Cooking Q&A: If you can’t find fish stock, make it
Q: Why is it so hard to find fish stock to purchase?
A: Sadly because not enough people use it! But I love a good fish stock, and while half the chefs I was trained under would throw me into the sea for saying this, you can totally make it without a lot of fuss. Get some fish bones (chefs would say not salmon or other fatty fish, but if you like those fish, why not?), sweat them in just a little bit of oil with a little onion or whatever aromatics you like, cover with water and simmer for 20 minutes, and you’re done. I love doing this with shrimp shells any time I buy shrimp. And sometimes I’ll splash some fish sauce into it to amp up the flavour.
Q: I have the flu. I’m in the early muscle-achey/feverish/ super-whiny stage. Any comfort food suggestions that are light and involve minimal work? I’m vegetarian, so chicken soup is out. So far all I’ve had today is hibiscus and rose hip tea, which is very nice (what I can taste of it, anyway), but eventually I’m going to get hungry for food with calories.
A: Try a lentil soup with lots of curry, so you can taste it, and lots of chili pepper and ginger. There are numerous recipes, my favourite is simply frying onion, garlic, lots of ginger, add tomato and garam masala and lentils. Season with chili to taste, and then some. Get well soon!
Q: Do you have any classic cookbook recommendations? I’m slowly starting to cook more and have leaned pretty heavily on “The Joy of Cooking.” What were some of your first cookbooks that helped you become a better cook?
A: Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything,” “The Gourmet Cookbook” from Gourmet Magazine and one of the Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen large compendiums. Jacques Pepin’s “Complete Techniques.” Larousse Gastronomique and, of course, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, et al. The English food writer Nigel Slater is a wonderful teacher, very laid back and generous. The food is simple and always delicious. And he is a great read. Deborah Madison’s “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.”