The Cook's Book of Ingredients

LETTUCE bowl topped with moist kitchen paper LETTUCE | 199 and covered with cling film. Head lettuce An annual or biennial herbaceous will keep better than leaf lettuce, but use Tear the leaves into pieces rather plant, lettuce probably originated in the within a few days. than slicing them: a knife blade eastern Mediterranean and Near East. 3 EAT Fresh: Use in salads can cause bruising. It has been cultivated for centuries and (ideally make a salad the same today is grown in temperate climates day the lettuce is purchased or around the world. The milky fluid harvested from the garden). that it exudes gives it its genus name, Soft lettuce leaves make fine Lactuca (lac means “milk”). Early wrappers for cold mixtures of lettuces were bitter, but most modern prawns or avocado, and jicama varieties are mild, with just different sticks; crisp leaves are used as shapes, sizes, textures, and colours. wraps for Chinese minced duck Some form heads, while others are and other meats. Cooked: loose clusters of leaves. Braise, steam, or shred and cook 1 BUY Lettuce likes mild, moist with vegetables such as peas. weather and is at its best in late spring Use in summer soups. and early autumn. Freshness is key with lettuce, as it forms the base for FLAVOUR PAIRINGS salads. Check the core on tall head lettuce like romaine; it should be crisp, Anchovies, cheese, mayonnaise, not flabby and bendable. If buying avocado, lemon juice, garlic, loose leaves, make sure they are crisp onions, tomatoes, bitter or and snap-break when bent. pungent greens, 2 STORE Wrap head lettuce with pomegranate seeds, olive moist kitchen paper and keep in a plastic or nut oils. bag in the fridge vegetable drawer for up to 5 days. Store loose-leaf lettuce in a CLASSIC RECIPES Caesar salad; petits pois à la française; fattush. Loose-leaf or Red “Picking” lettuce Bred for continual picking of young leaves, this loose-leaf Mediterranean variety does not form a heart. The attractive, bronze-tinged leaves are tasty and crisp. Don’t discard the flavoursome outer leaves. Tear them into bite-sized pieces and mix with the heart. Butterhead Probably the most popular of all lettuce types, butterheads have thick, soft, tender leaves with a mild, sweet flavour. The red-splattered leaves make Freckles a stylish addition to a salad. Cut away the thick stalks from outer leaves as they can be bitter and slightly fibrous. Freckles Cos or Romaine A high-quality, heirloom, cos variety with One of the best-tasting varieties of all, Cos thin, tender leaves, this is appreciated is valued for its crunch and full-bodied flavour. for its buttery texture and sweet flavour. The succulent leaves are ideal for burgers, salads, sandwiches, and wraps.

2 0 0 | V E G E TA B L E S | L E AV E S A N D L E A F Y G R E E N S LETTUCE (CONTINUED) The tender, flavourful leaves are often used in a typical mesclun mix of young leaves and shoots. Merveille de Quatre Saisons An heirloom variety from France, with a fresh, sweet flavour, a touch of bitterness, and crisp, succulent leaves. The loose outer leaves conceal a compact heart of delicious, creamy yellow leaves. Red oak An attractive loose-leaf lettuce with a well-rounded sweet, earthy flavour, this has thin, soft leaves and crunchy stalks. Iceberg (crisphead) Little gem Low in flavour but high in crunch, iceberg is the A deliciously sweet Cos variety with tightly lettuce for sandwiches and burgers. The capacious packed, buttery leaves and crisp, fleshy leaves can also be stuffed with meat or fish, rolled stalks. Invaluable in salads and sandwiches. up, and then steamed.

LETTUCE | WATERCRESS | P URS LANE | 2 0 1 Lamb’s lettuce Also known as mâche or corn salad, lamb’s lettuce has soft, buttery leaves and tender stalks. The mild flavour contrasts well with peppery rocket or watercress in a mixed-leaf salad. The frilly leaves can The delicate little leaves harbour dust and soil, grow in sprigs that can be so need careful washing and drying. added whole to salads. Lollo rosso A mildly flavoured, slightly coarse-textured lettuce, admired for its striking leaves. A few added to a mixed-leaf salad add contrasting texture and colour. WATERCRESS watercress can be kept in the fridge FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Cucumber, CLASSIC RECIPE for up to 2 days. beetroot, salmon, chicken, oranges, A Eurasian native, watercress has spread 3 EAT Fresh: Use in salads and potatoes. WATERCRESS SOUP around the world’s temperate regions sandwiches, or as a garnish. CLASSIC RECIPE Watercress soup. and often naturalizes where there’s a Cooked: Stir-fry, or make One of the oldest-known vegetables, steady supply of running water. The into a soup or a sauce. watercress became popular as a soup crunchy stalks and crisp leaves have a in England in the 1700s. pungent, peppery bite and clean, The pungency of the leaves refreshing flavour. There are many will increase as the weather SERVES 4 plants that resemble watercress or are 25g (scant 1oz) butter used in the same way, including land warms up in summer. 1 onion, finely chopped cress, garden cress, and nasturtium. 175g (6oz) watercress Although not related to watercress, 3 ripe pears, cored and roughly chopped their leaves have a similar taste. 1 litre (13⁄4 pints) vegetable stock 1 BUY Fresh watercress is available salt and freshly ground black pepper year-round, at its best from autumn 200ml (7fl oz) double cream to spring. Snap a stalk – it should break juice of 1⁄2 lemon rather than bend. Look for glossy, freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, deep green leaves, avoiding any to garnish watercress that is limp or yellow. olive oil, to drizzle 2 STORE Wrapped unwashed in moist kitchen paper in a plastic bag, The fleshy leaves of PURSLANE kitchen paper in a plastic bag in the 1 Melt the butter in a saucepan and purslane are slightly vegetable drawer of the fridge. cook the onion for 10 minutes, or mucilaginous, and can This sprawling annual grows wild 3 EAT Fresh: Young leaves and shoots until soft, stirring occasionally. be used to thicken soups throughout much of the world. make an agreeable addition to a salad. and stews in the same Purslane has been used as a food plant The flowers can also be added to 2 Meanwhile, trim the watercress and way as okra. for centuries in southern Europe and salads. Cooked: Cooking emphasizes pick off the leaves. Add the watercress the Middle East. The fleshy, paddle- the mucilaginous content, which stalks to the onion with the pears and shaped leaves and stalks have a provides a good thickening for soups stock. Season with salt and pepper. refreshing, astringent, lemony taste, and stews. Stir-fry, sauté, bake, fry, or and a crunchy, juicy texture. stew. Preserved: Pickle purslane in a 3 Bring to the boil, then cover and 1 BUY In Mexico you find purslane brine made with white wine vinegar. simmer gently for 15 minutes. Pour readily in markets; elsewhere look for FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Beetroot, broad into a blender. Add the watercress it in Greek and Turkish shops. Select beans, cucumber, spinach, potatoes, leaves and blend until very smooth. bunches of young leaves because older tomatoes, eggs, feta cheese, yogurt. leaves can be tough. The leaves and CLASSIC RECIPES Lebanese fattoush; 4 Stir in the cream and lemon juice, stalks should be pliable and succulently domatesli semizotu; braised pork with and check the seasoning. If necessary, juicy, the colour a lively golden green. tomatillos and chipotles. reheat the soup, taking care not to 2 STORE Unwashed purslane will boil. Serve topped with Parmesan keep for 2–3 days wrapped in damp shavings and drizzled with oil.

2 0 2 | V E G E TA B L E S | S H O OT S A N D S T E M S HEART OF PALM CLASSIC RECIPE The edible centres, or hearts, of 2 STORE Fresh hearts can be kept STEAMED ARTICHOKES emerging palm shoots are a favourite for 1–2 days in water in a covered food in tropical regions where they are container in the fridge. Store opened This simple, traditional French way grown, as well as in other parts of the canned hearts in the same way. of preparing artichokes is a true world. While many of the hundreds 3 EAT Fresh: In thin slices, they are classic and needs no embellishment. of species of palms will yield hearts, wonderful in salads, or with charcuterie most are provided by varieties that or fruit. Cooked: Steam, grill, sauté, SERVES 1 produce multiple new shoots after stir-fry, or stew. Preserved: Pickle. harvesting, such as the peach palm FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, prawns, 1 artichoke (Bactris gasipaes). Hearts of palm have crab, lime, vinaigrette. a smooth and tender yet crunchy CLASSIC RECIPE Ceviche. 50g (scant 2oz) butter texture, and a flavour that combines the sweetness of water chestnuts with juice of 1⁄2 lemon the herbaceousness of artichoke and the nuttiness of soya bean. salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 BUY Fresh palm hearts are found year-round in markets specializing in bay leaves and fresh rosemary stalks, tropical produce. In supermarkets to flavour (optional) everywhere, they are widely available canned. Fresh hearts should be an 1 Break off any tough outer leaves appealing light whitish-beige colour. from the artichoke and trim the stalk The cut ends should look fresh, with level with the base. Snip the tips from no dry spots. the remaining leaves. Hearts from the peach palm 2 Set the artichoke in a vegetable (right) will not discolour, steamer (you can flavour the steaming whereas those of other water with bay and rosemary stalks, if species are quick to turn you wish). Cover and steam for about 30 minutes, or until you can pull brown when exposed to air. away an outer leaf with complete ease. CACTUS PAD After shaving off 3 Melt the butter in a small pan, then prickles and eyes, add the lemon juice and season with Commonly called prickly pear, cactus and the rim of the pad, salt and pepper. Pour the butter into pads are native to the Americas, but rinse well to remove a ramekin and serve alongside the have spread around the world. Various excess sticky fluid. hot artichoke. species and varieties now grow in tropical and warm, temperate climates. 4 To eat, pluck off the leaves, one by The thick, fleshy leaves, or pads, are one, dip the fleshy end in the melted an important vegetable in Mexican butter, and scrape off the flesh in your cuisine, where they are known as teeth; discard the leaf. When you get nopales. They have a tender crunch to the little cone of pale inner leaves, and a taste reminiscent of green pull this out to reveal the hairy choke; beans with a citrus tang. scoop all of this out and discard.Then 1 BUY Pads can be harvested any enjoy eating the succulent heart with time, but spring is their best season. the rest of the melted butter. Most have “eyes” with small, stinging spines emerging from them, but there are spineless types; choose these if you find them. Pads should be fresh- looking without pits or soft spots. Look at the scar where the pad was attached to the mother plant; it should be freshly cut, not browned or dried out. 2 STORE Wrapped in dry kitchen paper in a plastic bag, pads will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. 3 EAT Remove any prickles and eyes with a swivel peeler (wear rubber gloves), then shave the rim off each pad. The pads can then be boiled or steamed, braised, sautéed, or coated with batter and deep-fried. Once cooked, use in salads, egg dishes, tortilla fillings, soups, and other dishes. The sticky juice cactus pads exude will thicken liquid slightly, as okra does. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Eggs, cheese, onions, tomatoes, chillies, coriander leaf, oregano, thyme. CLASSIC RECIPE Mostaccioli di fichi d’India.

ARTICHOKE remove from large artichokes after ARTICHOKE | 203 cooking. Fresh: Hearts and the tender, The globe artichoke, which looks like fleshy part of leaves can be eaten raw Before cooking whole, an unopened flower bud, finds a home in a salad or antipasto. Cooked: Coat use scissors to snip off in Mediterranean climates around the small, whole artichokes in batter, or the spiny leaf tips. world. Commercially, Italy and North egg and crumbs, and deep-fry. In Italy, Africa produce many varieties, ranging the leaf tips are trimmed and a mixture Green globe from tiny buds to large heads, while of breadcrumbs, olive oil, and cheese Widely available, this popular North America’s big, green globes is stuffed behind the leaves, then the large-headed variety has succulent come almost exclusively from cool, artichokes are roasted. Large heads fleshy leaves with a meaty flavour. coastal California. Very small artichokes can be braised, grilled, stuffed and can be eaten in their entirety, while roasted, pressure-cooked, or only the heart, or bottom, and fleshy steamed until a skewer will slide bases of the leaves (bracts) of large easily into the heart. Preserved: heads are edible. The choke, which Pickle hearts and tender inner is the bunch of hairy fibres above portions of leaves, or preserve the heart, is inedible. Artichokes in olive oil. have an earthy, nutty flavour with FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Sausage, a slight astringency. prosciutto, pancetta, anchovies, 1 BUY The artichoke season runs hollandaise sauce, Parmesan from late spring to mid-autumn. Look cheese, cream, garlic, lemon, olive for heads with tightly closed leaves and oil, white truffles, white wine. firm stalks. Cold weather will produce CLASSIC RECIPES Steamed brown discolorations, but these don’t artichokes; artichauts à la grecque; negatively affect flavour. alcachofas con jamón; artichokes 2 STORE For the best flavour, use braised with white wine and garlic; artichokes as soon as you get them tagine of lamb and artichokes; home. If you must keep them, cut a carciofi alla giudia; artichauts à la fresh end on the stalk, wrap in moist barigoule; torta di carciofi. kitchen paper, and place in a plastic bag in the fridge; use within 1–2 days. Baby purple artichoke 3 EAT When preparing artichokes, This immature variety has a mild prevent browning by rubbing all cut artichoke flavour with a hint of surfaces with lemon or dropping the sweetness. Once trimmed, it is heads into water acidulated with lemon tender enough to be deep-fried, juice. The choke is easier to either whole or sliced into wedges. Benicarló From Valencia in Spain, this highly prized variety has achieved PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status. It has an exceptionally full, meaty flavour. Violetta di Chioggia Smaller and more elongated than the green-globe type, this handsome purple variety has an unobtrusive choke and a strong artichoke flavour.

