The other night I happened to hear Guy Singh Watson, the founder of the well-known Riverford organic farm in Devon, talking on the radio about veg boxes. I have fond memories of Riverford veg boxes, which we used to get weekly when we lived in London. At first, as far as I remember, we couldn’t choose which vegetables would be in the box, which was usually fine but sometimes resulted in a certain amount of wastage (the cabbage family not being my favourite).
Later on, when we were able to choose, it was fun to decide which veg we wanted in the coming week. I still remember some of the lovely fresh tastes. In particular, there was a bunch of wild garlic leaves which Bob incorporated in a memorable soufflé. (See this post from sixteen years ago!) We have picked wild garlic many times since, but have never been able to recapture the Riverford flavour.
Anyway. On the radio, I suddenly heard Guy Watson say that most British cooks today are more familiar with what to do with Mediterranean vegetables – peppers, aubergines, tomatoes, courgettes – than they are with our native vegetables.
I guess that must apply to me too. My kitchen shelves are full of Mediterranean cookbooks. When searching for inspiration, I generally reach for Claudia Roden or Yotam Ottolenghi (their books, that is). But it suddenly struck me as bonkers that most of us are more conversant with Mediterranean veg than with our own. An image of my fridge popped into my head and I realised that, yes, languishing at the bottom at the end of the week were carrots, beetroot and green beans.
It’s a habit of mine to look for analogies with the world of music, and I tried to find one for this case too. Are we British musicians more familiar with what to do with German, Austrian, French and Italian products than we are with our own? I fear it may be so.
There is in my view nothing to compare with our traditional British veg in winter. Sprouts, carrots, swede, so comforting. I have recently rediscovered the joy of bubble and squeak – I keep any leftover mash and greens, add seasonings, cheese, and a little flour to firm it up, and fried in cakes and doused in gravy that makes a wonderful quick supper!
James, your enthusiasm for British winter veg is delightful. But bubble and squeak – tasty, yes, but gosh it can play havoc with your digestive system!
I don’t have that problem fortunately. I do like to eat seasonally, and to me the first Brussels sprout of the season is always a highlight of the year!
A vote for parsnips, please..
And where do Mozart potatoes fit in this musical veg discussion?
You say sonata, I say tomata.
James
Many of the vegetables thought of as being “British” such as onions, carrots, turnips, etc were actually introduced to Britannia by the Romans and originate from the Mediterranean. The Iron Age diet was far more basic. I have a book of Ancient Greek and Roman recipes in a cupboard somewhere. (It includes recipes by Apicius who was the first “celebrity chef.”) It is quite interesting to see Italian recipes with no tomatoes but my attempts to use it have always ended in disaster.
Sprouts are also Mediterranean in origin but their “popularity” in Europe originates from the post-medieval Low Countries as opposed to antiquity.
Cheers
Ian