“What do G&T’s, black clothes and cash have in common?” This was a question regularly posed by a former employer during long-winded debates on menu development. “They never go out of fashion,” we would reply with tepid, contrived enthusiasm.
While we had heard it so many times before, the message always resonates. The world changes every year, some would say every month of late, but certain ideals and standards remain constant. That said though, if the same former employer posed the question now, I’d have to press him on the cash question.
When it comes to food I identify as a classic cuisinist. I favour recipes and ideals that have been around forever, which stand the test of time. Time, of course, being the true measure of success. It is in the restaurant industry at least. Now sometimes these classic ideals will be dressed up in new guises – look at most high-end restaurant plates and menus – but at their heart they remain true to their core values.
I remember taking part in a fancy chef competition in Ireland more than 10 years ago, when I considered myself fancy, dare I say, trendy even. The task was to create a restaurant version of a classic Irish home-cooked dish. The result was an intense liquid in a shot glass, deep amber and crystal clear. Whiskey surely? What threw people was a white ball or sphere suspended in the liquid, and a few drops of green oil added further confusion. The idea was to down the shot and burst the white ball on the tongue. What transpired on the taste buds was the flavour of baked potato with sour cream and chives. The dish comprised baked potato consommé, infused with roasted skins; soured cream held in a sphere using an alginate and calcium reaction that, thankfully, is long gone out of fashion, and a chive-infused oil.
The point being that while the best restaurant dishes may look like works of art, at their heart they hold close the classic dishes and home comforts that we know and love.
This week I’m taking two classics and adding a touch of technology and culture to bring them into the 21st century. Fish and chips with tartare sauce won’t redefine cooking, but when each element is done right it’s easy to see why it’s one of the most popular dishes in the world. Cod is breaded and fried in a pan as I don’t have time to clean up the mess of making batter at home. The tartare is chunky, full of the good stuff just barely bound together with mayonnaise. The wedges are crisped to perfection in the air fryer. Say what you want about air fryers, they were made for making crispy chips.
Meanwhile “en papillote” translates as a “paper envelope”, a reference to the method of cookery where fish is steamed with aromas in paper tied together to trap the steam. This is a method of cookery that has been honed over hundreds of years. It’s a perfect summer dish, with the addition of lemon grass, lime leaf, fish sauce and soy a nod to the amazing array of Asian restaurants and people that have made Ireland their home through the years.
So don your best black clothes, pour yourself a G&T and enjoy these timeless classics.
