Grate cookbooks giving you a pizza their mind!

Normally at Christmas we get stuck into the turkey (or the Quorn roast, if, like me you are a vegetarian), the mince pies and the puddings, but this year I wasn’t just as keen to go all traditional. Just before Christmas I Sky Plus-ed a programme called Jerusalem On A Plate which was a journey by chef Yotam Ottolenghi back to his native city, a place of strong food traditions. I love to sample dishes from other cultures and while watching the programme, my mouth watered as I saw the vast array of spices being added to vibrant dishes which are so much part of Arabic and Jewish culture. I suddenly forgot about the mediocre brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips and creamy mash that I’d consumed and began reading more about these wonderful ingredients used in Middle Eastern cuisine. Chick peas, z’hatar, turmeric, olive oil, coriander, bulgar wheat, pomegranate and tahini. I wanted to explore more of the food of the Middle East and of course the politics that come with it so I did some reading.

As my appetite is now back in action following the hyperemesis episode, I’ve decided to amass a collection of Middle Eastern cookbooks. Yotam Ottolenghi’s new book Jerusalem is out this year, so I’m already looking forward to trying to recreate some of the recipes. I say ‘trying’ because I collect cookbooks merely to look at the pictures and dream about what I’d love to cook. Heck, Nigella Lawson is still sitting on my dining room sofa brandishing her whisk. Unfortunately I don’t have the ‘skillet takes’ (ha ha), the time, nor the patience to cook these often complex dishes, then clear up the mess. The mess is definitely the worst because no matter how hard I try, there are trails of breadcrumbs and dribbles of sauce everywhere. I did try making tabbouleh a few years ago but it ended up swimming in olive oil as I put in double what I should have.

One of the reasons why I love Israeli, Lebanese and Palestinian cuisine is the vast array of vegetarian dishes which would be just as appetising to carnivores. I’ve always loved the flavours but never had the opportunity to explore it in depth. And chefs like Yotam Ottolenghi actually care about non-meat eaters, celebrating the wonders of exotic vegetables and spices. As I write this, I’m trying to cobble together another tabbouleh. I highly recommend watching Jerusalem On A Plate and also urge you to read up on this delectable cuisine which is bursting with flavour –

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017znj9/hd/Jerusalem_on_a_Plate/

What’s your favourite cookbook and why? Can you recommend any to add to my collection as I may have missed some?

Pic: my attempt at tabbouleh

Masterchef - Putting The Novel In The Mix

A show which is religiously series linked on my Sky TY planner, is BBC's Masterchef. Ever since Gregg Wallace and John Torode took over from Lloyd Grossman, I've been addicted to this fabulous culinary show which enables amateur cooks to demonstrate their best recipes and ingenuity. While watching the nervous contestants slice duck, knead bread and stir sauces, the sweat lashing off them as they dart around in the kitchen attempting to create that sumptuous masterpiece, I realised, laptop on knee, that their finished product is not unlike the author's novel. And the process too which results in the completed dish is similar to the procedure the writer follows as he or she attempts to create that novel.

The author needs to have the right ingredients, the book has to be enjoyable for the palate and it has to be free from mistakes - oops I've burnt the pancakes, messed up the POV, and the cream has curdled - help me! While it's often too late to salvage a Masterchef dish that has gone wrong under exam-like conditions, the novelist has the advantage of time to perfect the book.

Here are some thoughts on creating a lovely dish - or a novel, if you are a writer...

1. Use the right ingredients. Don't put black bean sauce in pasta and give it to John and Gregg to taste, and don't throw Bisto all over a Dauphinoise potato dish. Don't salt and pepper it to hell and back. The author can quite easily overdo the adjectives and get a little heavy-handed with the herbs and spices, making it go all flowery needlessly. Furthermore, make sure that the POV is right. Don't confuse the reader who is digesting your book. Don't have too many flavours going on - don't have the action taking place with a hundred characters. After all, you wouldn't heap thyme, garlic, ginger, sage, nutmeg, corriander, tarragon and curry powder into your starter.


2. The novel is a finely tuned dish which the chef has mastered over time. I (being a rubbish cook) wouldn't expect to make a perfectly cooked béarnaise sauce overnight (or in my case, a veggie Quorn roast with all the trimmings). Instead, and I'm sure all Masterchef participants will agree, that they have honed and practised their craft for many years. Likewise the novelist can't expect to start writing his or her first book and suddenly be the next JK Rowling with a New York Times number one seller. It all takes practice and rejections, screaming, tearing hair out and sobbing for hours in the bath with chocolate.

3. Present the food in the correct manner. If you shovel the pasta into the bowl and have it falling over the side like trailing ivy cascading down a dilapidated house, then you're not going to win your customer over. And John and Gregg will be pointing that out. But, you probably wouldn't have presented this car crash to them in the first place, would you? The novelist should never send a badly written covering letter penned in red ink, along with his or her sloppy submission, stapled together and covered in stickies and Tippex. No. The novelist should present it in a professional manner.

4. Have the right amount of food on the plate - there's no point in piling on potatoes, chips, waffles and mash and loading it with baked beans, salt, pepper and vinegar. For the writer, there's the urge to send in more than the first three chapters - perhaps chapters four, five and nine, because 'that's when the story really gets going.' Don't! Stop right now before you get to the post box!

And when Gregg and John say: 'Mmm, yes, I can taste all the flavour here' or 'I'd love to dive right in there', you're hoping they might ask for a full and give your book the Masterchef seal of approval. And once that novel is on the shelf, you have to believe in it and not constantly worry over whether your reader will have a bitter aftertaste. Remember, it won't be to everyone's liking, and there will be newspaper critics who will pick holes in your book. But it's on the shelf and it's selling.