This recipe uses only 4 tablespoons of brandy (we add more, as can be seen in our adapted version below), 35 grams of ground almonds and 55 grams of sugar. While at first glance the ingredients list may appear daunting and the instructions a bit winded, the case is often a little of a lot. This tart recipe reminds me of the economy of many French dishes. And Christmas in our house really only means one thing – family dinners (and breakfasts and morning teas and lunches and afternoon teas and evening nibbles…) The almonds, the brandy, the succulent semi-dried fruit remind me of Christmas flavours. Then the almond, in its traditional almond role, pulls everything together, balances it out, gives the tart substance and body. The prunes are meltingly tender, moist jubes of brandy sweetness. The pastry is short, almost shatteringly so, with a rich and buttery flavour. Then Georgie and I made prune and almond tart to honour the list of delicious-ness. For the main course Mum made spiced duck with creamy, wilted, beautiful savoy cabbage. The lentils were savoury and knubbly, the tomato sauce was bright and garden fresh and the scallops were sweet and tender. For the entrée Dad and I made seared scallops served on a muddle of lentils with a herb tomato sauce. So for Georgie’s last night in Wellington we had a great dinner, entrée and dessert taken from Rick Stein’s French Odyssey and the main event taken from Paris, another one of our French focused books. Irregular hours here and there are not conducive to great dinners, or even dinners at all. But it’s becoming clear that what I value and look forward to is cooking and eating, most especially dinners. I thought perhaps I would never have a regular 9 to 5 job, that perhaps I would always have irregular hospitality hours and irregular writing hours on the side. I have been thinking about what I wrote a few months ago about working and what my working life will look like as it begins to take shape. Every time all four of us sit down to a meal, the table set and wine poured, it feels so very long since the last time and even longer since this was habit and normal and the only thing we really knew. I don’t dare to hazard a guess at how many times my mother has made lamb and potato curry. Most of the items on the list are firm family favourites that we have been cooking and eating for years and like favourite films and books, none ever tire. Georgie wished for Caribbean pie, lamb and potato curry, Thai beef salad, chocolate self-saucing pudding, roast lamb, pork chops with caramelised apples and onions. But every year or so we come back to Rick Stein’s French Odyssey sometimes for a recipe, but often to look at the pictures and to read the words or the funny inscriptions Georgie and I wrote to Mum Christmas 2005.īefore Georgie came home for the summer she emailed us a “List of Delicious-ness,” all the things she would like for us to eat over the summer. When the show ended we bought the cookbook and after that our collection of French cookbooks seemed to expand – each one offering new ingredients, new stories and new recipes. Perhaps it was this show that first inspired a love of France – the countryside, the people, the language, but most importantly, the food. To be a television chef engaging your audience is part of the job description but there is an authenticity to Stein and he seems so genuinely enthralled about the food and people around him, as if he too, like his audience, is learning and tasting things for the first time. It’s easy to become absorbed in his language, moving with the intonations of his voice. Rick Stein speaks as if everything is a marvel, a wonder. I loved the sound of his voice, his dog Chalky and how he communicated directly and personally with the cooks, gardeners, growers and local food experts he met as they travelled by barge on a canal through south-west France. I remember watching one of his TV shows as a child, French Odyssey – it was compulsory family viewing. Rick Stein is probably the first chef personality I became familiar with and remains the only one who I have any real affection for.
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