Cooks and books
Pt jolitijoRL, • I HAVE a little collection of cook books to bring to your attention. They seem to appear weekly: these are just a few you might be interested in. There is the huge and grand Cuisine Naturelle, by Anton Mosimann (Macmillan, £14.95), who although one of the great chefs by any standards doesn't allow any butter, oil, cream or alcohol, which in the. immortal words of the great cellist Janos Starker (I was lucky enough to be seated beside him at a Mosimann repast) is like trying to get to bed with a woman and finding no bed and no woman. Most of the receipts require the full backing of the Dorchester kitchens and its produce, I would think. Who of us mortals has six types of wild mushrooms at hand to make the curiously illustrated terrine sitting on a sinister black octagonal plate? One of the simpler re- ceipts is the boiled veal tongue with a chive sauce, this seems quite sensible and possi- ble, and serves four people:
1 veal tongue I sliced onion 1 small leek trimmed and sliced 1 medium carrot peeled and sliced
Salt, pepper and bay leaf
Sauce
3/4oz chives finely cut and 8 more for garnish
4 fl. oz of the tongue stock strained 8 oz fromage blanc (he makes his own) juice of 1/2 a lemon salt, black and cayenne pepper
Wash the tongue well. Place the veget- ables and bay leaf in a saucepan with the water, season with salt and ground pepper, bring to the boil. Add the tongue and simmer gently for 11/2 hours until tender, skimming occasionally. Remove tongue from the stock, cool, skin and remove any fat and gristle from the root end. Return to the stock to keep warm. For the sauce, liquidise half the cut chives in the mea- sured stock, mix in the fromage and rest of the chopped chives. Season to taste with the lemon juice, cayenne, salt and ground pepper, warm very gently. Remove tongue from the stock, carve into thin diagonal slices, and serve with the sauce, garnished with two inch pieces of chives.
There are two new books to please the more adventurous vegetarians. John Tovey's Feast of Vegetables (Century, £10.95) which is an alphabetically arranged book of starters and main courses, quite useful when you can't think what to do with an endless supply of vegetables all coming up at the same time if you are the gardening type. Then there is Colin Spencer's Cordon Vert (Thorsons, £10.95), which comprises 52 vegetarian gourmet dinner party menus. I would go mad if given a totally veggy meal, though he does allow eggs and good rich puddings, but all his dishes and could be well used as any part of an ordinary honest to God feast.
Now we come to my two favourites. George Lang's The Cuisine of Hungary (Penguin, £8.95). This has been out since May I think and is a perfectly splendid book with an excellent and exciting history of Hungarian food through the centuries. The receipts are mouth-watering and full of original and captivating mixtures. Scrambled eggs and calf's brains for inst- ance, which is a traditional appetiser in Hungary. What a good idea.
Finally, Frances Bissell's A Cook's Calendar, a truly lovely book of seasonal menus (Hogarth Press, £10.95). She is what I would describe as a cook's cook, no rot, everying in its rightful context exuding comfort, expertise from experience and creating a longing to get down and try the menus. Not much room left, so here is her stuffed squid, to serve four to five people: 16-20 squid about 5" long 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chopped onion, 3 cloves of garlic crushed 2 chopped tomatoes Vs pint dry white wine 8 oz cooked rice Salt, ground pepper, fresh coriander leaves or parsley
Rinse the squid in the sink. Pull the heads off. Cut the tentacles off and set aside. Peel the mottled skin off the body and remove the two triangular flaps, put them with the tentacles. Remove the `backbone' from body then squeeze it to get rid of anything inside. Rinse again. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan, fry the onion first then add the chopped tentacles, flaps and garlic until the squid becomes opaque, then add the tomatoes, herbs, seasoning and rice. Stuff the squid bodies with this mixture, lay in a greased oven dish, pour the wine and remaining oil over, cover with foil and bake in a heated oven Gas 4, 180C, 350F, for ten minutes.
Serve sprinkled with fresh herbs and a salad on the side.
Jennifer Paterson
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