2 0 4 | V E G E TA B L E S | S H O OT S A N D S T E M S CARDOON 1 BUY Large stalks are tough, so FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Veal, anchovies, choose those that are small to medium, Parmesan cheese, cream, lemon. The cardoon looks like an overgrown 7.5–10cm (3–4in) wide. The cut ends CLASSIC RECIPES Baked cardoons thistle, because that is what it is – a will be discoloured, but this is natural. with cheese; cardoons with almond descendant of a Mediterranean weed If stalks are hollow, they will be fibrous. sauce; sformato di cardoni; that also gave us the globe artichoke. 2 STORE Use the same day you buy cardons aux anchois. Both cardoons and artichokes like them, if possible, or keep in a paper warm, mild-winter climates. Whereas bag in the fridge for a day or two. with artichokes we eat the unopened 3 EAT Peel stalks to remove strings, flower buds, from the cardoon we take then use like celery or fennel. Fresh: the long, central leaf stalks. These Young, tender stalks can be eaten are wide, flat, and silver-white, with raw: the Italians dip peeled sticks in a a succulent but crunchy texture and garlic and anchovy bagna cauda. a delicate flavour that combines Cooked: Boil, steam, braise, stew, artichoke, celery, and salsify, with or sauté; purée to add to soups a hint of aniseed. Cardoon’s root has and stews. Preserved: Pickle. an agreeable flavour, and can be cooked like any root vegetable. CLASSIC RECIPE BAKED CARDOONS WITH CHEESE The delicate flavour of cardoons is enhanced when baked and topped with a delicious cheese sauce in this Italian classic. SERVES 4 This variety has prickle-free stalks 1kg (21⁄41b) cardoons, tough outer that need only the strings and stalks discarded foliage removed before cooking. salt and freshly ground black pepper Rub cut surfaces with lemon juice juice of 1 lemon to prevent discolouration. 25g (scant 1oz) butter 1 heaped tbsp plain flour 300ml (10fl oz) milk 60g (2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1 Trim the cardoons and remove any BAMBOO SHOOTS 1 BUY Bamboo shoots are sometimes for 4–5 days in a container of water strings, then cut across into 7.5cm found fresh in oriental markets in late in the fridge. (3in) pieces. Put the cardoons into In the milder regions of the temperate winter or early spring; some species 3 EAT Due to the presence of a pan of salted water and add the zones and in semi-tropical areas of are available year-round. They should hydrocyanic acid, fresh bamboo shoots lemon juice. Bring to the boil, then China and Japan, tender young shoots be firm and smell sweet, never sour. must be cooked before use; they will reduce the heat and simmer for 30–45 of certain varieties of bamboo that The outer layers should be blemish- retain most of their crisp texture minutes, or until softened. Drain well emerge in the spring are highly prized free and tightly held to the creamy after cooking. First trim off the and arrange in a baking dish. as a vegetable. Shoots of different white core. Check the cut ends for roots and peel the outer leaves species look very similar – pointed freshness. In the West, bamboo shoots to reveal the homogenous, creamy 2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/ spears or cones that are harvested are most often sold canned, but can core. Boil in salted water for Gas 4). Melt the butter in a small pan, when the tips just appear above also be found dried or pickled. 20 minutes. Taste and, if still acrid then remove from the heat and stir in ground. Their flavour is mild, their 2 STORE Unpeeled fresh bamboo or bitter, boil in a change of water the flour. Gradually stir in the milk. texture crunchy. shoots will keep for at least a week in for 5 more minutes. Then cut into Return to the heat and cook, stirring, the vegetable drawer of the fridge. shapes or shred to use as you until smooth and thickened. Remove Peeled and parboiled shoots, as well as would any crunchy vegetable, from the heat, season with salt and left over canned shoots, can be kept such as radishes, water pepper, and stir in half the Parmesan. chestnuts, or jicama. Pour evenly over the cardoons and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS 3 Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until Fish sauce, eggs, dill, miso, golden and bubbling. Serve hot, with seaweed, sherry, toasted some crusty bread. sesame oil, soy sauce. Pare away any tough, fibrous sections from the inner core before cooking.

205 CELERY Green celery A kitchen staple, green celery is Wild celery, or smallage, is native to delicious both raw and cooked. marshy areas along seashores in the The crisp stalks have a slightly temperate regions of the world. It likes astringent flavour, while the sun, but also the plentiful water found heart is creamy and nutty. at those sites. From it, our modern celery has been bred and is grown in Giant Pascal Trim the leaves but temperate climates around the world. This French heirloom variety has keep a few to use as The intense bitterness in smallage has noticeably thick, fleshy, white a garnish, or to add been transformed into a mild, sweet, stalks and a nutty flavour. crunchy vegetable. flavour to stocks 1 BUY In markets year-round, the and stews. peak season is autumn through winter to spring. The stalks should be stiff and any leaves fresh looking. 2 STORE Celery can be kept for up to 10 days in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. Wrap in damp kitchen paper, if necessary, to stop it drying out. 3 EAT Fresh: Raw celery sticks make excellent crudités, or fill small pieces with blue or creamy cheese and other savoury mixtures for hors-d’oeuvres. Dice for salads and sandwich fillings. Use stalks to garnish tall drinks or a cheeseboard. Cooked: Steam, braise, bake in a gratin, sauté, or stir-fry, or add to stuffings. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Blue cheese, béchamel and hollandaise sauces, mayonnaise, onions, lemon. CLASSIC RECIPES Waldorf salad; minestra di sedano e riso; mirepoix. FENNEL CLASSIC RECIPE Looking like a bulbous celery heart, Cooked: Boil or steam whole or in FENNEL GRATIN Florence fennel, or finocchio, is in fact wedges; braise, roast, or sauté; boil The rich, creamy gratin topping on this Italian dish works perfectly with the swollen base of the stem of the thick slices until tender, then chargrill. the subtle aniseed flavour of fennel. plant. It grows best in Mediterranean FLAVOUR PAIRINGS SERVES 4 or mild, temperate climates around the Pancetta, parmesan cheese, fish, veal, 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and cut lengthways into 6 slices or wedges world. The herb fennel and fennel seed chicken, dill. salt and freshly ground black pepper do not come from the same plant, CLASSIC RECIPE Fennel gratin. small sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves finely although they are close relations. chopped (optional) 1 BUY Florence fennel is at its best 150ml (5fl oz) double cream in autumn. Look for clean, freshly cut 25g (scant1oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese bulbs with the long stems and fronds 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/ attached, if possible. Old fennel will Gas 4). Add the fennel to a pan of boiling salted water and simmer look dull with brown patches and the gently for about 5 minutes, or until starting to soften. Drain well. fronds, if any, will be limp. 2 Arrange the fennel in a shallow 2 STORE Bulbs can be kept in a baking dish. Sprinkle with the rosemary, if using, and season with plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of salt and pepper. Pour over the cream and sprinkle with half the Parmesan. the fridge for a week, but will be Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. crispest the day that you buy them. 3 Remove the foil. Sprinkle over the 3 EAT Fresh: Slice or shred for salads. remaining Parmesan and put back into the oven, uncovered, to bake for It is great for crudités, too. a further 5 minutes, or until the top turns lightly golden. Serve hot. Chop the fronds finely and use to give a subtle aniseed flavour to soups, salads, and fish dishes. Florence fennel With its sweet, warm, aniseed flavour and crisp texture, fennel makes a tasty salad ingredient. The flavour is subtler when cooked but the texture remains pleasingly crunchy. Baby fennel More tender than the large bulbs of Florence fennel, baby fennel can be eaten whole. It is delicious brushed with oil and grilled on the barbecue.



Sweetly flavoured with a crisp and crunchy texture, cherry radishes are a colourful addition to salads.

2 0 8 | V E G E TA B L E S | S H O OT S A N D S T E M S ASPARAGUS it can be stored, unpeeled, for up to people. Cooked: Steam, simmer, CLASSIC RECIPE 2 days in the fridge, in a jug of water stir-fry, roast, grill, or chargrill. Asparagus grows in temperate zones loosely covered with a plastic bag. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, CHARGRILLED worldwide where there is regular 3 EAT Snap off the tough ends of the anchovies, salmon, hollandaise ASPARAGUS WITH summer water from either rain or stalks. Then, if you like, you can peel sauce, mornay sauce, cream, HOLLANDAISE irrigation. Spears can range in thickness stalks to below the tips just before Parmesan cheese, lemon, orange, from pencil-thin to the size of your cooking: the tough fibres are very near pesto, mustard, vinaigrette. Classic hollandaise sauce, rich and thumb. All asparagus is either green or the surface so you need only remove CLASSIC RECIPES Asparagus with tangy, is the perfect partner for purple: white asparagus, so prized in a thin layer of skin. Fresh: Tender, hollandaise; risotto primavera; new-season asparagus. Europe, is simply green asparagus that young asparagus can be eaten raw, asparagi alla milanese. has been grown away from light and although it does not agree with some SERVES 4 has not manufactured chlorophyll. Sprue asparagus Green and purple asparagus have the These very slender spears are 1 tbsp olive oil most pronounced flavour, while white the first “thinnings” of the crop, is milder and sweeter. usually sold loose. Tender and 500g (1lb 2oz) fresh asparagus spears 1 BUY Asparagus is naturally a spring mildly flavoured, they are best crop, but growers have learned how to used in stir-fries or soups. For the hollandaise sauce force spears throughout the summer and early autumn. Choose fresh, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar spritely spears with a clean-looking cut end. The growing tips should 4 egg yolks be tightly closed. 2 STORE Asparagus should be used 115g (4oz) butter, melted as soon as possible, preferably on the day of purchase. If necessary, salt and freshly ground black pepper juice of 1⁄2 lemon Spears should be Spears bought in straight and plump. a bunch should be of 1 Heat a ridged cast-iron grill pan similar thickness so that until it is very hot. Brush with the oil, then add the asparagus and chargrill they cook evenly. for 5–6 minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears, until lightly charred and just tender. Turn the spears once during cooking. 2 Meanwhile, to make the sauce, heat the vinegar in a small pan and allow to bubble until it reduces by half. Remove from the heat and add 2 tbsp water, then whisk in the egg yolks one at a time. 3 Return the pan to a very low heat and continue whisking until the mixture is thick and light. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the melted butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir in the lemon juice. 4 Divide the asparagus among serving plates and spoon the sauce over them. Serve hot. PREPARING ASPARAGUS Purple asparagus Peeling large spears removes any woody Purple varieties tend to be sweeter strings and gives a professional finish. and less fibrous than green ones. 1 The skin of white asparagus can be tough, so it should be peeled off. 2 3 Green asparagus White asparagus Of all the asparagus types, green The fat white spears are milder in 1 Rinse under cold running water. 2 Snap off the asparagus has the most pronounced flavour than the green type. They are coarse woody ends where they naturally break when flavour. Slender spears are best briefly deprived of light as they emerge from the spear is bent. 3 If you want to peel the lower steamed; fatter ones can be brushed the ground, which prevents them from part of the stalks, use a swivel vegetable peeler and with oil and grilled until slightly charred. becoming green. run it down the stalk away from the tip.

RADISH | 209 RADISH varieties grown for leaves and pods. sashimi. Cooked: Oriental and winter 1 BUY Although available year-round, radishes are excellent stir-fried, Thought to be native to Western Asia, western radishes are best from late steamed, or sautéed, or can be added radishes are now grown in temperate spring to autumn. They should be firm to soups and stews. Preserved: Use climates worldwide. They vary greatly with no splits or cracks. If they have oriental radishes in pickles; salt and dry. in size, shape, colour, and pepperiness tops, these should be fresh and green. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Smoked fish, – from small, spicy red balls, to large, 2 STORE Remove the leaves, then cheese, potatoes, spring onions, mild, white cylinders and extra-pungent, wrap in damp kitchen paper, unwashed, chives, parsley, citrus, vinegar. black-skinned turnip shapes. Radishes and keep in a plastic bag in the fridge CLASSIC RECIPE Kim chee. may be classified into three groups: vegetable drawer. Western and western or small, which include the oriental radishes should be used within Red Icicle familiar red, round or oval varieties; 3–4 days, whereas winter radishes can Growing up to 15cm (6in) long, Red Icicle, winter; and oriental. There are also be kept for up to 2 weeks. a Western variety, has more bite than the 3 EAT Fresh: Add to salads and salsas. white variety. The crunchy flesh is good finely Radishes make fine crudités, although chopped in a salsa. winter radishes may need salting to reduce their heat. In Japan, grated daikon is the traditional garnish for White Icicle This tapered western variety has dense, mildly flavoured flesh that rarely becomes pithy. It is delicious finely sliced and mixed with red varieties in a salad. Peel black winter Cherry radish French Breakfast radishes, as the This small, round western radish, which is Widely available in supermarkets, French skin is tough. at its best in summer, has a mildly peppery Breakfast has a milder flavour than other flavour and crisp, white flesh. western varieties. It is good served with sea Winter radish salt as a crudité. Popular in mainland Europe, this black winter radish has white, strongly pungent flesh that is dense and slightly dry. It is good in pickles, or grated and mixed with mayonnaise. The uniform cylindrical Oriental radish shape makes oriental Usually known as daikon or mooli, radish easy to slice this pure white variety grows up into neat rounds. to 46cm (18in) long. The crisp, juicy flesh is very mildly flavoured. Use daikon to add texture to raw pickles and salsas.

