Summer ingredients

July 20, 2008

I can’t believe the slugs and snails did not get their evil way and decimate the beans. But then I did keep an eagle eye on the fledging shoots, crunching any marauders, as they budded and curled skywards up the bean sticks. In the last weeks the flowers have dropped to leave nascent pods which are swelling fast as a result of the downpours we’ve been having. There are even enough fully formed to pick a first batch and eat steamed with melted butter, garlic and lemon juice.

The rocket is also doing well, and the bitter sharp taste transports me to the whitewashed Italian house where as a lily white 18 year old ‘exchange’, I picked it for the first time from a herb patch outside the back door. I learnt to toss it in golden olive oil for salad that the family ate after the daily plates of pasta and grilled meat.
The southern tradition of whole families sitting down to bond and eat proper meals is something that seems to be on the wane in our takeaway culture. But after sitting through the food, family, failure and friction within France’s community of North African emigres in the film Couscous (La Graine Et Le Mulet) I began to think that maybe the odd tv dinner wasn’t so sad after all. I would recommend this film though, for its mouthwatering visuals of the preparations for fish couscous: gorgeous steaming piles of fluffy grains, spicy sauces, firm fleshy mullet and wonderful cooking pots.

A quick but delicious way to eat couscous is to combine the cooked grain with olive oil, chopped mint, parsley, spring onion, and grilled peppers. This is a sublime salad to eat with meat or fish, or on its own.

I’m an alfresco girl, even if the weather looks set to be indifferent for a party this weekend. Once I gather a few colourful cushions and fabrics around the table, a string of lanterns, shawls to keep warm and something fizzy to drink, I will imagine the mood to be more Tangier than Tulse Hill.