Resident Chef - August 2007
Fashion has done it, automotive has been there and the music industry does it every few years, and now, in the world of food and entertaining, ‘Old is the new ‘new’’. It is no longer the done thing to serve your dinner guests a meal full of Espuma’s and jellies’ essences and aromas. That was yesterday’s thing. Tomorrow you are going to be expected to rustle up a meal which will either make your parents and grandparents positively cringe or glow with nostalgia.
Yes, believe it or not the semolina pudding you were forced to eat at school, the blancmange which makes you shudder at the thought (even after all these years) and the spotted dick which left a generation bloated with its fat-laden weightiness are all set to return with a vengeance.
Why, I hear you whimper? Fear not, as with all things which once were great (or not so great) we are now able to revisit the ‘classic’ recipes and refine them, slightly tweaking and twisting until we can produce a lighter, more lifestyle-friendly version that is more suited to today’s palate.
Some of you might recall Heston Blumenthal’s series In Search of Perfection in which he took a look at some classic dishes from our past and perfected them using the science behind the cooking. And Marcus Wareing, who recently released a book called How To Cook The Perfect… aims to demystify some of the homely classics by explaining the whys and wherefores, giving you enough insider tips to pull each recipe off with ease and aplomb.
With a range of products now available on the market, you needn’t worry about your GI or clogging your arteries with hydrogenated fats and filling your body with free radicals. With a tiny bit of research and some common sense you can create desserts to die for. Not literally, obviously. Xylitol as a sugar substitute, goji berries in your fruit salad, blueberries in your fool, gooseberries in your syllabub and for the occasional treat, why not revisit the wonderfully moreish treacle tart or knock up a quick crumble with all of your favourite fruits and a large dollop of vanilla ice cream?
So next time you have a dinner party, forget the balsamic strawberries with muscovado jelly and dish up a classic Eton Mess or a wonderfully refreshing fruit fool and as we are at the height of the red fruit season, it makes even more sense to use the best of what is around at a pick-your-own farm near you for a fraction of the price you pay off season (not that you would ever buy off season now you’ve been reading my column…of course)
And although it may seem a little old-fashioned right now, before you know it, everyone will be reaching for their Fanny Craddock in search of the classics to impress their guests with. For the best in home delivery for your retro recipes, visit www.luciesfarm.co.uk or telephone 01905 830 380.
Chris Staines is Head Chef at Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA, 020 7201 3723
www.mandarinoriental.com/london