2 1 0 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S KOHLRABI Kohlrabi Purple kohlrabi Though similar to the turnip in flavour, Once peeled, purple Most loved in Germany, through Eastern kohlrabi’s crisp, clean-tasting flesh is kohlrabi is identical Europe down to Hungary and the juicier and at its best eaten raw. It can to the green, although Middle East, kohlrabi is gaining popularity also be lightly cooked. Peel before use. it is often more in other parts of the world. The swollen mildly flavoured. stem, which grows just above ground, sauté, or stir-fry it. Or chop and add to may be pale green or purple. Its crisp soups and stews. A traditional way to flesh combines flavours of the cabbage cook larger kohlrabi is to hollow it out family with a turnip-like taste, albeit for stuffing and then to braise it. Cook sweeter and more delicate. The leaves the leaves like cabbage. Preserved: are also very palatable. Pickle sliced kohlrabi. 1 BUY Summer and autumn are FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Butter, cream, the peak seasons for kohlrabi. If lemon, parsley. you find it with the leaves intact, CLASSIC RECIPES Kalarabeleves; their freshness will tell you gefüllte kohlrabi. about the quality of the bulb; without leaves, make sure the bulb is firm and unblemished, with a bright, light green or purple colour. Bulbs larger than a tennis ball are more likely to be tough. 2 STORE Don’t wash the bulb, just trim off the leaf stalks, then keep in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for up to a week. The leaves and stalks are more perishable, so use as soon as possible. 3 EAT Fresh: You can crunch on peeled wedges of kohlrabi as you would an apple. Use for crudités or grate into salads and coleslaw. Cooked: Both the bulb, leaves and long leaf stalks can be cooked. Cooking intensifies the turnip-like flavour of the bulb. Bake (good in a gratin), roast, boil, steam, SWEDE Cooked: Boil, steam, bake, roast, Yellow swede deep-fry as chips, or add to soups and Very similar in flavour to the This root-like member of the cabbage stews. Preserved: Include in a pickled purple swede, this has fine, family is widely grown in the cooler vegetable medley or chutney. yellow flesh. Coarsely grated raw, parts of temperate zones around the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, onions, it adds colour to a winter salad. world. Also called rutabaga, Swedish carrots, cream, lemon, nutmeg, thyme. It also suits roasting. or Russian turnip, and, in Scotland, CLASSIC RECIPE Haggis and neeps. “neeps”, it has a deep, rich, sweet flavour. The flesh is yellowish-orange to yellowish-beige and darkens a little when cooked. 1 BUY Autumn and winter are the prime seasons for swedes. Look for medium-sized roots without any rot, pits, or scars. Avoid those that have been waxed to preserve moisture – they are invariably old and the wax can seal in mould spots that hasten loss of quality. 2 STORE Swede will keep well in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for 3–4 weeks; it will lose moisture and quality after that. 3 EAT Fresh: Cut sticks of sweet, crunchy swede for crudités, or grate into salads. Purple swede This is a fine-textured variety with a mild flavour – slightly sweet with a hint of bitterness. Roasting caramelizes the juices and intensifies sweetness; boiling makes the flavour milder.

PARSNIP 3 EAT If peeling, peel thinly. Remove 211 the core from large, old parsnips, as it can Parsnips grew wild across Europe and be woody. Fresh: Cut sticks for crudités. HAMBURG PARSLEY Asia, and have been cultivated since Cooked: Parsnips are versatile, but unless Greek and Roman times. Today’s modern you intend to purée them, take care not As its name suggests, the large-rooted form of parsnips are grown throughout the to overcook as this quickly turns them this versatile herb is mostly cultivated in eastern world’s temperate zones. The flavour unpalatably soft and mushy. Steam or and northern Europe, where it is a popular of the creamy-beige root has hints of boil, deep-fry as chips, grill, roast to a vegetable. The flavour of Hamburg parsley (also parsley and carrot, but with a slight glazed crispness, braise, or sauté. Use in called turnip-rooted parsley or parsley root) is sweetness and nuttiness. soups and stews too. herbaceous and slightly sweet, like a combination 1 BUY Winter parsnips are the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Curry powder, of parsley and celeriac. The aromatic leaves are sweetest. Make sure the roots are firm, nutmeg, garlic, parsley, thyme, also edible, mainly used as a garnish. without any pitting. Look for signs of potatoes, tarragon. 1 BUY The best season for this root is winter: freshness: a pleasant aroma and no CLASSIC RECIPES Curried parsnip it becomes much sweeter after enduring several regrowth of green tops. soup; parsnip gratin. hard frosts. The tops are usually trimmed at the 2 STORE Do not wash parsnips before market, but if you can find roots with green tops, storage; simply wrap them in dry kitchen you will get two vegetables in one. Make sure the paper and put them in a plastic bag in the roots have no mould, are firm, and have a clean, fridge vegetable drawer, where they will pleasant aroma. A lot of small rootlets indicate keep for several weeks. that the root is old or has been stored too long. 2 STORE Hamburg parsley will keep well in Use the scrubbed peel a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge with other vegetable for at least 3 weeks, but will start to lose firmness trimmings to make a and sweetness after this. winter vegetable stock. 3 EAT Fresh: Grate into salads, or slice for crudités. Cooked: Bake or roast, braise, boil or steam, pan-fry, or stir-fry. Or add to soups, stews, and root-vegetable mixtures. Use leaves like parsley. Preserved: Pickle. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Chicken, fish, game, eggs, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, turnips. CLASSIC RECIPE Supa de chimen. CELERIAC heavy for their size and be firm to the touch, especially at the top where Celery root, or celeriac, grows best in the leaves emerged. cool temperate regions. The thick, 2 STORE Celeriac can be kept for up rough skin of the bulbous root to 2 weeks in the fridge, unpeeled in conceals crisp white flesh that has a a paper bag in the vegetable drawer, refreshing, lightly herbal flavour, but is best used as fresh as possible. combining the tastes of parsley and 3 EAT Fresh: Cut sticks for crudités, parsnip with celery. or grate for a salad. Cooked: Steam, 1 BUY The peak season for celeriac boil, braise, roast, deep-fry, or sauté. is late autumn through winter. Choose Or use in soups and stews. After roots that are at least the size of boiling until tender, purée and mix with a small grapefruit. They should feel an equal amount of mashed potato. Add diced celeriac with celery to PREPARING CELERIAC poultry stuffings. Preserved: Pickle You have to peel away a lot of the outer part alone or with other vegetables. to get to the crisp white flesh beneath. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, Parmesan, garlic, potatoes, parsley, 1 dill, olive oil, mustard. CLASSIC RECIPE Céleri rémoulade. 2 1 Top and tail the celeriac with a sharp knife. Using a smaller knife, remove the tough skin. 2 Cut up the flesh, dropping the pieces into a bowl of water with a piece of lemon. to prevent discoloration.

2 1 2 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S TURNIP If the tops are fresh, the turnips will be if cooked gently until just tender; too. The roots should be firm, not overcooking turns them tasteless A swollen-rooted member of the wrinkled or soft to the touch. Avoid and flabby. Boil (especially with cabbage family, turnips hail from extra large turnips, which can have a potatoes), steam, roast, sauté, northern Europe and Scandinavia, thus coarse, even woody, texture and very or stir-fry, or use in stews. preferring cool to cold weather, which overpowering taste. Preserved: Turnips can be pickled keeps them sweet and crisp. Grown as 2 STORE Keep for no more than a whole or sliced. a farm crop for at least 4,000 years, week in the vegetable drawer of the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Lamb, bacon, this delicious vegetable has long been fridge. Store them in a plastic bag to duck, cheese, apples, mushrooms, disdained as cattle fodder. There are conserve moisture, which they are potatoes, sherry. dozens of varieties sold around the prone to lose quickly in storage. CLASSIC RECIPES Irish stew; world, from white, mild globes that 3 EAT Small, young turnips can just glazed turnips; canard aux may be as small as radishes or as large be scrubbed; older turnips are best navets; torshi. as oranges, through roots shaped like peeled. Fresh: Cut into sticks for spinning tops with purple or green crudités, or grate into salads. shoulders, to sizeable, cylinder-like, Cooked: Turnips retain their freshness deep-red roots. Turnips have a fresh, slightly pungent, sweet and pleasant taste. The coarsely textured turnip tops or greens are pungently peppery. 1 BUY With all turnips, the younger the better, so look for small roots not much bigger than golf balls, ideally sold in bunches with their tops on, from autumn through winter into spring. White turnip Pure white, round turnips such as this Tokyo Cross (above) have a mild flavour and a crunchy, juicy texture, much like a radish. Turnip tops Some turnip varieties are grown for their flavourful green leaves, which can be cooked like other hearty greens or pickled. The roots of turnips Purple turnip grown specifically The familiar top-shaped turnip is usually purple fading to white for their leaves stay at the root. When small the small and are too flavour is sweet and delicate. bitter to eat.

J I C A M A | TA RO | YA M | 2 1 3 JICAMA TARO 1 BUY Taro is available year-round. Choose corms that are very hard, with Native to Central America, jicama is now As corn or maize, potatoes, and wheat no splitting, softness, pits, or mould. cultivated in every tropical corner of are staples for people who live in the 2 STORE Keep at room temperature the globe. It is a popular vegetable temperate regions of the world, so in a well-ventilated, cool place for no in Mexico, as well as in China and taro is a staple in the tropics around more than 2 days, because taro loses other parts of the Far East. The the globe. Although called a root, it is quality quickly. ivory flesh has a pleasant, mild actually a corm, or swollen stem base. 3 EAT Cooked: Steam, boil, fry, or flavour – somewhat similar to There are many varieties, ranging deep-fry, or add to soups and stews. pear or apple – and a juicy widely in size and shape, and its Once cooked, purée taro to use as texture that stays crunchy numerous names include dasheen, the base for soufflés or croquettes. whether it is used fresh or eddo, and colocasia. Large taro have Preserved: Candy pieces in syrup like cooked. It pairs well with a dense texture; smaller varieties tend marrons glacés. other foods. to be smoother and creamier when FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Sweet potatoes, 1 BUY Jicama is available cooked. Taro has a unique aroma and chilli, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, year-round, but is especially fresh flavour, like a cross between chestnuts, toasted sesame oil. in oriental or Latin American coconut, and white potato. Large CLASSIC RECIPE Hawaiian poi. markets from autumn to spring. varieties are strongly flavoured; small Choose unblemished tubers with a ones are more bland. fresh-looking sheen. Dull, older tubers will be dried out and full of tough fibres. Just before using jicama, peel off PREPARING TARO 2 STORE Keep the whole tuber, without the skin and fibrous layer beneath bagging, in the vegetable drawer of the to reveal the crisp flesh. Raw taro can cause skin and eye irritation, fridge for up to 2 weeks. If you use just so wear rubber gloves when preparing it. a piece, seal the cut side of the unused portion with cling film. 1 3 EAT Jicama, like Jerusalem artichoke, can be difficult for some people to digest, 2 so it is best to add it to your diet slowly at first. Fresh: Grate, dice, or julienne to add Small taro can be boiled or 1 Hold the taro under cold, running water and use crunchy texture to salads. Good in fruit baked in their skin, whereas a sharp knife or vegetable peeler to remove the salads, too. Cut into slices or sticks for large ones are best peeled skin. 2 Cut out any soft spots or discoloured crudités – try sprinkling them with lime before cooking. patches from the firm, moist flesh, then cut into juice, salt, and hot chilli powder, as they slices or cubes. do in Mexico. Cooked: Steam, boil, bake, stir-fry, sauté, or braise. Preserved: Pickle sticks of jicama. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Chilli, lime, avocado, mango. CLASSIC RECIPE Green papaya salad. YAM 1 BUY Yams appear year-round in steam, bake, roast, fry, or deep-fry markets, depending on supply. They as chips, or add to meat stews. There are dozens of species of yams should be firm and feel heavy in the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Eggs, cheese, and hundreds of common names for hand, with no soft spots or evidence cream, curry powder, coconut. them. They come in a wide range of of mould or pitting. The size of the yam CLASSIC RECIPE Fufu. shapes, from lumpy to round and is not an indication of quality. Solidity elongated, as well as varying widely in is. They should smell clean and fresh. size and colour. In the tropics – and 2 STORE Keep at room temperature increasingly in temperate zones where for up to a week. they are imported – they are a staple, 3 EAT Yams must never be eaten raw like potatoes, corn, or beans. Cooked, and need to be peeled before cooking. yams have a mild and starchy flavour Some types will irritate skin, so wear and a fluffy or pasty texture that readily rubber gloves when preparing. Boil, accepts savoury sauces, and they are the foundation of many meals. When cut, the flesh forms a sticky coating which should be removed. Rinse well before cooking.

2 1 4 | V E G E TA B L E S | R O OT S A N D T U B E R S BEETROOT vegetable, in the same ways as for the leaves of their close relative chard. Although beets with miniature edible Fresh: Raw beetroot, which has a very roots were eaten by the ancient earthy flavour, is sometimes grated Greeks, our modern beetroot was not as a salad ingredient. Cooked: Do not developed until the 16th century. peel before cooking, or they will bleed. Beetroot now grows in temperate Bake, roast, or boil whole; they are climates around the world. It varies done if they feel tender when pierced widely in colour, shape, and flavour, but with the tip of a knife. Slices can be the most common are globe-shaped steamed. Preserved: Pickled beets and red, with intensely coloured juice. are easy to make and keep for weeks One of the chief features of this in the fridge. vegetable is its sweetness. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, smoked 1 BUY Beetroot is available all year, salmon, soured cream, goat’s and other but is at its best from midsummer cheeses, orange, brown sugar, to late autumn. Any leaves should nutmeg, horseradish. be glossy and fresh, and the roots CLASSIC RECIPES Borscht; coleslaw. themselves should feel hard, with no mould, cuts, or abrasions on their surface. Small to medium roots are likely to be more tender than older, larger ones, which may be woody. Beetroot is also available ready-cooked in vacuum packs. 2 STORE Fresh beetroot will keep well for up to 2 weeks in a paper bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. Remove leafy tops before storing. 3 EAT If they have their leafy tops, trim these off to cook as a separate PREPARING RAW BEETROOT Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from being stained by the beetroot juice. Stalks and leaves are edible but more perishable. Separate from the bulb and use within 1–2 days. 2 Red beetroot The firm, juicy flesh of red 1 beetroot has a uniquely earthy, sweet flavour. They are best 1 Trim off the top and bottom. Using a vegetable cooked with other red vegetables peeler, thinly peel away the skin. 2 Grate the flesh or those that will absorb the coarsely for salads and to add to soups, or slice thinly seeping crimson juices. on a mandolin or with a sharp knife. PREPARING COOKED BEETROOT After cooking beetroot whole, their skin will slip off easily in your fingers. 2 1 1 Wash under cold, running water. Trim off the tops, being careful not to pierce the skin, then boil, steam, or roast in the skin until tender. Once cool, pull off the thin skin. 2 The beetroot is now ready to be sliced, chopped, or diced.

BEETROOT | 215 CLASSIC RECIPE BORSCHT Thickly textured and satisfying, versions of this peasant soup come from all over Eastern Europe. Yellow beetroot Burpee’s Golden is an exceptionally tasty beetroot with fine-textured, tender flesh. It is best when no bigger than a golf ball. Great as a contrast in a red and yellow beetroot salad. Thinly sliced and used This beetroot keep its SERVES 4 raw, the colourful startlingly bright colour 2 large red beetroot striped flesh can be when cooked and does shown off in a salad. not bleed when cut. 1 onion Striped beetroot 1 carrot Grown for looks rather than flavour, the striped variety Chiogga is much milder 1 celery stick than red beetroot. When cooked, the 45g (11⁄2oz) butter or goose fat stripes fade and the flesh becomes a uniform pink. 400g can chopped tomatoes The cylindrical shape makes these beetroot ideal for slicing into 1 garlic clove, crushed (optional) rounds of equal size for sandwiches and salads. 1.7 litres (3 pints) vegetable stock 2 bay leaves 4 whole cloves 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper 200ml (7fl oz) soured cream 1 Roughly grate the beetroots, onion, carrot, and celery stick. 2 Melt the butter or goose fat in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the grated vegetables and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until just softened. 3 Add the tomatoes and crushed garlic, if using, and cook for a further 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the stock. 4 Tie the bay leaves and cloves in a small piece of muslin and add to the pan. Bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour 20 minutes. 5 Discard the muslin bag. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. 6 Ladle the soup into warm bowls and add a swirl of soured cream to each Serve hot, with dark rye bread. Elongated beetroot The narrow, cylindrical variety Forono is mildly flavoured, with deep crimson, smooth flesh. The roots are slow to become fibrous, even when allowed to grow large.



Choose young, slim, highly coloured carrots to add sweetness and texture to salads.

2 1 8 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S CARROTS 3 EAT For best flavour, just rinse, Nantes scrub, or scrape if possible, rather than Shaped like a sausage rather than Our modern carrots are descended peeling; older carrots usually need to be tapered, this carrot is prized for its from wild progenitors that grew – and peeled. Fresh: Cut into slender sticks for superior crisp and extra sweet-flesh. still grow – in Afghanistan. Carrots as crudités. Grate or shave into ribbons for we know them were developed in salads. Run through a juicer for fresh, Holland in the 17th century, and are creamy-sweet carrot juice. Cooked: now cultivated in temperate climates Carrots are versatile in the kitchen, and around the world. In addition to the can be roasted, boiled, braised, steamed, familiar long, tapered orange carrots, sautéed, or stir-fried. When their sugars they may be cylindrical, stubby, round, are caramelized during cooking they add or finger-size, and in colour purple, deep flavour to savoury dishes. This yellow, dark red, or white. All carrots natural sweetness has also long been put have a refreshing taste and aroma to good use in sweet cakes and desserts. when very fresh, and their natural Preserved: Pickle with other vegetables sugars make them delightfully sweet. such as onions and peppers, or use to 1 BUY Although available year-round, make a sweet jam or conserve. carrots are never better than in the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Beef, lemon, late spring when they are young and orange, ginger, celery, chervil, fennel, tender. If you buy them with the peas, pine nuts, cumin, thyme, parsley. feathery green tops on, make sure CLASSIC RECIPES Carrot cake; these are fresh-looking and bright; mirepoix; potage Crécy; carottes Vichy. if trimmed there should be no mould on the top. The carrots should be firm, not limp. Avoid those sprouting thin white rootlets. 2 STORE Carrots can be kept for 2–3 weeks in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, but will lose their fresh aromas and flavours as the days pass. Remove the feathery green tops. Chantenay When full-grown these carrots are short and stubby. Their flavour is extraordinarily rich and there is no need to peel them before use. Red carrot Actually a very deep orange, this variety was bred in Australia. It has a rich flavour, perfect for raw uses like crudités and salads. Finger carrot Finger carrots stay slender and small. They are often used whole for crudités and salads rather than in cooked dishes. The vibrant colour is due to a high level of carotenoids and other antioxidants that help to prevent disease.

Imperator CARROTS | 219 A large, long, straight carrot commonly found in markets. It CLASSIC RECIPE is sweet and flavourful, and perfect for raw or cooked use. CARROT CAKE Yellow carrot Top this moist American cake with Bred in the United States and believed traditional soft cream-cheese frosting to be extra rich in lutein, a substance or simply dust with icing sugar. that enhances eye health. SERVES 8 OR MORE 215g (71⁄2oz) plain flour 200g (7oz) caster sugar 11⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1⁄2 tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, allspice, and salt 150ml (5fl oz) canola or corn oil 3 eggs 165g (51⁄2oz) peeled, grated carrots 125g (41⁄2oz) chopped walnuts 150g (51⁄2oz) sultanas For the frosting 225g (8oz) soft cheese 75g (21⁄2oz) soft unsalted butter 2 tsp vanilla extract 450g (1lb) icing sugar, sifted grated zest of 1 orange 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/ Gas 4). Grease and line a traybake tin about 23 x 30cm (9 x 12in). In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. 2 Beat together the oil and eggs, then stir them into the flour mixture until just combined. Add the carrots, walnuts, and sultanas and mix well. 3 Pour the mixture into the tin and spread evenly. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin. 4 To make the frosting, beat the cheese, butter, and vanilla together with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar. Fold in the orange zest with a spatula. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake. Remove the leafy tops Purple carrot before storing, as they The original wild carrots of Afghanistan were purple and draw moisture from new strains have regained the the roots. colour that supplies beneficial anthocyanin and lycopene along with rich carrot flavour.

2 2 0 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S SALSIFY AND SCORZONERA CLASSIC RECIPE Native to the Mediterranean region, 1 BUY Look for firm, fresh-looking into water acidulated with lemon SALSIFY FRITTERS salsify, also called oyster plant, has roots in markets from autumn to juice to prevent discoloration. Fresh: thin, light brown skin sprouting thin, spring. If flabby or wizened, they are Salsify and scorzonera can be eaten Serve these tasty Mediterranean tangled rootlets. Often confused with too old. Their tops, if attached, should raw. If leaves are young and tender, fritters as an easy side dish with salsify is another root, scorzonera, which be a fresh-looking green. Avoid roots add to salads. Cooked: Both roots meat or fish. has sepia, bark-like skin and very few that are pocked or blemished. are best either boiled or steamed, rootlets. Salsify tapers to a point, whereas 2 STORE Both salsify and scorzonera then briefly sautéed in butter. Also MAKES 4 scorzonera is a uniform thickness. Despite can be stored, unwashed, in a paper bake, roast, sauté, or deep-fry, or add the differences, both have similar bag in the vegetable drawer of the to soups and stews Preserved: Pickle 400g (14oz) salsify, peeled and cut creamy-white flesh with a flavour that fridge for up to a week. Roots can be flowers and buds as well as roots. into small, equal-size pieces recalls artichoke, and they can be used blanched and then frozen. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Parmesan interchangeably in recipes. 3 EAT After peeling and slicing, drop cheese, béchamel sauce, onions, 50g (scant 2oz) butter shallots, olive oil, lemon, nutmeg. CLASSIC RECIPES Salsify fritters; 1 garlic clove, crushed salsifis à la crème; salsify gnocchi; scallops with salsify. freshly ground black pepper Choose roots with as 1 tbsp plain flour few whiskers as possible. Trim well 1 tbsp olive oil before peeling. 1 Add the salsify to a pan of boiling Salsify salted water and cook for about Said to resemble oysters in flavour, 20 minutes, or until beginning to salsify has creamy-white flesh with soften. Don’t overcook. Drain well. a slightly dense, waxy texture. 2 Mash the salsify, then add half the butter, the garlic, and some pepper and mash again. Divide into four and shape each portion into a cake. 3 Toss the cakes in the flour to coat lightly. Heat the olive oil with the remaining butter in a non-stick pan, add the cakes, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the underside is golden. Flip over and cook the other side for about 2 minutes. Serve hot. PREPARING SALSIFY AND SCORZONERA Both roots discolour quickly when peeled and cut, so rub with lemon or drop into acidulated water without delay. Scorzonera 2 The smooth, cream-coloured flesh of scorzonera is softer and 1 more delicately flavoured than 1 Scrub the root under cold running water. Top and salsify. The skin exudes a milky tail, then peel with a sharp knife. 2 Cut across into latex when cut. To avoid sticky bite-size pieces or thinner slices. hands, boil unpeeled and strip away the skin once cooked. Scorzonera is recognisable by its bark-like skin and even, cylindrical shape.

WATER CHESTNUT | BURDOCK | LOTUS ROOT | 2 2 1 WATER CHESTNUT Once cut, immerse the BURDOCK crisp white flesh in Water chestnuts are the corms lightly salted water to Burdock is native to China, from where (swollen bases of the leaf stalks) of a prevent discoloration. it travelled east to Japan and west to tropical plant cultivated primarily in Europe. It is now grown in temperate southern China and Southeast Asia. noodle dishes for texture. Preserved: to tropical climates, most frequently They are sold canned in many Dry or pickle. In China, fresh water in east Asia. While popular in Japanese countries, but are much better fresh chestnuts are candied in a sugar syrup. cuisine, burdock has never found much and raw, when they have a sweet, FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Prawns, beef, favour in Western cultures, although it intriguing flavour and a satisfying chicken, pork, oyster sauce, soy sauce, is used to flavour a soft drink in Britain. crunchy texture. About the size and ginger, sesame oil. The Japanese, who call it gobo, have shape of a chestnut, their white flesh is CLASSIC RECIPES Chop suey; rumaki. selected strains that grow very long. covered with a tough brown skin. It has a fine, crunchy texture, and an 1 BUY Fresh water chestnuts are earthy flavour similar to salsify. most likely to be found in oriental 1 BUY Burdock roots store in the soil, markets. The corms should be firm so it shows up in markets in any season, with no soft spots or shrivelling, and but current year plantings are harvested they should smell clean. Buy a generous in autumn and winter. Look for roots that amount because much will be lost are firm rather than limp. when peeling. 2 STORE The roots will keep for about 2 STORE They can be kept, unpeeled, a week in a paper bag in the vegetable for 1–2 weeks in a paper bag in the drawer of the fridge. vegetable drawer of the fridge. Once 3 EAT Scrub well, then soak in water peeled, they will keep for up to 1 week acidulated with lemon juice for about immersed in slightly salted water in a 30 minutes to remove bitterness. covered container in the fridge. Peeled Fresh: Use very young roots like radishes water chestnuts can be frozen. in salads. Cooked: Braise, boil, steam, or 3 EAT Fresh: Slice raw into salads stir-fry. Add to soups and stews as you (even fruit salads) and oriental dishes. would other root vegetables. The Thin slices also make fine crudités. Japanese make a traditional dish of carrots Cooked: Peeling is easier after an initial and burdock seasoned with soy and 5 minutes’ blanching. Boil, steam, or sesame. Preserved: Pickle. stir-fry, or add to soups and rice and FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Shellfish, cheese, béchamel sauce, hollandaise sauce, LOTUS ROOT vinegar, soy sauce. CLASSIC RECIPE Kinpira gobo. The imposing and beautiful lotus grows in water in warm climates throughout ends are moist and sticky, not dried cooked, lotus root retains much of The long, slender roots do Asia. The “root”, which looks like large, out. Avoid roots with dark, sunken, or its texture. Blanch, then use slices in not need to be peeled. linked sausages, is really a rhizome – an soft spots. Pale beige roots are best. salads. Boil, steam, or braise to serve underground runner from which true 2 STORE Uncut whole roots can be as a vegetable; add to soups, stews, and roots grow. The flavour is mild and kept in a paper bag in the vegetable stir-fries. Preserved: Blanched slices earthy, similar to artichoke, and the drawer of the fridge for 2–3 weeks. can be candied (this is a special treat in crisp texture recalls jicama or water Once sliced, blanch, cool under cold China). The seeds are also candied and chestnut. Lotus seeds and young leaves water, and sprinkle with lemon juice used in sweets in Thailand. In Japan are also eaten. before storing in a covered container lotus root is pickled. 1 BUY Lotus root can show up in in the fridge for 3–5 days. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Citrus, garlic, markets, especially oriental shops, at 3 EAT Peel, removing the fibrous onion, coriander, chervil, star anise. any time. Look for roots whose cut sections between the links, then slice CLASSIC RECIPE Lotus root kinpira. or cut into chunks. Cooked: When When sliced across, lotus root reveals a pretty pattern of air channels.

