January
It’s time to forget about the boiled, mushy greens of our past and rediscover how versatile and delicious vegetables from the cabbage family can be, says Tom Norrington-Davies.
The Welsh celebrate them, and with good reason; they're synonymous with comforting potato and cheese dishes but are just as tasty served on their own.
The kingly scallop is available all year round, but the cold winter months are the best time to eat these delightful morsels.
January is surprisingly rich in fresh produce. Scallops are succulent, leeks are a must, and it's your last call for goose.
The orange fruit is not only so juicy it makes your eyes water, it fights depression. Hooray! We feel better already.
The comfort zone
Root veg taste right for the time of year and contain more nutrients than their well - travelled cousins, says Tom Norrington - Davies – but there is nothing wrong with using storecupboard exotica to ‘zhush’ them up a bit.
I’m stuck. I want to use a word that I don’t know how to spell. It’s one of those wonderfully descriptive verbs you get to use in cookery, like jiggle or drizzle. The word is juzsh…or is it zhush? It sounds like a drunk person saying shush. You ‘zhush something up’ like you ‘jazz it up’. ‘To zhush’ probably has its roots in somebody’s cultural heritage, like ‘schmaltz’ (a Yiddish word for the fat on top of chicken stock, in case you wondered). Sadly, I can’t even Google ‘zhush’ properly because of the whole spelling issue. (Google – now there’s a good verb. Apparently you have really cornered a market when you become a verb, like Hoover.)
Anyway, back to the subject. I want to use the word ‘zhush’ because I think January is a month when ‘zhushing’ is rather important. I’m often cornered at parties by people who tell me they dream of being seasonal and hanging out at farmers’ markets every weekend, which is clearly what they think I do for a living. Trouble is, in reality they find themselves dragging trolleys full of Peruvian asparagus across the car park of Food Miles ‘R’ Us because otherwise they’d have to live on root vegetables.
Seriously, I’ve had this root vegetable conversation a hundred times. The problem is one of image.
We find ourselves with trolleys full of Peruvian asparagus from Food Miles ‘R’ Us because otherwise we would all live on root vegetables
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If any group of vegetables needs a makeover, this is it. Tubers and roots speak to us of austerity; of Scottish mashed neeps or Russian borscht. Never mind that both dishes are utterly wonderful.
I eat a lot of root vegetables at this time of year because I find seasonal cooking gives me a buzz. The food feels right – that sweet edge to swedes and parsnips is just what you need when it’s hideous outside. The sweetness of tubers counteracts the bitterness of winter greens, too. They were made for each other. The snap of raw carrot, fennel or celeriac will do more for your salads than imported beans or tomatoes, and they will be better for you as well, as local food won’t have lost vital nutrients in transit.
But there is no point in me telling you what’s good for you. Where is the fun in that? This leads me back to my mystery word. This is the time of year that I’m ‘zhushing’ like there is no tomorrow. I’m a storecupboard fanatic at the best of times but there is something wonderful about having a stash of goodies in house, ready to ‘zhush up’ whatever you bring home.
In the recipes that follow, I’ve deliberately chosen storecupboard items that we don’t associate with winter food – such as anchovies, capers and olives, and chillies, ginger and other Asian spices. These are the items I’m happy to source from afar. Besides, I love the excuse to mooch (there’s another great verb) in delis and oriental food shops, whatever the weather.
Try
Jansson’s temptation
Prawns with carrots, chilli and cumin
Pumpkin and peanut curry
Wintry nicoise
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