In At The Deep End - Literally!

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Were your childhood monsters in the wardrobe or under the bed? Jake Tilson’s monsters were in the attic. They sprang from a book he discovered there, illustrating the violence to be found beneath the sea – bloodied waters during a dolphin attack, and “gaping, skeletal jaws of a great white”.  To tackle his fear of all things fishy, he undertook to cook his way out of his phobia.

Venice...

Even if you never cook a morsel from In At The Deep End, it is still a great read for the armchair cook/traveller. We start off in Jake’s family kitchen in Venice (brings back some lovely memories for me as I honeymooned in that strange and lovely city). Venice is photographed as if by tourist camera.

We travel with the Tilson family (Jake, his wife, Jeff and daughter, Hannah) to Sweden, and experience such luscious dishes as Jansson’s Temptation and Gravadlax.  Sprats feature quite a lot in this section in one form or another as do fishballs. I’d like to have seen a greater range of dishes in this section. Jake raises his concerns about over-fishing and gives some advice on how to fish local!

It was this big...

 Aberdeen in Scotland is next – again with the tourist photos, which work extremely well. It wouldn’t be Scotland without kippers and we get a bbq, several pates (or does he mean pâtés?), and potted kippers as well as a crab soup called Parten Bree. There is a lovely collage of tiny houses (some barely more than sheds) in the village of Footdee - or Fittie to the locals.

We cross an ocean to New York for the next leg of the trip and make Salmon and Dill Baked Fish Cakes using canned Alaskan salmon. I can’t bear tinned salmon so someone else will have to try this recipe and report back. I’ll happily try the Crab Cakes with fennel and tarragon though.

You needn't shell out to make a fabulous seafood meal...

Jake gets a commission to write about Australia, so with a wave of his magic wand – ok, just turn the page – and we land in Sydney. We’re straight into one of my favourite foods – mussels – and he’s grilled them three ways – with feta, pinenuts and mint, with chilli and coriander, with nuts and garlic. Yum, yum, and yum! There are a few fish in this chapter that I know I am not going to be able to get at my local market, but hey, if I get to Australia, I’ll know how to cook barramundi and red emperor. Meanwhile, I can substitute similar local varieties.

Japan is next where Jake discovers that no morsel of fish is wasted. After all the exotic travel, it is rather deflating to end up in Peckham for the final chapter of the book and as if Jake feels this, he carries the influences through to the first dish in this section – fried fish with wilted herbs and noodles.

Pasta is kinda noodles right?

The whole book hangs together extremely well so it is no surprise to learn that Jake is the designer and photographer as well as the author.

I’m not going to cook everything from this book, but it is a book I shall enjoy reading for many years to come, with as much a right to space on the bedside table as on the kitchen bookshelf.

(Review copy supplied by Quadrille Publishing. Opinion supplied by Hester Casey!)

In At The Deep End  by Jake Tilson
Quadrille Publishing
ISBN 9781844009756
Price: £20.00

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Catherine’s Italian Kitchen – simple, but magical

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With my collection of recipes spanning seven centuries and five continents, I have finally run out of space for cookbooks. Any new cookbook entering the house means ruthlessly letting go of one that no longer earns its place: gone are Gary Rhodes, Michael Barry, Ken Hom and Nico Ladenis. Keith Floyd is teetering on the edge, poised to make room. A cookbook has to ‘bring to the table’ something that isn’t already on the shelf.

Reading the contents of Catherine Fulvio’s new book (sent to me by Gill & McMillan), Catherine’s Italian Kitchen, I am glad it is not a menu otherwise I would starve before I could narrow down the dishes to the bunch I would like to try first. This is my kind of food – all of it - simple, but magical.

If I were forced to choose, then I might start with the Marinated Aubergine with Goat’s Cheese and Herbs from the Antipasta, Starters and Salads section. This dish takes about 15 minutes to put together and would make a delicious starter or a light lunch. While that was cooking I would nibble on a variety of breadsticks – salt, cumin/poppy/sesame seed, or black pepper and rosemary.



I would have difficulty choosing the main, but would probably settle on a glorious fish dish – Sea Bass with Fennel and Garlic, or Seafood Skewers with Lemon, Almond and Rocket Couscous. There are plenty of robust flavours to choose from in a variety of sides.

Then, if I still had room, I’d plump for the Hazelnut and Orange Honey Tart or the Amaretto and Almond Truffle Torte or perhaps a homemade icecream.

The recipes use good, simple, easily obtained ingredients. The steps are short and clearly explained. The book is full of mouthwatering food photos by Hugh McElveen with a variety of ‘on location’ photos taken in Rome and Sicily by Rory McCabe adding local colour.

This cookbook will not be ousting one from the shelf for the simple reason that it will be joining Elizabeth, Julia, Delia and other selected favourites in my kitchen, and acquiring that unmistakable cook’s seal of approval – a patina of splatter and splashes from frequent use.

Catherine’s Italian Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio

Published by Gill & Macmillan

ISBN 978-0-7171-4806-6

List price €19.99

Paperback

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Itsa Cookbook – worth crossing town for

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Domini and Peaches Kemp single-handedly (yeah there’s two of them but you know what I mean) introduced the bagel to the Irish masses back in 1999. I used to regularly race across town at lunchtime, over the Ha’penny Bridge to join the queue in the Epicurean Centre to get my bagel fix from their tiny gourmet bagel store - Itsa Bagel.



Rushing across Dublin's Ha'penny Bridge in pursuit of bagels
(sketch by Chris Warren    )



This is a great book to give a new cook. Open the first chapter – The Holy Grail of Basics – for the be all and end all of how to cook great steak and roast chicken. Throughout the book, there are influences from a variety of cuisines – Asian (Beef rendang, Pork and lettuce parcels) Spanish (Chickpea, sweet potato and chorizo stew), Middle East (Quinoa and pomegranate salad), South Africa (Babotie) and good old-fashioned Irish home cooking.



Itsa worth crossing town for



There are plenty of vegetarian dishes that I’ve marked ‘MUST TRY’ – such as the St Tola goat’s cheese and thyme soufflé and the Broad bean hummus. The food is styled by Orla Neligan and beautifully photographed by Joanne Murphy.

Gill & McMillan gave me a copy but I would happily cross town to add a copy to my collection.

Itsa Cookbook by Domini Kemp

Published by Gill & Macmillan

ISBN 978-0-7171-4742-7

List price €19.99

Paperback

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