs with the fat, salt and pepper. Place them in roasting dishes making sure to spread them out a little; otherwise they have a tendency to steam each other. Cook for 45 minutes, basting 48
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Well connected If everyone turns up to your party wearing the same shade of grey, just put it down to a case of sartorial telepathy 49
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Set ‘em up Serve your home-made vodka and plum cocktails in utilitarian glasses to reference Lower East Side diner style. 50
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Hot (potato) cakes Your cute little latkes are easily re-heated under the grill.
chicken (or if cooking separately, in an oven pre-heated to 190° and cook covered for half an hour, then uncover, stir and cook for a further half an hour or until the carrots are caramelized.
Uncover and cook for a further 5 minutes, reducing the cooking liquid down, then mix in the parsley and season well. Spoon this mixture into your pumpkin halves and cook them on a baking tray in the centre of the oven until the pumpkin flesh is soft. This will take about an hour.
Braised Red Cabbage
Carrot Tzimmes
This sweet and sour cabbage has amazing depth of flavour yet cuts through the richness of roast meat. It’s great cold with any leftovers.
Traditionally cut into rounds, Carrot Tzimmes are said to resemble coins. Sweetened with honey, they represent good fortune and though I cut mine julienne, I like to think that they still retain some of that positive symbolism.
2 large red cabbages 2 sharp cooking apples 2 red onions 4 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tsp ground white pepper 2 tsp kosher salt
1kg of carrots, peeled or unpeeled, as you wish 200g of butter cut into cubes 3 generous tbsp clear honey 2 tsp coriander 2 tsp cumin sea salt black pepper
Shred the cabbages finely, peel and grate the apple and cut your onions into half slices. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot and add the onions. Once they have softened add the cabbage, apples, vinegar and seasoning and mix to combine. Add about 300ml or a cup of water, cover the pot and cook at a low heat for an hour, stirring every so often.
Cut the carrots julienne, and place into a large roasting dish. Dot with the cubes of butter and drizzle over the honey, then sprinkle on the spices and season generously with the salt and pepper. Place in the oven along with your 52
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Smoky Somethin’ Apple strudel and whipped cream with a cheeky side order of Malboro Lights
Potato Latkes
Apple Strudel
Akin to a rosti, these little latkes are best eaten straight from the frying pan, however, when cooking for a large number of people it makes more sense to make them in advance then re-heat them under the grill.
Ideally, the pastry for strudel should be home made, but if you are cooking for a lot of people, seriously, save yourself the effort and use the ready rolled stuff, it’s almost as good. This recipe makes 2 strudels, each serving 6-8 2 packs of ready rolled filo pastry 200g butter, melted 100g flaked almonds or chopped nuts of your preference Icing sugar, to serve 850g cooking apples e.g. Bramley 850g of eating apples of any sort you like or a mixture 150g of currants or raisins soaked in brandy 100g of soft light brown sugar plus a little extra for the top 2 tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to serve
1 kg waxy potatoes, grated and reserved in cold water 2 large white onions, grated 2 eggs, beaten A little flour to bind (about 100g) Salt White Pepper Vegetable oil or poultry fat Drain your grated potatoes and dry them thoroughly. Combine with the eggs and onion and season the mixture with the salt and pepper. In a frying pan, heat a little of your oil and fat to a high temperature, then spoon in tablespoons of your latke mixture, flattening them down into thin rounds in the pan. Fry for about two minutes on each side or until the latke is crisp and golden. Get a few going at once, putting the cooked latkes to one side on some kitchen towel to absorb excess oil. Depending on the size you make them, allow for 2-3 latkes per person.
Preheat the oven to 200°C and place a greased baking tray on to the middle shelf. Peel the apples and cut them into eighths, removing the cores. Mix these with the sugar and spices and raisins in a large bowl. Lay down your baking tray onto a clean and thoroughly cleared area of your 53
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kitchen counter or table and dust with flour. Carefully lay down your first thin layer of filo across the baking tray and brush it with melted butter. Keep on repeating this until you have used a whole pack of filo, then spread half of your filling mix across one end of the pastry and roll up into a sausage shape on your baking tray. Repeat with the rest of the pastry and filling, then brush both rolls with butter and sprinkle with the Demerara sugar and nuts. Bake these for 30-40 minutes, allowing them to cool a little before dusting with icing sugar and serving with whipped cream.