Choose the type and variety of potato best suited to your dish – whether you need to bake it, slice it, or mash it.

P OTATO | 2 2 3 POTATO 1 BUY Autumn and winter are a good boiling, steaming, baking, deep-frying, CLASSIC RECIPE time for potatoes – then they have had sautéing, roasting – while others suit Potatoes originated in the South a full growing season and time to cure particular methods. Waxy types are SPANISH OMELETTE American Andes 8,000 years ago. in the soil before being dug up. Choose ideal for boiling and steaming, and in They are a staple food of people all firm potatoes with unbroken skins, no stews. Floury types are the best for The traditional flat omelette, known around the world, with the chief patches of green colour, and no mould baking or mashing but not boiling. as tortilla in Spain, is made with just producers located in temperate or pitting. The potato’s “eyes” should FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, ham, potatoes, onions, and eggs. regions of China, Russia, India, and be tightly closed. cheese, crème fraîche, soured cream, the US. Potatoes vary in size from tiny 2 STORE Cold turns the potato’s mushrooms, celeriac, cheese, garlic, SERVES 4 balls to large handful-sized spuds, and starch to sugar and light creates toxins onions, turnips, dill, fennel, nutmeg, 5 medium all-purpose potatoes in colour from tan to pink, red, blue, such as solanine, which turns potatoes thyme, olive oil. 300ml (10fl oz) olive oil and purple. Their cooked flavour is green, so store them in the dark at CLASSIC RECIPES Spanish omelette; 3 medium onions, quartered and sliced rich in umami: the fifth taste described cool room temperature, for example gratin dauphinois; potato gnocchi; across into thin crescents as “yummy”. in a paper bag or closed basket in a German potato salad; twice-baked salt and freshly ground black pepper ALL-PURPOSE POTATOES are dark cupboard. They can be kept for potatoes; latkes; himmel und erde; 5 eggs mid-way between waxy and floury 1–2 weeks. boxty; rösti; colcannon; Parmentier in texture, making them good 3 EAT Cooked: All-purpose potato potatoes; pommes Anna; chips; crisps. 1 Peel the potatoes and cut into slices all-rounders in the kitchen. varieties can be cooked all ways – about 5mm (¼in) thick. Pour the WAXY POTATOES keep their shape olive oil into a deep-sided, ovenproof when cooked. frying pan (preferably non-stick), add FLOURY POTATOES usually have the potatoes, and cook at a gentle a soft, fluffy texture when cooked; simmer for about 15 minutes, or until if boiled they tend to disintegrate. the potatoes are soft when you test them with a sharp knife. Remove the WAXY POTATOES potatoes with a slotted spoon and put them in a large bowl to cool. Marfona 2 Tip most of the oil out of the pan A large, smooth-fleshed (you can strain it and re-use in variety, this has a slightly step 4). Add the onions and a pinch sharp flavour. It is best of salt. Cook over a low heat until baked or boiled. the onions are soft and beginning to caramelize. Add to the potatoes and Bintje is easily leave to cool. recognized by its 3 Whisk the eggs with a fork, then pale, silky skin. pour into the cooled potato and onion mixture. Season with salt and pepper. French fingerling A quick scrub will remove Fold together gently so all the potato Like many fingerlings, this French any soil from Jersey slices are coated, trying not to break variety is low in starch. The creamy, them up too much. dense flesh has a buttery flavour, Royals, after which they 4 To oven cook, preheat the oven to and is ideal boiled or steamed, or are delicious cooked in 200°C (400°F/ Gas 6). Heat 1 tbsp of in potato salads. their skins. the strained olive oil in the frying pan until hot, then carefully slide in the Jersey Royal Bintje potato mixture, spreading it evenly in This famous heritage variety from the UK A Dutch heirloom variety, Bintje the pan. Reduce the heat to Channel Islands is one of the first to arrive has unique nutty flavour and moderately low and cook for 6–10 in the spring. The smooth, waxy flesh has a creamy texture. It excels in minutes, or until almost set. a distinctive rich, buttery flavour. the kitchen and is recommended 5 Transfer the pan to the oven and for making Italian gnocchi. cook for 10 minutes, or until set and golden. Alternatively, after cooking the first side of the omelette, invert it on to a plate and slide it back into the pan to cook the other side. 6 Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly (or completely), then slice into wedges. Serve warm or cold.

2 2 4 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S CLASSIC RECIPE FLOURY AND ALL-PURPOSE POTATOES POTATO GNOCCHI These light-as-air dumplings originated in Lazio, Italy. They can be frozen for up to one week. SERVES 4 Maris Piper A popular, main-crop potato 750g (1lb 10oz) floury potatoes grown in the UK, this has a full flavour and fluffy texture. It is 2 eggs, beaten excellent for mashing, baking, roasting, and chipping. 200g (7oz) plain flour King Edward For the sauce A famous British variety, King Edward has a full flavour and fluffy texture. It is an excellent 150g (51⁄2 oz) unsalted butter all-rounder in the kitchen due to its texture being mid-way between floury and waxy. 20 fresh sage leaves, chopped, plus a few extra leaves to garnish juice of 1⁄2 lemon freshly ground black pepper 1 Cook the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a pan of boiling water until just tender. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel them and push through a potato ricer or metal sieve so they are finely mashed with no lumps. 2 Put the warm mash on a board. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten eggs and one-quarter of the flour. Mix everything together with your hands to make a dough that is just firm enough to shape but not sticky. Add more flour as necessary, but be careful not to add too much. 3 Divide the dough into quarters. With your hands, roll each piece on a lightly floured surface to form a 2cm (3⁄4in) thick sausage. Cut into pieces 3cm (11⁄4in) long. Press each piece lightly with the back of a fork. If necessary, keep covered with a damp cloth for up to 2 hours until ready to cook. 4 Bring a large pan of water to a gentle boil. Add the gnocchi, and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain briefly on kitchen paper. Transfer to warm, shallow serving dishes. 5 While the gnocchi are cooking, make the sauce. Heat the butter in a pan with the chopped sage until the butter has melted. Add the lemon juice and season to taste with pepper. 6 Drizzle the sauce over the gnocchi. Serve immediately, garnished with sage leaves.

P OTATO E S | 2 2 5 The particularly deep-set eyes should be carefully brushed clean of any soil before baking. Edzell Blue Bred in Scotland in the 1900s, both the skin and flesh are a deep blue. It is good sautéed, or fried (as crisps or chips), but can also be roasted, or baked. It does not boil well, as the flesh disintegrates. Desiree Rooster is best boiled or steamed A Dutch all-purpose variety, Desiree in its skin to help prevent the has an agreeable flavour and a texture mid-way between floury and floury flesh from disintegrating. waxy. It is good baked, mashed, roasted, boiled, or fried. Kennebec A North American variety named after a mountain in Maine, Kennebec has a moderately floury texture and a pleasing flavour. It is excellent baked, mashed, or fried. Rooster Ireland’s favourite potato, Rooster’s floury texture makes it ideal for baking, mashing, roasting, and frying. Scrubbed and baked, the skin is pleasantly crisp and chewy, and full of flavour. Red Duke of York Vivaldi This sought-after heritage variety is noted for its full-bodied A multi-purpose variety with smooth flesh flavour. It is ideal for roasting and baking, but should be and a distinct buttery flavour. Known as boiled with care as the flesh tends to disintegrate. the butterless potato, it is lower in calories than other varieties.

2 2 6 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S WAXY POTATOES (CONTINUED) Linda This German variety is prized for its exceptional flavour and melting, creamy texture. It is popular with organic farmers. La Ratte A small variety widely grown in France, where it is renowned for its superior, chestnut-like flavour, and smooth, firm flesh. Excellent for boiling and salads. Pink Roseval A prized French variety with smooth, firm flesh and an appetizing, earthy flavour. It is good boiled or fried, and is ideal for salads. Nicola A German variety, Nicola is an ideal salad potato with firm, yellow flesh and a buttery flavour. It is also good in gratins and casseroles. Bamberger Charlotte Unique to northern Bavaria, this A high-quality French variety with acclaimed heritage variety has a nutty smooth, slightly sticky flesh and a flavour and smooth flesh that stays fresh, mild flavour. It is best plainly firm after boiling. It is ideal for potato boiled, or steamed in its skin. salads and gratins.

P OTATO E S | 2 2 7 CLASSIC RECIPE GRATIN DAUPHINOIS A great French regional dish, this gratin is rich with cream and fragrant with garlic and nutmeg. Congo Blue Red LaSoda SERVES 4–6 This striking heirloom variety A mild-flavoured North American has a full-bodied, chestnut-like variety, with a firm, smooth texture. 900g (2lb) even-sized waxy potatoes flavour, and flesh that is waxy It keeps its shape when boiled, making but slightly dry. It makes an it ideal for potato salads and gratins. salt and freshly ground black pepper unusual, colourful addition to a salad. Recognizable by 600ml (1 pint) double cream lavender-flecked purple flesh, Congo Blue keeps 1 garlic clove, cut in half its colour best when it is steamed rather freshly grated nutmeg than boiled. 45g (11⁄2oz) butter, at room temperature 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/ Gas 4). Butter a gratin dish. 2 Peel the potatoes and slice them into even rounds 3mm (1⁄8in) thick – use a mandolin or a food processor fitted with a fine slicing blade, if you have one. Rinse the potato slices in cold water, drain, and pat dry with kitchen paper or a tea towel. 3 Arrange the potato slices in layers in the prepared dish, seasoning each layer well with salt and pepper. 4 Pour the cream into a saucepan, add the garlic and a good grating of nutmeg, and bring just to the boil. Pour the cream over the potatoes and dot the top with small knobs of butter. 5 Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue baking for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and the top is golden. Serve hot, straight from the oven. Anya A cross between Pink Fir Apple and Desiree, Anya has an agreeable, earthy flavour and fine-textured flesh. Best boiled, or steamed in its skin, it can also be fried.

2 2 8 | V E G E TA B L E S | RO OT S A N D T U B E R S FLOURY AND ALL-PURPOSE POTATOES (CONTINUED) Yukon Gold Vitelotte Noire This yellow-fleshed, Canadian Also called Truffe de Chine, variety is renowned for its this is an ancient variety from buttery flavour. It has a Peru with slightly floury, starchy, fine-grained texture purple-and-white marbled and is suitable for mashing, flesh, and a mild flavour. frying, and roasting. It keeps its colour when cooked, and is best lightly boiled or steamed. The smooth, thin skin adds to the flavour, and can be left in place when boiling or roasting. Primura A large, mild-flavoured Dutch variety that is ideal for baking and roasting. It keeps it shape when boiled, and is firm enough for salads. CASSAVA 3 EAT Some varieties contain leaves as greens, or use as wrappers boiled to make a potent dark syrup cyanogenic glucosides, so it is best for food to be baked, or roasted. Use called “cassareep”, which is the basis Cassava, also known as manioc and never to eat cassava root or leaves cassava flour as a thickening agent, and for the West Indian dish pepperpot. yuca (no relation to yucca), is a thick, raw; the glucosides are destroyed by pearl tapioca in puddings and other FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Butter, garlic, club-shaped tropical root with a hairy cooking. Cooked: After peeling the sweet dishes. Preserved: Cassava is citrus, coriander, chillies. brown bark or skin and white flesh. root, bake, boil, roast, use in a stew, used in some parts of the world to CLASSIC RECIPES Tapioca pudding; Thought to originate in Brazil, it is stir-fry, or deep-fry as crisps. Boil the make beer, and in the Caribbean it is sancocho; pepperpot. now grown around the world in many tropical countries – its production in The flesh starts to shred if boiled metric tonnes is only one-third less vigorously, so to cook put peeled than that of potatoes. Although mainly chunks or slices into cold water, used to produce a starch in various slowly bring to the boil, and forms (e.g. cassava or tapioca flour and simmer gently. pearl tapioca), cassava root can be eaten as a vegetable; it has a bland and buttery flavour. The fresh leaves are also edible. 1 BUY Being a tropical root, cassava is available year-round. The roots should be hard and the bark clean, with no cracking. Avoid roots with dark interior streaks or dark areas under the skin, or any with soft spots. Look for young, fresh leaves. 2 STORE Cassava is highly perishable, so ideally should be used right away. If you have to keep it, store the whole root in a cool, dark place for just a few days at most. Once cut, wrap it in cling film and store in the fridge just for a day. Should any darkening occur, cut that part of the root away.

