The Urban Foodie: Naff as knickers

Monday, 1 October 2007

Naff as knickers - The Prawn Cocktail

One of my favourite cook books of all time has to be Simon Hopkinson & Lindsey Bareham's The Prawn Cocktail Years.
It's packed with really great recipes for all of those dishes that have now been consigned to world of 'food kitsch', the sorts of dishes my Mum would make in he 70's when she was in a flamboyant, hostess kind of mood, heated trolley stylee. Trout with Almonds is one such dish, Russian Salad is another, and what about Sole Veronique or Duck a la Orange? There's a faded exotica about a lot of these recipes as they all use what are now ordinary ingredients, but when in their hey day, these dishes graced many a smoked glass dinner table, hinting at foreign lands and provenance and usually washed down with glasses of wine that came in a bottle that later ended up as a lampshade. Classy.
Being the fool that I am, I can never resist a bit of kitsch and its a healthy antidote to some of the more serious and worthy cooking that can often leave you reeling and in a fluster.
I made this for my friend Twinkle, who will occasionally host a very good drinks party. The kitsch nonsense didn't stop here as I also indulged in making Melon wrapped in Prosciutto, Devils on Horseback, Cheese and caramalised Pineapple sticks, Garlic Portobello Mushrooms and Trifle. Needless to say this was washed down with a Strawberry & Black Pepper fizz...I think you get the picture!
As for the Prawn Cocktail, it was a case of shredding a little gem lettuce, season, on top of that add some small cubes of avocado, squeeze of lemon, then add prawns and crayfish with homemade Marie Rose sauce (Mayo, tommy K, squeeze of lemon juice, cayenne pepper, slug of tabasco) and serve. Silly prawn on the side optional. Babycham anyone?

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MUSINGS AND QUOTES ON FOOD

"My weaknesses have always been food and men, in that order."

Dolly Parton

"Fish, to taste right, must swim three times - in water, in butter, and in wine."

Polish Proverb

"A fruit is a vegetable with looks and money. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts never do."

P.J. O'Rourke

"An empty belly is the best cook."

Estonian Proverb

"A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch."

James Beard

"The smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us...."
Marcel Proust

"When the girl returned, some hours later, she carried a tray, with a cup of fragrant tea steaming on it; and a plate piled up with very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in it in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb. The smell of that buttered toast simply talked to Toad, and with no uncertain voice; talked of warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one's ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender, of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries."
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

"People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is safer to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs."
Unknown

"Scallops are expensive, so they should be treated with some class. But then, I suppose that every creature that gives his life for our table should be treated with class."
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"Never eat more than you can lift.."
Miss Piggy, Diva.

"The squid is so cooperative. Its body forms a tube that can be stuffed with marvelous fillings. You don't have to be Greek to enjoy this one. "
Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet

"The joys of the table belong equally to all ages, conditions, countries and times; they mix with all other pleasures, and remain the last to console us for their loss."
Jean Antheleme Brillet-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste