Wednesday 1 December 2010

Desert Island Ingredients...

Following on from my last post about some of my favourite cookbooks....and I realised that I left out one that I use just about every day:

this is an absolute bible for bakers who need lots of frequent inspiration...I can't recommend it highly enough really!

Anyway, now that I've rectified that omission, I thought I'd start a new debate: what are the ingredients you'd take of you were stranded on a desert island? Of course, we'd have to assume that there were decent cooking facilities there and that the island was well-stocked with meat, fruit, vegetables & fish...! I really mean those 'storecupboard' items that tend to be used most often in your kitchen!

I'll start:

Lemons - totally indispensable as far as I'm concerned! I use them such a lot...sweet, savoury, to season & sharpen up dishes galore.

Chilis - I'm fairly addicted to their heat & add them to lots of dishes that don't list them as an ingredient...like tomatoes on toast, sauteed broccolli, minestrone soup. I don't think I could live without them.

Similarly, black peppercorns - Paul & I are renowned for reaching for the pepper grinder immediately. I just love it's flavour & gentle heat.

Coffee. Just one cup. Black. Every morning. But it has to be real...

Rice - every type, every colour. I could eat it at every meal - if I wasn't eating....

Pasta! Spaghetti, preferably. i don't know why but I'm not really a 'shapes' person. Bizarre!

Tomatoes - so versatile, so delicious. I could sun dry them, eat them raw...

And I'd have to have a pulse of some kind.But I really can't choose between chickpeas and black-eyed beans. So I'd have both!

Of course, normally I'd be adding Maldon salt to my list. But I'm assuming that I'd be able to make my own by using the seawater that laps the shores of my incredible restaurant-kitchen-type island!

So let me know your thoughts...I know that I'll think of a few more necessities as soon as I publish this post, but I think I've included the ones that are most important to me!

It's so cold here right now, although we seem to have been bypassed by all but a smattering of snow so far. I'm eating far too much. Every cup of warming tea has to be accompanied by a slice of madeira cake, every glass of wine by a handful of smoked almonds. But I'm telling myself that I need the extra calories to keep warm!

If it's cold where you are, wrap up well and eat plenty! xo