This beef pie has a very British feel to it, despite its French origins. I was asked exactly what makes it French, and I must admit to struggling to find an answer. There’s some garlic in it, I suppose, and it has that general feel of traditional French cooking…simple, practical, thrifty and generous of flavour…but [...]
I’ve said this before, many times, but it bears repeating – the best thing about cooking is the transformation of unpromising ingredients into something better. Take this dish… normally, I’d never dream of eating a piece of brisket without at least a couple of hours on a low heat, let alone raw, but here it [...]
Moroccan cuisine is rich with influences that betray the country’s history as a strategically important place, with distinct Arabic influences laid over more obvious North African traits. There’s also Moorish and European influence in there, too, pointing to Morocco’s closeness to Spain, and its position as a gateway to southern Europe. The tagine is emblematic [...]
Most meat-based curries from the sub-continent use lamb, mutton or goat as their core ingredient. Beef isn’t used widely, mainly for religious reasons…the Hindu sacred cow is never destined for the pot. Traveling around India, you quickly become used to the sight of cows wandering around the streets, unflustered by the traffic mayhem around them, [...]
There isn’t much cooking involved here, just a little frantic scorching and some very thin slicing. The seared crust of the beef is given a gutsy punch from an excess of rosemary and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. The brief cooking time leaves the centre of the meat entirely raw. It almost goes [...]