SWEET POTATO they are used like white S W E E T P OTATO | J E RU S A L E M A RT I C H O K E | 2 2 9 potatoes. Preserved: Slices Sweet potatoes are not related to are dried or candied in many Jewel ordinary potatoes, nor to yams, with parts of the world. With typically sweet, moist flesh, this which they are sometimes confused. orange-fleshed variety lends itself to Native to Central America, they have FLAVOUR PAIRINGS baking, boiling, mashing, and roasting. become a staple carbohydrate food It can also be used in cakes and pies. source all over the world, and are now Apples, brown sugar, widely cultivated in the tropics and molasses, ginger, maple syrup, CLASSIC RECIPE warm, temperate regions. There are honey, citrus, chilli, hickory many varieties of sweet potato, with nuts, nutmeg, thyme. SWEET POTATO CRISPS varying skin and flesh colour. After CLASSIC RECIPES Sweet cooking, orange-fleshed varieties are potato crisps; sweet potato Potato crisps were invented in 1850s sweet, moist, and creamy; those with pie; dulce de camote. New York. Those made with sweet white or pale yellow flesh have a drier, potatoes and other root vegetables firmer texture. Scrubbed and baked, the are becoming modern classics. 1 BUY Late summer and autumn are skin is pleasantly crunchy. the peak season for sweet potatoes in oil for deep-frying temperate regions; in the tropics, they 450g (1 lb) sweet potatoes are available year-round. The best sea salt (optional) tubers are firm, fat, and unblemished. They should feel heavy for their size. 1 Heat the oil in a deep pan or 2 STORE They can be kept for up deep-fryer to 180°C (350°F). to 10 days at cool room temperature, Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes never in the fridge where the cold will and slice very thinly using a mandolin hasten their loss of quality. or food processor fitted with a fine 3 EAT Cooked: Boil, steam, bake, slicing blade, if you have one. roast, deep-fry as chips, or tempura, 2 When the oil is hot (you can test the or sauté. Puréed orange-fleshed sweet temperature by dropping in a slice of potatoes are also widely used in cakes, potato: it should rise to the surface breads, and muffins, as well as in pies, and start sizzling immediately), add puddings, and custards. White-fleshed a batch of the potato slices. Use a varieties of sweet potato are spider or frying basket to lower them particularly favoured in Asia, where into the oil. 3 Fry for 1–2 minutes, or until crisp Boniato and lightly golden brown on both Popular in the Caribbean, sides. Do not overcook. Lift the sweet Boniato is less sweet and potato crisps out of the oil and drain moist than other varieties. on kitchen paper. Before serving, The flesh has a pleasing fluffy sprinkle with salt, if you like. texture that mashes and bakes well. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE Despite the name, the Jerusalem 1 BUY Winter and early spring are The skin does not need artichoke is not an artichoke: it is a the peak seasons for these tubers. peeling except for aesthetic species of sunflower native to North They should be firm and fresh-looking, reasons. Scrub well under America (the first European explorers without tears or pitting. running water and remove found the Native Americans 2 STORE They will store well in any small knobs. cultivating these tubers, which had a a paper bag in the vegetable drawer taste of artichoke). And they have of the fridge for 2–3 weeks. nothing to do with Jerusalem – in 3 EAT These tubers, raw or cooked, Italian they are called girasole, which can be hard to digest. Fresh: Slice raw seems to have sounded enough like for crudités, or grate or chop into Jerusalem to have donated the salads. Cooked: Boil, steam, bake moniker. To add to the confusion, the (like potatoes) or use in a gratin. often knobbly, bulbous tubers are also Roast, stir-fry, sauté, or deep-fry as known as sunchoke in the US and chips or crisps. Purée for soup. topinambour in France. Jerusalem Preserved: Pickle. artichokes grow easily in temperate FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Béchamel and zones around the world. Their flavour hollandaise sauces, butter, cream, is mildly sweet, nutty, and earthy; ginger, lemon juice, spring onions. when raw the texture is crunchy, CLASSIC RECIPES Palestine soup; softening when cooked. topinambours en daube.

2 3 0 | V E G E TA B L E S | S Q UA S H SQUASH SUMMER SQUASH Native to Mexico and Central The flowers of summer squash, in America, squashes were cultivated particular those of courgettes, are also for at least 7,000 years before the eaten; they are a delicacy when stuffed, European discovery of the New coated in a light batter, and deep-fried. World. Now grown in tropical and Preserved: Pickle summer squash. warm, temperate regions around the Roast and salt hulled seeds from world, squashes come in many winter squash such as pumpkin and different colours, shapes, and sizes. butternut. Pumpkin is also candied to SUMMER SQUASH are harvested be eaten as a sweetmeat. young, before their skins harden and FLAVOUR PAIRINGS (summer seeds mature. They have a moist squash) Bacon, Parmesan, basil, curry, texture and mild flavour. cinnamon, and olive oil; (winter squash) WINTER SQUASH are harvested Cheddar, Gruyère, apples, in the autumn and because of their pears, garlic, ginger, maple maturity can be stored through the syrup, sage, thyme. winter. The flesh is more dense and can have a rich, robust sweetness. CLASSIC RECIPES 1 BUY Although many varieties are available year-round, as the names Ratatouille; pumpkin pie; indicate summer squash is best in tortino di zucchine; tortelli summer, winter squash in autumn and di zucca; pumpkin tart; winter. For preference, choose small, stuffed courgette flowers; young summer squash, such as zucchini escabeche; Basque 15–20cm (6–8in) courgettes, as they talos; Asturian tortos. will be less watery. Avoid any squash with gouges, nicks, soft spots, or cuts. Yellow courgette Make sure the hard skin of winter Like the green varieties, yellow squash has no mould. courgettes have a mild, faintly 2 STORE Summer squash should be mushroomy flavour with tender used as soon as possible; keep it in a flesh and skin. Mix them with green plastic bag in the fridge for no more courgettes for a colourful summer dish. than 2 days. Whole winter squash will store well for several weeks in a cool Choose firm, young room on a bed of newspapers; if cut, fruits with glossy skin. wrap and store it in the fridge. The skin adds flavour 3 EAT Summer squashes can be eaten in their entirety, unless the seeds and texture, and does have hardened. Remove the tough skin not need peeling. of winter squash before or after cooking, as well as the central seeds Green courgette and fibres. Fresh: Tender summer Also known as zucchini, green courgettes squash can be grated or shaved into are identical in flavour and texture to yellow ribbons for a salad. Cooked: Steam, varieties. Small green courgettes are superior to sauté, deep-fry as tempura, stuff and large ones, which tend to be fibrous and bland. bake, roast, or use in soups and stews; winter squash can also be boiled. Grated summer squash is added to cake and muffin batters; puréed winter squash to pie fillings and custards. The edible flowers are fragile, so handle with care when preparing. Nip off the internal stamen before stuffing.

If the skin is slightly Round squash SUMMER SQUASH | 231 fuzzy, a quick dunk in Related to the elongated courgette, cold water will remove round squash have a similar mild CLASSIC RECIPE flavour. Their shape makes them any clinging dirt. ideal for halving and stuffing. RATATOUILLE Small ones can be stir-fried or Striata d’Italia steamed whole. This popular southern Mediterranean This Italian striped heirloom dish is delicious hot, or cold, drizzled squash has a stronger flavour Patty Pan squash with fruity olive oil. than most, and an almost buttery These flattened, scallop-edged smooth texture. It holds its shape well when squash, which come in yellow, green, or white, SERVES 4 sliced and sautéed. have thin skin and tender flesh. The greater ratio of 4 tbsp olive oil skin to flesh improves the overall flavour and texture. 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 courgette, sliced 1 small aubergine, about 225g (8oz), cut into 2.5cm (1in) cubes 1 red pepper, cored, deseeded, and cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces 150ml (5fl oz) vegetable stock 2 ripe beefsteak tomatoes, skinned and chopped, or 400g can chopped tomatoes 2 tsp chopped oregano leaves, plus 2–3 sprigs, to garnish salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a moderate heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic, courgette, aubergine, and red pepper. Fry for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently. 2 Add the stock, tomatoes with their juice, and chopped oregano. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and partly cover the pan. Cook until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally. 3 Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon the ratatouille into a serving dish and serve immediately, garnished with oregano sprigs; allow to cool and then refrigerate to serve cold. Crookneck squash Crookneck squash has tender skin, a firm texture, and a clean, lemony flavour. If the bulbous end is large, halve lengthways before cutting into chunks so that it cooks evenly. Tondo di Nizza Identifiable by its mottled pale green stripes, this round variety of summer squash has a subtle but satisfyingly meaty flavour. It is at its best when only slightly larger than a golf ball. Check the cut ends: they should be moist and freshly cut. Trim the stalk before cooking.

2 3 2 | V E G E TA B L E S | S Q UA S H Pumpkin Pumpkins are usually more fibrous WINTER SQUASH and watery than other squash. If sold in pieces, use within a few days as the flesh is more perishable once cut. Spaghetti marrow A mellow-tasting squash, this has flesh that separates into long spaghetti-like strands as it cooks. Use as spaghetti, with or without sauce, or in salads, soups, and casseroles. Delicata Turk’s Turban Also known as A distinctively shaped variety with bland, slightly sweet potato dry, yellow-orange flesh. The internal cavity is larger squash, this variety than most winter squash, so there is correspondingly is renowned for its less flesh. exceptionally smooth, moist, honey-flavoured flesh. Ideal for pumpkin pie and cakes. Red Kuri Make sure winter squash have 5cm This Japanese variety has (2in) of dried stalk attached, or they smooth buttery flesh and won’t keep for more than a few weeks a rich, sweet flavour before turning soft. reminiscent of chestnuts. It is very good in soups, and in sweet dishes too. The bottom half can be cut off and hollowed out for stuffing, or used as a striking bowl for soup.

WINTER SQUASH | 233 Bitter melon Crown Prince The juicy but bitter flesh of A renowned variety of winter squash this winter squash is made with tender, smooth-textured, sweet more palatable by lightly flesh. It is ideal roasted and puréed, blanching, then sprinkling then used in soups and cakes, or as with salt and leaving for a ravioli filling. 30 minutes before cooking. Discard the pulp and seeds first. It is easier to scoop out the flesh after roasting, because the tough, pale blue-grey skin is hard to peel off. Bottle gourd This tropical variety has a nutty flavour and a firmer texture than most other winter squash. Sliced or cut into chunks, it holds its shape well in curries and stir-fries. Winter melon As winter melon matures, When young, the squash has fuzzy, the skin develops a waxy green skin, and thick, white, sweetish coating that enables it to flesh. It is traditionally used in China be kept for several months. to make a popular soup.



The vibrantly coloured pumpkin’s nutty sweetness is ideal for warming soups, curries, and stews.

2 3 6 | V E G E TA B L E S | S Q UA S H CLASSIC RECIPE WINTER SQUASH (CONTINUED) PUMPKIN PIE Butternut squash makes a pie filling with a richer flavour and smoother texture than pumpkin. Serve with vanilla ice cream or brandy butter. SERVES 8 PREPARING Butternut squash The tough skin is hard to WINTER SQUASH One of the more common remove. It is best to cut the 1 large or 2 small butternut squash The seeds and fibres need to be removed, varieties of winter squash, squash into chunks before (about 1.8kg/4lb) as well as the hard skin. butternut has smooth, dense peeling with a small knife. flesh that becomes sweet and 3 eggs, separated 13 nutty when baked or steamed. The cavity can be stuffed. 350ml (12fl oz) whipping cream 2 Gourds 6 tbsp light soft brown sugar 1 Holding the squash firmly on the chopping board, These small, hard squashes come in cut in half, cutting from the stalk end directly through attractive shapes and sizes. They are mostly 2 tbsp caster sugar the core end. You will need a large, sharp knife to do used for decoration since the flesh is sparse this. 2 With a spoon or a small ice-cream scoop, and of varying quality. 150g (51⁄2oz) golden syrup remove the seeds and fibres from each squash half; discard these. 3 If removing the skin before cooking, 2 tbsp molasses or black treacle cut the squash into sections, then peel the sections using a vegetable peeler or sharp knife. To remove 1 tsp ground cinnamon the skin after cooking, peel it off with the help of a small knife, or just scrape the flesh from the skin 1⁄4 tsp each ground cloves, nutmeg, with a large spoon. allspice, and ginger 1 tsp vanilla extract 1⁄2 tsp salt 23cm (9in) unbaked shortcrust pastry case, 5cm (2in) deep 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/ Gas 4). Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place cut-side up in a shallow roasting tin with a little water in the bottom. Bake for 1–11⁄2 hours, or until the squash is soft and falling apart. 2 Remove the squash from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160°C (325°F/Gas 3). Scoop out the flesh, discarding any burnt spots, and measure 450g (1lb) into a large bowl. 3 Add the egg yolks, cream, sugars, syrup, molasses or treacle, spices, vanilla, and salt. Mix well with a whisk, or blend in a food processor, until smooth. 4 In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Fold gently into the squash mixture. Spoon into the pastry case, then bake for about 11⁄2 hours or until a knife inserted in the centre of the filling comes out clean. Allow the pie to cool before serving with ice cream or brandy butter. Slice off the top third and use as a lid to protect the contents when baking stuffed. Jack Be Little An attractive miniature pumpkin, Jack Be Little has yellow-orange, very sweet flesh with an agreeably sticky texture. It is good hollowed out for stuffing and baking whole.

