My kitchen is … relatively big. I rent an ex-council flat in one of those buildings that is quite mean in terms of the number of rooms, but they are quite large. For the first time in my adult life, I have storage space, which is quite nice. It’s a fairly normal kitchen – I’m generally sceptical about gadgets, although we do have a food processor. There’s not much by way of decoration, although I do have a Very Hungry Caterpillar height chart that I got as a joke birthday present a few years ago. The radio’s always on when I’m cooking. Mostly BBC radio 3, but on more adventurous days I’ll put on 6 Music.
My favourite kitchen tool is … my small orange knife. It’s impossible to understate the importance of a knife you trust and understand. And mine is a really nice knife – reassuring almost. I always feel comfortable using it. I also have what I call a fluffer – a rather ridiculous contraption for making mashed potatoes with. It’s turned doing mashes from something complex into something so easy. It’s a lovely little widget.
My storecupboard staple is … tinned tomatoes. If you have a tin of these, you can make a decent meal, even when all you have in the fridge are vegetables that have seen better days. I buy in bulk and can’t do without them. I only ever buy whole tomatoes, and supermarket own brand.
When I’m starving I … usually opt for pasta with broccoli and flageolet beans, with a dollop of pesto. You can boil the pasta and broccoli in the same pan if you’re feeling particularly lazy or pressed for time. I think flageolet beans are one of the more overlooked pulses of our time.
My culinary inspiration is … my mother – the person who first really taught me to cook. She also instilled in me a fierce love of the timer, and she taught me the Italian staples I return to time and again.
My best-kept kitchen secret is … when making roast potatoes, to steer clear of this modish nonsense about animal fats. Boil your potatoes for longer than you think necessary, until bits begin to dissolve – just think of those as casualties of war. Also ignore anyone who thinks you don’t need to worry about your risotto burning on the bottom. They are simply people who never need to clean up after themselves. Cleaning a risotto pan is incredibly difficult. I certainly try to be careful with my pans. The loss of a pan that you trust and understand is, like your knife, not to be underestimated. You build up a rapport with your pots and pans – you come to know how many eggs one pan can contain without cracking, or the time another takes to get to the boil … When we moved into this apartment, I started making use of a few pans the previous tenants had left behind, with, I’ll admit, slightly less care. They are like the unhappy adopted children.
My current obsession is … born out of necessity. A while ago, we had no foil to roast our fish in, so I used baking paper instead. The result was so much more flavourful and rich than it had been before. It’s a really small thing, but I am very excited.
Everything tastes better with … pesto – you have to be very fussy about the pesto you use. Most don’t have enough moisture. The wonderful thing is that you can add a gentle dash to a lunchbox or a sandwich, I’ve recently taken to mixing a bit into a serving of mashed potato too. It’s my new thing. But strangely when I’m cooking with it, it has to be the Sacla brand – it’s too overpowering to eat on its own, but it’s exactly that gloopy strength that makes it a good ingredient in a dish. I do like making my own pesto, although it’s one of those things I always think about more than I actually do. It’s quite soothing, a bit like making pastry – you can get a lot of resentment into a pesto.
When I go shopping I … get the bulk done online, once every two months; pasta, rice, pulses, tinned tomatoes, all the non-perishables, and that will also fill the freezer with meat and fish. Then I’ll top up with salads and veg from my local grocery store on my way home. I don’t hold with the idea of taking time off work to shop. I like to know that I have what is needed at home – I like having a fully stocked fridge, and I always have a fairly strong idea of what is in there. I tend to decide what I’ll make for dinner from the freezer in the morning, and then look forward to that during the day. It makes the day more bearable.
For dinner tonight … some salmon and steamed veg: asparagus; sprouting broccoli – I like that it lines up and is same size as the asparagus, which makes it easier to steam all together.; with peas underneath. With a white fish I might make a salsa or add some ginger, but with a darker fish I feel the flavour can stand on its own two feet a bit more. I’ll just add some lemon and seasoning before cooking.
- Stephen Bush is a columnist for the New Statesman, and will be starting a column for Cook in April. @stephenkb
