Tom Cooks!

We’ve been on our annual jaunt to see cheery chums in Portugal. There’s a lot more to the cuisine of that country than people think. Here’s a recipe which I picked up. It’s vegetarian (as promised for this month), though I think I’d be tempted to use chicken stock. The recipe suggests flat green beans.…

It takes a special group of people to set up a restaurant and simultaneously to poke fun at themselves. When David and Kay Canter and friend Daphne Swann opened Cranks in in London in the early 1960s, that is precisely how vegetarians were regarded. This was pre swinging London, but the Carnaby Street location certainly…

Last week I declared that in the month of March, Tom Cooks! would be a meat free column. I noticed that we are still in February, so I’m meeting you halfway, reproducing one of the dishes which Binkie Johnston enjoyed at the Tsar’s table in 1914. Those of you with decent French will have noticed…

Tomorrow I intend to start counselling. It will be short and I’m sure it will be successful. For the past few weeks I have been manifesting an obsession with coconut. Today, it ends. I did mention on Wednesday that for many of us in the UK coconut is an ingredient which we find only in…

Last week, a mutton curry: today, a couple of side dishes which might go with it. You’ll find daal everywhere, but the addition of coconut which you get in the Sri Lankan versions is a delight. Coconut Daal Ingredients 250g red lentils; 10 to 12 curry leaves; 1 tbsp onion finally chopped; 2 x 2-3…

Nuwan Wejitha This was one of the most glorious dishes I ate during our Sri Lankan tour. For breakfast, naturally. While I did occasionally go western at the start of a day – usually because we were sated from the night before – you don’t go to Sri Lanka to eat western food. Your curry…

As a young solicitor, the wisest advice I ever got was from a grizzled surveyor. How much do you reckon that’s worth? I asked. The answer came with a kindly twinkle. Are you buying or selling? So I’ll pose a question, and give you a similar style answer. Canapés, yes or no? My response is, are you…

In Wednesday’s On The Side, V was for venison. In what’s now a Tom’s Food! tradition (and it’s a good time of year for such things) what we blether about on a Wednesday we cook on a Friday. Two recipes today. The first is a fairly simple stew. When it comes to such things, simple…

This is the third and final extract from Jay Rayner’s excellent Nights Out At Home. The recipe is inspired by a Henry Harris recipe for rabbit in a mustard sauce. Harris made this famous in a restaurant called Racine. He is now back behind the stoves in a reasonably new venture called Bouchon Racine, above a…

Perhaps unsurprisingly, these extracts from Jay Rayner’s Nights Out At Home are going down a treat. The tale of the metre long cheese toastie (OK, I exaggerate slightly) boosted circulation. For those who have missed the review of the book itself and the previous article, a very brief explanation. I suggest not that Mr Rayner would…

It’s Masterchef The Professionals time again. It’s the only one I watch. Masterchef for punters just depresses me by demonstrating how far my moderate culinary talents lag behind those of serious amateur cooks. And the so called Celebrity version? How many of us can recognise more than twenty percent of them? Every year, I swear…

I suspect this is the first time that Scripture has ever been quoted in this blog. Despite that, even in this godless age, I’m sure you’re all familiar with Matthew 7:7, Ask and it will be given to you.  Or perhaps the complementary Scottish saying, if ye dinnae ask, ye dinnae get. These are the texts…

The response to last week’s column about Scotland’s national dish reminded me how much we love a pie. I tend not to repeat recipes; however, today’s is one which still features in the stats tables, despite nearly five years having elapsed since it was first published. Many of you weren’t readers in these far off…

As autumn sets in, we return from exotic climes and contemplate food from home. Now hands up those of you who thought that the national dish of Scotland was haggis? Nay, my lovelies, you are sadly mistaken. Special occasions here and it has to be steak pie. Weddings, funerals and, for all I know, bar…

This will, I promise, be the last article to stem directly from the September trip to Italy. For some bizarre reason, not all of you are Italophiles. Pansotti con Salsa ai Noci In a recent article about the food of Liguria, I mentioned salsa ai noci. The plan was to give you a recipe for this…

In this week’s On The Side column (part 2 next Wednesday) I was being a little smug at having uncovered some of the regional food secrets of Liguria and Piedmont. I’ve always been fond of vitello tonnato and am describing it as a Piedmont specialty. As an aside, I have no idea why that should…

With us having spent the best part of September in Genoa, you would be forgiven for expecting a string of Italian recipes. Fret not, they’re coming soon. But you may remember a review of Ting Thai, and its wonderful, authentic Thai curries. That’s a dish which is almost up there with chicken tikka masala on…

We all do it from time to time, don’t we? Pick up a familiar ingredient from the shop or the freezer and do the same old thing with it. In this case, half of a pork fillet. I was blown away by the food at Macau Kitchen. In particular I raved about the aromatic crispy…

On Wednesday, I touched on some of the problems of recipe writing. Other issues can involve sheer carelessness, which brought this particular one to mind. It’s broadly based on a recipe which I found online. Step 2 instructed the reader to add the garlic, oregano, cinnamon and chilli. The observant among you will note that…

Chefs! You just have to speak sharply to them. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve eaten a dish in a restaurant, recreated it at home, and discovered that my version wasn’t as good as theirs! Whose fault was that? The answer is obvious, hence the need for sharp talk. Folk will tell…

With a forthcoming trip to Genoa and a burgeoning basil plant, pesto seemed an appropriate candidate for Tom Cooks! this week. Looking at the city’s many attractions, I note that there is a plethora of classes are available to teach you how to make this sauce which the Genoese call their own. Two things won’t…

This week, in case you hadn’t noticed, is in The Ritz, 100% upmarket. Don’t worry until the bill arrives. Today’s classic is one of a few dishes which they feature in the Arts De La Table section of the menu. For the non French speakers among you, this translates as Pure Swank. The menu continues,…

Eagle eyed readers will have noted over the years that following a Food Alphabetical column on a Wednesday, Tom Cooks! on the Friday generally uses the featured ingredient. This week, reluctantly, featured tequila. I did say in conclusion that I’d rather have a bowl of strawberries. So that settles it for this week’s recipe. Well,…

Not my title, unfortunately. It belongs to Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham. This fabulous little book was published exactly thirty years ago. Voted the most useful cookbook of all time, it once knocked Harry Potter (then at the height of his fame) off the top of the book charts. It takes 40 ingredients and provides…