Acorn squash WINTER SQUASH | 237 A mild-flavoured squash, lightly sweet, with firm, yellow-orange flesh, this is best Kabocha baked with a good knob of butter and Native to New Zealand, the kabocha has some brown sugar in the cavity. dense, smooth-textured, slightly dry flesh. The flavour is reminiscent of chestnuts with just a hint of sweetness. Broad ribs running from stalk to tip make this squash easy to recognize. The skin is thick and hard to cut through. It’s easier to remove after roasting the squash in large segments. Vegetable marrow An over-sized mature courgette, the vegetable marrow has a rather watery texture and bland flavour that is improved by savoury stuffings and spicy seasonings. The flesh is dense enough to be sliced thinly or cut into small cubes without disintegrating during cooking.

2 3 8 | V E G E TA B L E S | S Q UA S H CUCUMBER There is evidence that cucumbers, PREPARING CUCUMBER Armenian cucumber thought to be native to southern India, You can hollow out halves to fill with a savoury Technically a melon, this were cultivated in prehistoric times. mixture and bake. Or cut into small, neat pieces. extra-long variety, also called The wild ones are small and bitter, and Yard-long cucumber, has very people have been trying – successfully 1 thin, edible skin with no trace of late – to make them bigger and 2 of bitterness. It is at its best sweeter ever since. Cucumbers will when no more than 30–38cm thrive wherever there is plenty of hot 3 (12–15in) in length. weather and water, from the tropics to the temperate regions around the 4 Carosello Barese world, varying in their length and girth, 1 Trim top and bottom. 2 Using a vegetable peeler, peel This rare heirloom variety from and the colour and texture of their skin. away the green skin. 3 Cut the cucumber in half and Puglia in Italy has a peach-like Because of their high water content, the scoop out the watery seeds. 4 Slice or dice as required. fuzzy skin, which is best peeled. pleasantly crisp flesh is very refreshing. The flesh is crisp with a mild 1 BUY The heat of midsummer is Pickling cucumber cucumber flavour. the best season for cucumbers. Young Pickling cucumbers are typically cucumbers with soft, easy-to-eat seeds stubby in shape with solid, crisp flesh are firm when squeezed and green all that keeps its texture when pickled. over with no yellow patches. They are also good eaten raw. 2 STORE Keep in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the fridge for no Remove the peel if more than a week. Once cut, wrap eating pickling tightly in cling film, including the cut end, and use within 2–3 days. cucumbers raw. It is 3 EAT Ridge cucumbers need to bitter and indigestible. be peeled, as do pickling cucumbers if eaten fresh (the skin is left on for pickling). Smooth-skinned varieties do not. Fresh: Cut into sticks for crudités and dipping, or use in salads. Cooked: Steam, simmer, or sauté; or hollow out, stuff, and bake. Preserved: Pickle or preserve in salt. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Anchovies, cream cheese, feta cheese, yogurt, soured cream, dill, fennel, mint, tomatoes. CLASSIC RECIPES Raita; Greek salad; tzatziki; dill-pickled cucumbers; gazpacho; cucumber tea sandwiches. Ridge cucumber Shorter and fatter than slicing cucumbers, ridge cucumbers have a mild flavour and crisp, slightly dry, pristine white flesh. Peel before use. Ridge cucumbers contain small seeds that sometimes taste bitter. It is best to remove them before eating.

C U C U M B E R | C H AYOT E | 2 3 9 Burpless cucumber Instead of seeds, CLASSIC RECIPE Reputed not to cause burpless cucumbers digestive upsets, this have a jelly-like RAITA British slicing cucumber structure in the middle. is valued for its A cooling, yogurt-based dipping thin, edible skin and sauce, this is traditionally served mildly flavoured, with most Indian meals. crisp flesh. Lebanese cucumber MAKES 300ML (10FL OZ) These typically small Middle 1 cucumber, peeled Eastern fruits have thin, edible 1⁄2 tsp salt skin, undeveloped seeds, and 1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds, dry-roasted dense, crisp flesh with a 120ml (4fl oz) plain full-fat yogurt distinctive cucumber flavour. 1⁄2 tsp caster sugar 1 garlic clove, crushed Removing evenly spaced 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint strips of peel along the 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander length will create an attractive profile to 1 Finely grate the cucumber. Toss cucumber slices. with the salt and leave for 1 hour. 2 Squeeze out as much liquid from the cucumber as you can. 3 Crush the cumin seeds to a fine powder in a mortar with a pestle. Add to the cucumber with the remaining ingredients, mix, and chill. Common greenhouse cucumber Slicing cucumbers have typically thin, non-bitter skin, and undeveloped seeds. The crisp, mildly flavoured flesh is ideal for sandwiches and salads. CHAYOTE 2 STORE Place in paper bags rolled The seed has a nutty up tight and store in the vegetable flavour and can be This pear-shaped member of the drawer of the fridge; they will keep cooked with the flesh. gourd family, native to Mexico and for several weeks. Central America, has many names, 3 EAT You can eat the skin of tender, including mirliton, christophene, choco, young chayotes; peel older ones before pepinella, and custard marrow. It is or after cooking. When cut, the flesh grown and used around the world, exudes a slippery substance that can from the Caribbean to Europe to cause irritation. Fresh: Chayote is Asia and back to the Americas. Its usually cooked, but can be grated raw usefulness in widely varying cuisines into salads and salsas. Cooked: All derives from its mild flavour and methods suitable for summer squash texture, combining elements of will work well for chayote. Steam, summer squash, cucumber, and sauté, fry, grill, bake (in chunks or kohlrabi. The smooth skin is most halved and stuffed), or use for soup. commonly light green and cream, with Young shoots and flowers and starchy several clearly defined grooves down tuberous roots are also eaten. its length; the flesh is creamy white. Preserved: Pickle or use in chutneys. 1 BUY Chayotes are found in markets FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Fish, shellfish, throughout the year, coming, as they cheese, garlic, onion, chillies. do, from tropical farms. Look for small, CLASSIC RECIPE Chayotes con natas. firm fruits that feel heavy in the hand, with no cuts, pits, or soft, brown areas.

2 4 0 | V E G E TA B L E S | BU L B S CLASSIC RECIPE ONION braised, barbecued, roasted, sautéed, Brown onion deep-fried, or stir-fried. Preserved: The workhorse of the kitchen, the pungent FRENCH ONION SOUP The onion evolved across a broad Onions, especially small white onions, brown onion is used in numerous savoury swath of Central or Western Asia and make good pickles. dishes, either raw, fried, braised, stewed, This Parisian classic is given extra the Near East. From the cold north to FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, liver, boiled, or roasted. punch with a spoonful of brandy the warm south, the world’s temperate lamb, cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, in every bowl. Serve it piping hot. zones are still home to much of the mushrooms, tomatoes, peas, thyme, world’s onion cultivation. Types range parsley, bay leaves, oranges, SERVES 4 in colour from white through yellow balsamic vinegar. 30g (1oz) butter and green to red and purple, from 1 tbsp sunflower oil globe-shaped to narrow and pencil CLASSIC RECIPES 675g (11⁄2lb) onions, thinly sliced thin, and from sweet to pungent. Eaten 1 tsp sugar raw, onions vary from mild to very French onion soup; onion salt and freshly ground black pepper pungent and biting; when cooked they bhajis; soubise; pissaladière; 120ml (4fl oz) red wine may be gently savoury or pleasantly liver and onions; fried 2 tbsp plain flour sweet. Wild onions, ubiquitous in the onion rings; stuffed onion; 1.5 litres (23⁄4 pints) hot beef stock temperate zones, are usually small Alsatian onion tart. 4 tbsp brandy and pungent in both aroma and flavour. 8 slices French bread, toasted 1 BUY Onions are available year- White onion 1 garlic clove, cut in half round, but late summer through winter White onions are often intensely pungent eaten 115g (4oz) Gruyère or into spring are their best seasons. raw, but become milder once cooked. With Emmental cheese, grated They should be firm when squeezed, their crisp, juicy texture, they are ideal for with their papery outer leaves still batter-dipped, fried onion rings. 1 Melt the butter with the oil in a on, even if they are broken. Pungent large, heavy pan over a low heat. brown, white and red onions should Add the onions, sprinkle with the have small, tight necks; sweet onions sugar and some salt and pepper, have looser necks and do not store and turn to coat. Cover and cook as well. Spring onions, which are young gently, stirring occasionally, for onions usually grown as a spring crop 30–40 minutes, or until the onions and variously known as green onions, have become a rich dark brown. Take scallions, bunching onions, salad onions, care not to let them stick and burn. cebolleta, calçots, and other names, 2 Remove the lid and stir in the wine. should have bright green tops. Avoid Increase the heat to moderate and stir white onions with green shoulders – for 5 minutes, or until the wine has they are old. All onions should almost evaporated. Sprinkle in the smell clean. flour and stir for 2 minutes, then pour 2 STORE Pungent brown, white and in the stock and bring to the boil. red onions, also called storage onions, Reduce the heat to low, cover, and keep well in a mesh bag in a cool, dark simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and place. Both sweet onions and spring season with more salt and pepper, onion varieties should be used as soon if necessary. as possible, but can be stored in the 3 Preheat the grill to high. Ladle the fridge for a week or two – wrap sweet soup into flameproof bowls and stir onions individually in kitchen paper 1 tbsp of brandy into each. Rub the inside a paper bag; keep spring onions toasted bread with the cut garlic and in an open plastic bag. place two slices on the soup in each 3 EAT Fresh: Add spring onions to bowl. Sprinkle with the cheese. Grill salads or use as a garnish. Both pungent for 2–3 minutes, or until the cheese and sweet onion slices can top a is bubbling and golden. Serve at once. sandwich or hamburger or add texture to a salad. Cooked: Savvy cooks know every good meal begins by chopping an onion. With slight variations, onions can be boiled, steamed, baked, fried, PREPARING ONIONS You can dice all round onion varieties in the same way. Leave on the root end so you have something to hold while slicing. 2 1 1 Trim the stalk end and peel the onion, then cut in half lengthways. Place one half cut-side down and make cuts vertically towards and almost through the root end. Make a couple of horizontal slices towards the root end. 2 Cut vertically again, at right angles to the original slices, which will result in perfect dice.

Sweet red onion Spring onion ONION | 241 The juicy crimson and white flesh is noticeably Harvested while young and sweet, although pungent when raw. Roasting slender, spring onions have CLASSIC RECIPE caramelizes the juices and mellows the flavour. crisp, straight stems and a mildly pungent flavour. ONION BHAJIS They add zest to salads and stir-fries. Particularly popular in Britain, this traditional Indian fried snack White bunching onion is made with chickpea flour, spices, Resembling a clump of miniature and onions. leeks, these are mildly flavoured and delicious raw as a crudité or in SERVES 4 salads. The hollow green stems can 2 onions, chopped be sliced and used as a garnish. 115g (4oz) besan (gram flour) 2 tsp cumin seeds 1⁄2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp ground coriander 1 green or red chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped vegetable oil, for frying 1 In a large bowl, mix together the onions, besan, cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander, and chilli. Add enough cold water (about 8 tbsp) to bind the ingredients together to make a thick, lumpy batter. 2 Heat oil for deep-frying to 190°C (375°F). When hot, fry the bhajis in batches: carefully lower spoonfuls of the mixture, roughly the size of golf balls, into the oil. Deep-fry, turning occasionally, until golden all over. 3 Remove the bhajis from the oil using a slotted spoon, and drain on kitchen paper. 4 When all the bhajis have been fried, reheat the oil. Quickly fry the bhajis, in batches, a second time until crisp and golden brown all over. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot. Torpedo onion Calçot A spindle-shaped variety, torpedo A speciality from the Catalan onions are mildly flavoured and juicy. region of Spain, calçots resemble They contain more water than young leeks. They are traditionally regular brown onions and therefore grilled until blackened and served cannot be stored as long. with a piquant sauce.

