In issues of Community News, there has been information about the Hub in Settle’s Commercial Yard, where we can take a surplus foodstuff or piece of kitchen equipment to exchange for an item we can use. Similarly, those who use one of our food banks in Hellifield, Settle, Ingleton or Bentham may find vegetables or items they need. Vegetables have not always been desirable. A foray into “food history” reveals some interesting facts.
The Forme of Cury 1390 is the first English cook book. There are recipes for meat boiled with vegetables in a stew. By the time of of Henry VIII meat was regarded as the most health-giving, fish second and vegetables lowest of all. Feasts resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of animals, fish, fowl and beast. The poor, not the elite, grew and ate vegetables.
Mrs Beeton’s book of Household Management 1861 records: “Three centuries ago, very few vegetables were cultivated in England. Neither salads, nor carrots, nor cabbage, nor radish, nor any comestibles of a like nature were grown in the UK. Queen Katharine (of Aragon) forced the King (Henry VIII) to import a gardener from Holland to create a vegetable garden here”.
Hannah Glasse in her Art of Cookery made Plain, 1747, records that vegetables, as optional extras, were put on a large plate in the middle of the table and diners could help themselves. Hannah Glasse, by the way, was the first to include a curry recipe in her book. The dominance of meat continued well into the nineteenth century, although vegetables began to make an appearance in the main courses, and not just in soups or as optional extras. The British then became enamoured of French cuisine although they never developed a taste for frog’s legs. The French did not take much interest in curries either. Larousse Gastronomique, the great French food dictionary, records that hot chillies are hardly used in France. In the UK, there have been great advances in “Spice Science”, the study of the nutrients in spices, their relationship to those in the foods with which they are integrated and stir -fried. There is particular interest in new flavours created, an area I find exciting.
Shop around for spices to buy. The prices vary considerably. If 7 spices are a lot to acquire for your first curry (see recipe), mix together in a small dish the 2 powdered spice blends – mild curry, and garam masala together with coriander. For future meals, add the others when convenient. The amount of vegetable ingredients are not specific. I add the segments of a mandarin orange, a delicious accompaniment, a habit I acquired in Nigeria. This Vegetable Curry is MILD. To increase the heat strength you could add 3 or 4 cut shreds of red and green fresh chilli, distributed evenly over and stirred into the vegetables.
You can stir-fry in any large pan, but not as efficiently or as fuel-saving as in a wok. Woks have been used in China since the Han dynasty, two thousand years ago. I bought mine, flat-bottomed, and made of stainless steel, over twenty years ago and have used it constantly since. You can buy woks in many places. Their price begins around £10. You do not use much oil at all, but as you constantly stir-fry on full heat the ingredients continue to cook as they are pushed against the concave sides of the wok. Juices are released from the ingredients which mix with the diminishing oil and become the stir fry agent. A stir-fry or curry for 3-4 people can be cooked in 10 minutes. I cook white rice in the microwave, often together with a teaspoonful of oat bran to make up for the fibre deficiency in white rice. There are 2 varieties, the cheaper long grain and the more expensive Basmati. I use both. See your microwave manual. All ingredients are prepared before cooking.
By Kathleen Kinder
RECIPE: VEGETABLE CURRY
Ingredients (for 3-4 people)
2 tbl cooking oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic crushed
450-650g mixed vegetables. Choose from at least 4 different types: a stick of celery, bits of sweet peppers, courgette, leek, green beans, carrot, cooked potato, mushrooms, peas, corn, parsnip, sweet potato, florets of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, swede, spinach etc.
1-2 tsp mild curry powder
½ tsp each ginger, cumin, garam masala, coriander, turmeric, mild chilli
1 bay leaf
1 vegetable or chicken stock cube dissolved in hot water
2 tsp flour dissolved in hot water for thickening (optional)
A dash of Worcester sauce
Salt and pepper.
Method
Put all prepared vegetables in a bowl, except the onion and garlic.
Mix all the spices in a small dish.
Heat the oil in the wok/pan and cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon.
Add the rest of the vegetables gradually, stirring all the time.
When the quantity begins to reduce, add the spices and seasoning.
Continue to stir fry until the quantity is further reduced and the vegetables are cooked.
Stir in the prepared stock and Worcester sauce.
Total process – around 10 minutes.
Thicken with flour paste.
Take off the heat.
Cover with a lid/foil.
Eat with white rice.
When cold, freeze what is left.
Enjoy!