Happy snaps (above) Licked-clean bowls, empty glasses and an individual wheat free apple crumble worth documenting Spread ‘em (right) Earthy beetroot and sharp pickle lend contrasting flavour and colour to creamy pate and soft bread
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Click ‘Attending’ Let’s face it, if you don’t make a Facebook event, nobody turns up so embrace technology
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Stratford School is located in Newham, East London, the second most deprived borough in the UK and an area characterised by high ethnic diversity and a younger than average population. Newham will also play host to much of this summer’s Olympic Games but that doesn’t tell you much about Newham, or Stratford School for that matter. No, the best place to go to really understand the place, the people and what the statistics really mean is a Food Technology lesson at 9am on a Monday morning. Laid out on the table in front of the students is a bounty of fruit and vegetables bought from the local market. ‘Miss’ picks up a vegetable and asks the class if anyone is able to identify it. There is no answer.Year 9 are very quiet, or as quiet as a room of 14 year-olds can be. ‘Miss’ repeats her question, this time directing it at one boy, specifically. “Come on, you know what this is, doesn’t your mum cook this at home?” The boy concedes that yes, his mum does cook it, and that he does know its name, but only in his own language, what he hears it being called at home. This is a start. More students identify fruits and vegetables until everyone in the class knows what everything is (at least by name) and the only thing left to do is decide what to cook. Though they may be unwilling to admit it, the pupils of Stratford School know plenty about food. There’s probably more potential for pan-continental cuisine in this classroom than in countless complicated fusion restaurants, a factor that no doubt influences the course of an average food tech lesson. While many classes are dominated by curriculum approved healthy eating education, occasionally the students get to make whatever they like, and on those occasions, what to cook? The kind of thing they eat at home, at friends’ houses, at school or on the way home from school or even what they see on TV? A hard choice, but this week, we have a project for them. To devise a menu of healthy lunches for the students of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design inspired by Stratford School, Newham and their own varied cultures. From one school to another – albeit rather different – one. Everyone chooses a few things from the market haul to base their dish around. Vegetables are more popular than fruit, anything spicy is snapped up quickly, and pasta is a universal favourite. What follows is a selection of recipes inspired by the Stratford School students’ menu ideas and illustrated with some of their own drawings. Cheap to buy and easy to make, these multi-cultural crowd pleasers should soon become favourites on your own lunch menu. Top right Sweet Potato Samosa Bottom right Guava and Sharon Fruit smoothie Left Ignore what the grown-ups say, playing with your food is fun 57
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Fried Aubergine Rigatoni with Lemon and Chili and Guava and Sharon Fruit Smoothie
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What a face! Above, be bowled over by the beauty of Aubergine Rigatoni with Lemon and Chili
1. Guava and Sharon Fruit Smoothie
4-6 baby aubergines (2-3 per person, depending on size) 180g of rigatoni 2 tsp chili flakes 2 cloves of garlic, crushed The zest of two lemons A few handfuls of basil leaves, roughly chopped 2 tbsp olive oil Salt and black pepper to season 50g Parmesan, grated (Pecorino or Grana Pedano work too)
This smoothie makes an interesting change from more commonplace banana and strawberry combinations. 2 guavas 2 Sharon fruit 2 tbsp of honey Juice of 1 lime Roughly chop the guavas and Sharon fruit and add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until liquid. Add more lime juice/honey to taste, plus a little water if the smoothie is too thick. Strain though a sieve to get rid of the hard guava pips then either serve immediately or keep in the fridge, covered, for about a day.
