GOING BACK TO OUR ROOTS Diana Henry’s showstopping root vegetable side dishes
Three show-stealing side dishes hearty enough to be eaten as a main course
It’s 23 December and I’ve just arrived home in Northern Ireland. It’s always good to be back. I particularly enjoy the first meal when I get in from the airport: a platter of wheaten bread, already buttered and topped with smoked salmon, and my mum’s chicken soup with cold white wine. But when I go home for Christmas the house feels fuller than usual; not of people, and not just with anticipation, but with cooking. The ham is usually soaking. A pot of stock simmers on the hob. There’s a full fridge, full cupboards, the vegetable drawer is well stocked. I go around checking in case there’s anything we need to get on Christmas Eve. There are never enough parsnips (note to self to get more. I always feel a bit sorry for them; they get sidelined). There’s cauliflower, even though I’m not sure when we’re going to use it (maybe I’ll do cauliflower cheese with ham the day after Boxing Day). There are enough brussels sprouts to feed the neighbourhood.
(My mum always apologises for this with a simple explanation: ‘I know, but I love them.’) The carrots are fine and – crucially, since it’s easy to forget because the focus is all on the big day – there’s plenty of salad for all those turkey sandwiches.
One of the things I most like about Christmas is that it’s so reassuringly Northern. I don’t always stick to British dishes; Scandinavian gravadlax is a seasonal staple in our house,
along with Swedish glogg (mulled wine), but I don’t head off to exotic places, at least not until after Boxing Day, when I start to crave Thai broth. (That’s what the turkey carcass is for, making a big pot of ginger and chilli hot Asian soup).
I know we chase the ‘new’ these days, we yearn for the unusual, but I don’t think Christmas is the time for Middle Eastern-spiced aubergines or Asian salads. We can have those at any time of year. Christmas is about immutability and embracing the ingredients that grow here – root veg, brassicas, apples and pears. Outside Christmas Day itself – when I nearly always do the same thing, roast roots, braised red cabbage and brussels sprouts, because that’s what everyone wants – I look to other northern countries for inspiration. We fantasise about the Mediterranean, perhaps because it gives us a feeling of warmth and well-being. But it’s an enjoyable culinary challenge – and feels grounding – to cook vegetables from the cold northern parts of Europe. Considering what to do with beetroot or cabbage forces you to be inventive. The Nordic countries and Germany – regions that share our ingredients but have their own dishes – are good places to nose out interesting dishes. If you still feel drawn to Italy, then go to the north – areas such as Friuli or the Alto-adige, where they use beets and brassicas – instead of the south. Forget aubergines and peppers, and don’t bother getting out the sumac or tahini. It’s the time of year to be inventive with roots, tubers and brassicas.