KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

Serious cooking with basic equipment can yield some treats

A trip to Morocco yields revelations about how simple equipment can create remarkably complex cuisine.

Ivisited the port of Essaouira in Morocco a few years back to shoot a segment in a TV show about Moroccan food, and my first task was to grill a whole sea bass over fire in an open-air restaurant. Gathered around were a bunch of local kids, a production team of eight, a few chefs from neighbouring restaurants and anyone, really, that cared to come and watch.

A couple of fishermen invited me on their tiny wooden boat as they looked for sardines. Within minutes, we had just enough for my hosts to make me the kind of breakfast feast they prepare for themselves every morning after hours at sea. They gutted and filleted the sardines with their hands, minced them and added preserved lemon and some spices. They then shaped the mix into balls and cooked them on a tiny portable gas stove in a sauce made with some grated tomato and garlic. The fish balls and sauce, stuffed into fluffy bread rolls, were a chunk of heaven.

This dish, created by Moroccan Jews who are long gone from Essaouira, inspired my fish koftas in tomato and lime sauce. It also taught me a lesson about the importance of ease in cooking. There was nothing particularly simple about the dish I was so generously served; it involved some serious cooking with basic equipment. The flavours were complex and well rounded.