Back to the old brown chair in the reading room for a browse through my stacks of old books and piles of magazines.
(I really should throw some magazines out - am I the only person in the world who seriously believes I'm going to read them again?)
Here's an old Spectator containing an irregular column by one of my favourite food writers, the late Jennifer Paterson. Miss Paterson didn't start out as a writer, I believe she was the cook for Spectator staff. One can only imagine the parties they threw, especially if Low Life columnist Jeffrey Bernard were in attendance.
Jennifer Paterson subsequently made a television series with Clarissa Dickson Wright for the BBC entitled Two Fat Ladies, in which these magnificent, slightly eccentric middle-aged spinster types clatter around the countryside on an ancient British motorcycle with sidecar, cooking catering-style for a variety of people and situations. They paid no lip service to any food fad or trend - how refreshing - and lard looms large.
Jennifer Paterson's columns were full of the kinds of anecdotes and arcana that characterised the TV series; along with some wonderful old recipes, which the author insisted on calling 'receipts', an archaic but correct term.
Here's a 'receipt' from The Spectator of 13 March 1999, a column which Miss Patterson wrote in anticipation of St Patrick's day.
Beef and Guinness Stew
2lbs of lean stewing beef
3 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of plain flour
salt and fresh-ground pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper,
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
half a pint of Guinness
8 oz of carrots, cut into chunks
sprigs of thyme
Dissolve the tomato puree in 4 tablesponns of hot water. Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, cut into 2-inch cubes and toss them in a bowl with one tablespoon of oil. Season the flour with salt and pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Place in a plastic bag and toss the meat in it until thoroughly coated. Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and brown the meat rapidly on all sides to seal it. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about five minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan into a casserole. Pour some of the Guinness into a frying pan. Bring to the boil, stirring to get any meat juices or titbits left in the pan. Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness. Add the carrots and a sprig or so of thyme. Stir, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Cover with the lid and simmer very gently until the meat is tender, 2-3 hours depending on the meat. Or you can cook it in a low oven, Gas 2, 300F, 150C. Taste and correct seasoning. Serve, scattered with a lot of chopped parsley and champ colcannon or plain boiled potatoes.
(I really should throw some magazines out - am I the only person in the world who seriously believes I'm going to read them again?)
Here's an old Spectator containing an irregular column by one of my favourite food writers, the late Jennifer Paterson. Miss Paterson didn't start out as a writer, I believe she was the cook for Spectator staff. One can only imagine the parties they threw, especially if Low Life columnist Jeffrey Bernard were in attendance.
Jennifer Paterson subsequently made a television series with Clarissa Dickson Wright for the BBC entitled Two Fat Ladies, in which these magnificent, slightly eccentric middle-aged spinster types clatter around the countryside on an ancient British motorcycle with sidecar, cooking catering-style for a variety of people and situations. They paid no lip service to any food fad or trend - how refreshing - and lard looms large.
Jennifer Paterson's columns were full of the kinds of anecdotes and arcana that characterised the TV series; along with some wonderful old recipes, which the author insisted on calling 'receipts', an archaic but correct term.
Here's a 'receipt' from The Spectator of 13 March 1999, a column which Miss Patterson wrote in anticipation of St Patrick's day.
Beef and Guinness Stew
2lbs of lean stewing beef
3 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of plain flour
salt and fresh-ground pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper,
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons of tomato puree
half a pint of Guinness
8 oz of carrots, cut into chunks
sprigs of thyme
Dissolve the tomato puree in 4 tablesponns of hot water. Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, cut into 2-inch cubes and toss them in a bowl with one tablespoon of oil. Season the flour with salt and pepper and a pinch or two of cayenne. Place in a plastic bag and toss the meat in it until thoroughly coated. Heat the rest of the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and brown the meat rapidly on all sides to seal it. Add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the pan, cover and cook gently for about five minutes. Transfer the contents of the pan into a casserole. Pour some of the Guinness into a frying pan. Bring to the boil, stirring to get any meat juices or titbits left in the pan. Pour onto the meat with the remaining Guinness. Add the carrots and a sprig or so of thyme. Stir, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Cover with the lid and simmer very gently until the meat is tender, 2-3 hours depending on the meat. Or you can cook it in a low oven, Gas 2, 300F, 150C. Taste and correct seasoning. Serve, scattered with a lot of chopped parsley and champ colcannon or plain boiled potatoes.
I really loved the Two Fat Ladies, and each time I see their cookbook at Books For Cooks I really am tempted. I do enjoy the way they were not tempted by any fads, and there are a lot of good, classic recipes in there. Unfortuntaly, it's hardback and quite expensive. One day...
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, my Italian nonna calls her recipes 'recipts' - in Italian it is 'ricetta'. My mum always laughed, thinking it was bad English, until I pointed out why she said it.