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, sprinkle over 1 tsp of salt and put to one side for at least 10 minutes. Heat one tbsp of the olive oil in a pan on a medium heat, adding the chili flakes and garlic and frying for a few minutes. Put your pasta on to boil and remove the flavored oil from the pan brushing a little onto each aubergine half the setting it aside. Heat a dry pan and put these on to fry, cooking for 3-4 minutes on each side.
2. Fried Aubergine Rigatoni with Lemon and Chili
When your pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to its pan on a very low heat, pouring in the flavoured oil, and adding the lemon zest, half the basil leaves, most of the Parmesan and plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir until the pasta is coated in, then serve adding the aubergine halves and the rest of the Parmesan, olive oil and basil on top.
Though baby aubergines are more commonly used in Asian food, they are small and tender and cook quickly so are perfect for an easy pasta dish. Mediterranean aubergines can also be used, cut into segments lengthways. The rigatoni can be substituted for another ridged pasta such as penne. 59
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Daikon Salad with Chili and Herbs and Strawberry Granita with Jelly Wedges
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Courgette Curry, Sweet Potato Samosas and Lemon Rice Pudding with Pomegranate
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This courgette, flaming with chili heat, inspired the Courgette Curry recipe below
then, after about 30 seconds, the garlic, ginger and ground coriander. Add the courgettes and cook for a further five minutes before turning the heat down to medium and adding the tomatoes, stirring well to incorporate. Cook for a further 15 minutes or until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickened, then season to taste and stir through the fresh coriander before serving.
boiling water. Allow this mixture to cool a little then stir in two of the sheets of gelatine. Balance the lemon halves in glasses, small bowls or the indents of a muffin tray and carefully pour the lemon jelly mixture into them. Repeat the process for the oranges, using only 2 tsp of sugar this time, and pouring the orange jelly mixture into the hollowed orange halves. Refrigerate until set, then fill small bowls with a little of the granita and a wedge or two on top.
6. Sweet Potato Samosas
5. Courgette Curry
As they are shallow-fried, these samosas are less bother to make at home than the deep-fried version. Makes 12.
This simple and vibrant curry has its origins in Bangladesh and features the distinctive flavour combination of fennel seeds and fresh ginger. Serves 2-3.
For the pastry: 100g flour 25g softened butter 2 tbsp water A pinch baking powder For the filling: 1 sweet potato, chopped into 1cm dice 1 onion, finely chopped A handful of coriander, finely chopped 2 tbsp freshly grated ginger 2 tsp Garam Masala 2 tsp cumin 1 tsp turmeric 4 tbsp vegetable oil Salt
2 courgettes, cut into 2cm dice 1 tbsp vegetable oil 6 tomatoes, chopped (and peeled, if you like) 2 tbsp of freshly grated ginger 2 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp coriander 1 tsp dried chili flakes 3 cloves of garlic, crushed A handful of coriander, chopped Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. When the oil is very hot, add the fennel seeds, cumin and chili flakes,
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7. Lemon Rice Pudding with Pomegranate The flavour profile of this dish is reminiscent of the classic school dinner rice pudding served with a blob of jam on top, with the sweet jewels of pomegranate fulfilling the jam’s role. I added some crushed pistachios on top to give a little crunch and compliment the Middle Eastern flavours of lemon and pomegranate. This pudding can also be oven baked. Serves 2.
Add the milk, cream, rice and lemon peel to a pan and simmer over a low heat, stirring regularly. Remove the jewels from the pomegranate and set aside. Crush the pistachios in a pestle and mortar or pulse in a blender. When the rice is cooked and the liquid absorbed, stir in the sugar and cook for a minute or two more. Spoon the pudding into bowls, scatter with the pomegranate jewels and crushed pistachios and serve immediately.
8 tbsp of risotto or pudding rice 3 or 4 tbsp muscavado sugar (to taste) 1 tbsp lemon peel, shredded or in matchsticks 280ml of milk 280ml single cream Half a pomegranate 75g Pistachios
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Above, gastronomy geometry at Stratford School in the form of a deconstructed okra curry Below a rather exotic chili flower Left the cheerful fruit face which inspired the Lemon Rice Pudding with Pomegranate recipe
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