Good Plain British Cooking

Yesterday on one TV news programme an article 'revealed' that Britain is returning to traditional dishes - cottage pie etc - that had supposedly gone out of fashion. Setting aside fashion in food - vanilla infusion anyone? coffee foam? - this was introduced as being linked to the recession. The suggestion was that until the banks lost everybody's money we had all been dining on caviar, venison and wild sea-bass. Maybe in Kensington.





Actually what has probably happened over the years is that as we advanced economically some of the nastier cheapo filler dishes have been dropped - no recent sightings of gruel - but the good ones retained. And we have added foods and dishes from cuisines from around the world, so Indian and Thai curries, Chinese, Italian and Spanish things appear regularly on the tables of those who actually do cook (and I suppose those who buy ready-meals too).





Last night we had sausages (nice herby ones), mushrooms, mash made 50/50 parsnips (cheap 'basic' bag i.e. not standard EU size - topic for a other post I think) and potatoes (our home-grown), and onion gravy. Cost for lashings for three of us about £4.25. Though I say so myself the gravy was sweet and delicious. There's nothing wrong with good plain British cooking, though there would be if you closed your eyes to other options. Tonight then a chick-pea curry, made with freshly ground spices. Which has become good plain British cooking too.

Damson Ice Cream

There is little of the weekend's cheaty damson ice cream left, for which thank the brilliant recipe of Nigel Slater, simultaneously our most interesting and annoying cookery writer, at least of those to whom I offer house room. I lifted the recipe, if something so simple merits the term, from Tender II. Buy a tub of decent supermarket custard (the cheaty bit), pick twice its weight in damsons, wash them then simmer with sugar to taste for about 10 minutes, leave to cool (eventually in the fridge) then sieve and combine the puree with the custard and whirl it in the ice cream maker. Fantastic colour, sharp fresh taste, lovely.





The annoyance part comes from a) calling too many things favourites and comfort food; b) his often prissy writing style, (reflected in the font used in the book). As a pastiche: Take 500g damsons. Nice ones the size of a sparrow's egg. Their blush as pure as a novice nun's thoughts. And sugar. Introduce the damsons in a pan to a bustling heat.





So I will buy his next book for the excellent ideas. And grit my teeth while reading it. And make more damson ice cream. Lots. Aargh, it's catching.