What you can learn from… NANCY SILVERTON
The legendary restaurateur, chef and baker shares her kitchen wisdom to boost your skills
1
My favourite cooking cheat is to reheat cans of cooked pulses such as chickpeas, flageolet or borlotti beans. Rinse and drain them well, then heat gently with olive oil before finishing them with fresh herbs and maybe a squeeze of lemon. No one will know you didn’t cook them from scratch yourself.
2
Get yourself a microplane grater. I have them in every shape and size. Finer ones are good for hard cheese, garlic and ginger. I use the slicing ones like a mandoline for finely slicing and ribboning vegetables.
3
Use extra virgin olive oil as a seasoning. Finishing a dish with olive oil adds a peppery flavour and richness to the meal, and it brings all the other ingredients together.
4
A great four-ingredient recipe is fettunta – a Tuscan-style bruschetta or garlic bread. Toast a thick slice of bread, then rub it with a garlic clove, drizzle over olive oil and season with flaky sea salt. In Tuscany, it’s eaten to celebrate the olive harvest.
5
The secret to a good salad is not to toss everything together, but to layer, season and dress ingredients as you go. I did this when I created my salmon poke bowl (right). Make an impact with vegetables
6
Roasting veg whole gives them more impact. A roasted cauliflower, cabbage or large carrot has a steak-like quality – to be eaten, it needs to be carved; it doesn’t just look like a simple vegetable side dish.
7
To cut down food waste, save the not-so-pretty outer leaves of lettuce and braise them as you would any greens. We do this all the time in my restaurants.
Salmon poke Niçoise bowl
8
Always cook in your comfort zone. Cooking beyond your skill level is unnecessary, because good food can be simple. If you find a recipe daunting, cooking it will probably stress you out. As you gain experience, you’ll become more confident and feel comfortable about taking on complex recipes.
9
If your dessert goes wrong, you can rescue it. Some of the best desserts – such as Eton mess and tarte tatin – are fixed disasters. So, don’t worry if it’s gone badly
– it’s about what you make of it.
10
The next big food trend? Personally, I think we will all move to eating a more plant-based diet, using key seasonal ingredients. It’s already happening, and is a trend that I feel is just going to keep growing.