2 4 2 | V E G E TA B L E S | BU L B S ONION (CONTINUED) Tree onion Named after its habit of producing bulblets from the top of a tall stem, tree onions are remarkably pungent. They make a flavoursome addition to salads, soups, or the pickle jar. Ramp Finely chopped bulblets come Also known as wild in handy when only a small leek, or ramps, wild amount of onion is needed to garlic, or wild onion, this add flavour to a dish. is found in the wild in parts of North America. Ramsons The leaves smell strongly of Found in the wild in Britain in late garlic when crushed, and are spring, ramsons, also known as used in the same way as garlic rampions, give off a strong garlic or spring onions. smell when crushed, hence their other names: wild garlic and bear’s Pearl onion garlic. The leaves make a verdant Harvested when tiny, pearl soup or tasty pesto, and are also onions have a mildly sweet good added to salads and stir-fries. flavour and crunchy texture. They are often used as a garnish or added to stews, or pickled for use as a cocktail onion. Lampascioni These slightly bitter, tiny wild onions are considered a delicacy in southern Italy. They are good pickled in vinegar, or added to omelettes and salads. SHALLOT FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Mushrooms, red wine, parsley, sorrel, thyme. Like its cousin, the onion, the shallot CLASSIC RECIPES Sauce béarnaise; originated in Western or Central Asia. sauce bordelaise; beurre blanc. Shallots are grown almost everywhere now, across Southeast Asia and Western French grey shallot Europe. Rather than being one bulb, like Beloved of chefs, the bulbs the onion, a shallot consists of a head of have an exceptional flavour two or three individual bulbs or cloves. – full-bodied, sweet, and Their skin is generally coppery and the piquant. They impart a rich fine flesh flushed with fuchsia or bluish pervasive flavour to many grey. In flavour they are onion-like, classic French dishes. although sweeter and more complex, but still pungent. Banana shallot 1 BUY Autumn and winter are the These juicy, single-cloved shallots, peak seasons for shallots. They should also called echalion shallots, provide be firm and dry, with no soft spots, sweet, subtle flavour to stews, sprouting, or oniony smell. braises, and soups. They are good 2 STORE Keep shallots in a cool, dark, halved lengthways, then roasted or dry basket with air circulation, never in sautéed until golden. the fridge, for up to 2 months. 3 EAT Fresh: Grate into salads, or finely slice to top sandwiches. Serve diced with pickled or creamed fish. Cooked: Roast whole peeled shallots; braise for sauces; bake in a gratin; or sauté to glaze. Preserved: Pickle whole.

LEEK | 243 LEEK leeks are tough leeks. Choose straight, steam, sauté, or stir-fry slices; braise or CLASSIC RECIPE cylindrical leeks rather than those grill whole or split. Use in soups, stews, Leeks are probably descendants of the starting to form a bulbous base. and savoury pie fillings. VICHYSSOISE wild onion found all over Europe.They 2 STORE Leeks need isolation in the FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Fish, cream, grow well in temperate zones around fridge, so store them unwashed and butter, cheese, peas, parsley, potatoes, Despite its French name, this silky the world, particularly in the cooler wrapped in a sealed plastic bag in the lemon, olive oil. smooth, cold soup was created in regions of the north. The long, vegetable drawer for up to a week. CLASSIC RECIPES Vichyssoise; New York at the Ritz-Carlton hotel cylindrical stems, consisting of many 3 EAT Fresh: Cut across into very cock-a-leekie; cawl mamigu; in 1917. layers of tightly wrapped leaves, are thin rings for salads. Cooked: Boil, frittata de prasa. white where they have been earthed SERVES 4 up and green where exposed to light. Baby leek 30g (1oz) butter When cooked, leeks have a mild A delicacy in early autumn, baby 3 large leeks (white parts only), flavour, more restrained than other leeks are tender enough to eat finely sliced members of the onion family, but they thinly sliced in a salad. They also 2 potatoes (about 175g/6oz in total), are just as pungent raw. make a tasty topping for pizzas and peeled and diced 1 BUY The best season is from early savoury tarts, and are good grilled. 1 celery stick, roughly chopped autumn to the end of winter. Look for 1.2 litres (2 pints) hot vegetable stock leeks with a long run of white between salt and freshly ground black pepper the roots and the green tops. Roots 150ml (5fl oz) double cream, plus extra should not be dried out. Quality leeks to garnish will have some “give” when bent: stiff 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives The coarse outer leaves 1 Melt the butter in a heavy pan over need not be wasted. a moderate heat. Add the leeks and Chop them roughly and stir to coat well. Reduce the heat, add to the stockpot. cover, and cook gently, shaking the pan from time to time, for about 5 minutes, or until the leeks are soft but not brown. 2 Stir in the potatoes, celery, and stock. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, stirring all the time, then cover with the lid and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are very tender. 3 Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly, then purée the soup in a blender until very smooth. (You may need to do this in batches.) 4 Pass through a fine sieve to ensure the soup is velvety smooth. Stir in the cream. Leave to cool, then chill for at least 3 hours. 5 To serve, divide the soup among 4 bowls, add a swirl of cream to each, and sprinkle with the chives and freshly ground black pepper. Round red shallot Leek Though they resemble miniature Leeks range from pencil thin to onions, these shallots have a fat-shanked giants. They add meaty delicious sweet, flowery flavour texture and flavour to all kinds of that does not overwhelm. They dishes. Unlike the onion, they do not form a rich flavour base for cause tears when sliced. numerous sauces.

2 4 4 | V E G E TA B L E S | PO D S FRESH BEANS 3 EAT Cooked: Steam or boil Helda bean edible-podded beans and shell beans. A European variety of flat Before the discovery of the New Preserved: Pickle. bean, this has tender, totally World, the only pulses available to FLAVOUR PAIRINGS Bacon, quail, edible pods and a full-bodied people in Europe were broad or fava béchamel sauce, anchovies, almonds, flavour with a hint of lemon. beans. It didn’t take long for New mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, garlic, World beans to be accepted. Today Parmesan cheese, oregano, parsley. Helda beans are at their they are grown in temperate zones CLASSIC RECIPES Broad bean dip; best when no more than everywhere and there are hundreds of succotash; loubieh bizeit; haricots 15–17.5cm (6–7in) in types, some with edible pods that are verts à la lyonnaise; birnen; bohnen length. They become eaten in their entirety and others that und speck. tough when larger. are removed from the pods for eating. The latter – so-called shell or shelling Snap bean beans – are in fact fresh versions of These round, fleshy, edible-podded beans commonly available dried. beans have a pleasantly crunchy 1 BUY Early summer through autumn texture and a slightly sweet, is the best season for buying fresh herbaceous flavour. beans. Those with edible pods should be bright green and firm: bend one and it should snap cleanly in half. Older beans, which will be dull and limp, are more likely to be tough. 2 STORE Fresh edible-podded beans and shell beans should be used as soon after purchase as possible, but if you need to store them, keep them in a plastic bag in the fridge for 1–2 days at most. Fresh beans freeze well. Broad bean Also known as fava bean, this shell bean has a unique flavour – meaty and slightly herbaceous. Broad beans are succulent and sweet while young, becoming floury and more strongly flavoured as they age. The pods of French beans are naturally tender and do not normally need stringing. Butter bean When eaten as a shelling bean rather than dried, butter beans (called lima beans in the US) have a mildly sweet, earthy flavour, creamy flesh, and slightly chewy skin. French bean This classic green bean is a summer delicacy. It has a rich, slightly earthy flavour and a tender–crisp texture. It is eaten whole, pod and beans. When cooked it remains bright green.

Yellow Wax bean FRESH BEANS | 245 The edible-podded variety Nugget has an exceptionally CLASSIC RECIPE rich, buttery flavour and tender–crisp texture. BROAD BEAN DIP The tips of the four winged This Greek or Moroccan dip is great edges should be shaved off picnic food. Serve with flatbread and with a swivel peeler as they hard-boiled eggs, or on bruschetta. can be tough. SERVES 8 750g (1lb 10oz) fresh broad beans Flageolet bean 3 tbsp olive oil A well-known shelling variety 1 small onion, finely chopped from southern France, salt and freshly ground black pepper flageolets are normally dried. 400g can cannellini beans, drained When cooked while still fresh, and rinsed they have a mild flavour and 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill creamy texture. 2 spring onions, thinly sliced Winged bean 1 Remove the broad beans from their A tropical variety, the winged pods, then slip off the skins. Set aside. bean, or asparagus pea, has completely edible pods and seeds. 2 Heat the oil in a heavy pan over It has a slightly chewy texture and a low heat. Add the onion and gently a delicious asparagus-like flavour. sweat for about 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent. 3 Tip in the broad beans and cook for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 500ml (16fl oz) water, season with salt and pepper, and partly cover the pan with a lid. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 25 minutes, mashing the beans a little during this time. Drain and allow to cool. 4 Put the cooled broad-bean mixture in a blender or food processor. Add the cannellini beans, dill, and spring onions, and blitz to a chunky purée. Season with salt and pepper. There is no need to trim off the tender tips. Purple haricot bean Purple bean These edible-podded, stringless beans A purple variety of French bean, this has are smooth-textured and crisp, with a pleasant, tender–crisp texture and fresh, a pleasantly earthy flavour. They become lemony flavour. The beans lose their purple dark green once cooked. colour when cooked and revert to a deep green.

2 4 6 | V E G E TA B L E S | PO D S FRESH BEANS (CONTINUED) Yard-long bean Noted for their unusual length, yard-long beans have edible pods that are firm but tender–crisp when cooked. The flavour is bean-like and pleasingly lemony. Just cut the stringless pods into manageable lengths before cooking. White flat bean Edamame Edible-podded when young, white flat Highly nutritious shelling beans, these beans have a juicy texture and mild are very young soya beans. They have flavour. Older beans are removed from a mild, fresh, pea-like flavour and their pods and then dried. crunchy texture. Cook simply and serve with coarse sea salt. Boil or steam the beans in their pods, then squeeze them out for eating. Runner bean Available stringed or stringless, runner beans have the classic green-bean flavour and a pleasantly crunchy texture. The edible pods are fibrous and should be thinly sliced before cooking.

PEAS | 247 PEAS Mangetout and sugarsnap peas should Sugarsnap peas be crisp and moist. Rounder and fatter than Native to Turkey, Syria, and Jordan, 2 STORE Fresh peas should be used mangetout, the edible, fleshy garden or green peas are now grown as soon as possible to preserve their pods and seeds are crunchy in temperate regions around the sweetness. Keep them in a closed and wonderfully sweet. Eat world. From the garden pea, which is plastic bag in the fridge for no more them whole or thickly sliced. removed from its pod for eating, have than 1–2 days. For longer storage, been bred two varieties with tender blanch and freeze. edible pods: mangetout and sugarsnap 3 EAT Fresh: Garden peas from just peas. Picked straight from the vine, picked pods make great eating out of garden peas are wonderfully sweet, hand. Use mangetout and sugarsnap although they lose sweetness rapidly as peas as crudités or in salads. Cooked: they are stored. Sugarsnap peas and Boil or steam until just tender. Also mangetout have a more herbaceous stir-fry or tempura-fry mangetout flavour than garden peas, with and sugarsnaps. sugarsnaps also deliciously sweet. FLAVOUR PAIRINGS (Garden and 1 BUY All peas are sweetest and sugarsnap peas) bacon, ham, onions, most prolific in late spring, although mushrooms, mint; (mangetout) cool-weather autumn crops are also almonds, chicken, mushrooms, sage. grown. Freshness is of the essence. CLASSIC RECIPES Petits pois à la Pods should be an even green, with française; risi e bisi; menestra de no brown, yellow, or decay spots. With guisantes; pea and mint soup. garden peas look for plump peas that are not quite touching in the pod; avoid fat pods with oversized peas. Garden peas Mangetout CLASSIC RECIPE Plump, juicy garden peas Also called snow peas, the flat, edible have a uniquely sweet, grassy pods and minuscule seeds have a sweet, PETITS POIS À LA flavour and a tender–crisp herbaceous flavour. They add crisp texture FRANÇAISE texture. They should be only and brilliant colour to stir-fries. lightly cooked to prevent them This traditional French dish is often from becoming starchy. The tiny peas need only made with canned petits pois when a minute or two in fresh baby peas are not available. Pea shoots boiling water. The tender leaves and tips of the pea vine are edible, Petits Pois SERVES 4–6 with an intense pea-like flavour. They are delicious A naturally small-seeded variety, steamed or stir-fried, or added raw to salads. petits pois are the sweetest of all 250g (9oz) button onions peas. They are delicious eaten 75g (21⁄2oz) soft butter raw or lightly cooked. 500g (1lb 2oz) shelled baby peas, or frozen or canned petits pois 120ml (4fl oz) ham stock or water 1 tsp sugar salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tbsp plain flour 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint or parsley 2 lettuce hearts, such as Little Gem, trimmed and finely shredded 1 Drop the onions into a pan of boiling water and bring back to the boil, then drain. Peel the onions. Melt 50g (13⁄4oz) of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook over a moderate heat for 2 minutes. 2 Add the peas and stock and bring to the boil. Skim off any froth, then add the sugar and some salt and pepper. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 5–8 minutes. 3 Mix the remaining butter with the flour to make a paste. Add this paste in small pieces to the pan, stirring constantly. The liquid will thicken. 4 Stir in the mint or parsley and lettuce, which will wilt quickly. Transfer to a serving dish, and serve hot.