Anchovies with Cime di Rapa

Great foods should have a sense of mystery: From sweet Spanish hams to the fragrant wheels of Parmesan cheese, from the fruity drama of figs and pomegranates to the alluring nightshades of aubergines and peppers. Stretching from Spain and North Africa to Italy and the Middle East tinned and jarred food have a glorious reputation not just as a store cupboard staple but as a mysterious and evocative link to the mediterraneans shared culture. Tinned anchovies in olive oil are the midnight treat of preserves. They are the base note for many dishes and sauces. Their saltiness compliments the sweet, like onions and tomatoes and they love the company of garlic, butter, lemon, capers and olives. They add complexity to meat, particularly lamb.
Anchovies coating the spring green cime di rapa (turnip tops) makes for a subatantial starter.

Ingredients

Serves 4
100g good quality tinned anchovies
½ chopped red chilli.
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced.
Butter.
olive oil.
Cime di rapa (turnip tops) or purple sprouting broccoli.
Put a good dash of olive oil in a pan, followed by a knob of butter. Add the garlic and chilli and stir for one minute. Pour the anchovies with its oil into the pan. Melt them (sciotte in Italian) till you get a rich unctuous sauce. Meanwhile blanch the cime di rapa in boiling water for one minute to get rid of its slight bitternes. Drain the cime di rape and tip into the sauce. Stir to coat all the leaves. Serve straight way on its own or mixed with orecchiette pasta, traditionaly served with cime di rape in the Puglia region of southern Italy.
If using purple sprouting broccoli, blanch or steam for about 2 minutes before adding to the sauce.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Kimchi

Food that gets a dedicated museum to honour its importance should be approached with trepidation and no less awe. The Kimchi Museum in Seoul, South Korea, makes it difficult to say anything new about this ancient preserve while at the same time inspiring a devotion few foods can match.
'Kimchi!' is the word Korean's shout, instead of 'cheese!', when getting their picture snapped. The defining characteristic of all Kimchi, apart from the heat, is the sour notes that a few days fermintation brings on. It is commonly used as the centrepiece in an aray of banchan (side dishes) that accompany a main meal.

Ingredients

2 Chinese (Napa) Cabbage
1 small Korean radish
2 tablespoons of Korean chilli powder
1 tbls of Sugar
2 tbls of fresh Ginger
1 head of Garlic
half an Onion
Salt
6 Spring Onions
1 tbls Nam pla fish sauce or anchovy essence (optional)
Rub salt into the cabbage leaves. Leave in a bowl for a few hours till it shrinks to at least half its size. In the meantime make the spice mix. Put the peeled garlic, chopped ginger and onion into a blender with a little water to make a paste. Mix the paste in a bowl with the chilli powder, sugar and sliced spring onion. Thinly slice the radish and add to the chilli paste. Rinse the cabbage under cold water to get rid of the salt. At this stage rubber gloves might come in handy. Mix the paste and cabbage together making sure all the leaves are covered. Put in sterilized jars and press down. There should be enough liquid to cover, if not, add a little water. Leave about 2 inches at the top and seal. Leave to ferment for 3 days and then refrigerate. It will last about 3 weeks. Any longer and the fermination might be too strong for most tastes. Serve cold.

Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Rhubarb and Rose Water Jelly

Next time you are in a busy restaurant or bar listen out for the rumblings that seem to be a paen to a seasonal herbacious plant. The sound of 'rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb' might be lost on many but foodies would realise that it is perfectly in tune with the seasons. This late spring and early summer edible plant makes for a wonderful jam or conserve but with the added fragrance of rosewater and Persian limes it becomes a more complex and seductive preserve.
This jelly is ideal for adding depth to stews or caseroles, sweetness to game dishes, a filling for tarts or simply serve with ice cream or a dollop of yogurt. In Turkey and Iran something sweet like this would be stirred into tea or coffee.

Ingredients

1 kg Rhubarb.
400 ml water.
Juice and zest of 4 limes.
1 and a half teaspoons of Rose water
For every 300mls of juice add 200g of sugar.
Method
Chop the rhubarb into chunks and add to a pan with the water. Boil until the Rhubarb becomes mushy. Pour this into a muslin over another pan and let the clear juices run out, preferably, over night. Next add, and disolve, the required amount of sugar with the rhubarb juices. Add the rose water, juice and zest of the limes and boil rapidly. Turn down the heat and simmer gently until the jelly reaches a setting consistency. This could take anything from 30 mins to an hour and a half. To test if the jelly has set pour a spoonful onto a cold plate, leave for a minute, and if it wrinkles when touched its set.
Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist

Preserved Lemons

As the days get longer and spring strides optimisticly into summer there is one versatile fruit that reminds us of far sunnier climes. Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East enjoy a climate and geology where lemons are in abundance. Fresh lemons, particularly their zest and juices, lift a mundane meal to a more memorable one. Preserved lemons are something else altogether. It would be hard to imagine bulghar and couscous, tagines and Moroccan salads without those zingy complex notes. Their bursts of sunshine would not only be bottled for the leaner months but preservation brings out a particular unique characteristic. They are an easy and worthwhile addition to any larder.
March and April is a good time to pick up some new season Mediteranian lemons from the many Middle Eastern and Indian deli's around the country.

Ingredients

10 small to medium sized unwaxed lemons.
Salt.
Water.
Cut a cross section into the lemons about ¾ the way down so they open like a flower. Fill each lemon with about 2 teaspoons of salt. Close the lemons and pack them tightly into a sterilized jar. Leave for a few days so the salt can draw out some of the natural juices and sugars and they become softer. For the preservation to really start working its magic cover the lemons with a mixture of lemon juice and water. Leave for three to four weeks. They will last for about a year in their preserving juices.

ken doherty is a chef and journalist