It has been a very busy summer since I got back from Australia in May! That was a real adventure, including meeting my first Huntsman spider – not something you want to happen just when you’re in the middle of cooking for 20 in an unknown kitchen!
As usual, there is lots going on, though I must confess I have spent many long hours working on my food biography, or Foodoir as it is affectionately known around here, due for publication in Spring 2013, which seems like a long way off, but probably isn’t really!
My son Ben has decided to follow in my footsteps and can be found at the Real Food Market at South bank Centre every weekend, selling his wares! I’ll be there myself, running the Real Food Harvest Festival on the weekend of September 23rd to 25th – also on the 25th from noon until 6 is the first charity event for Les Dames D’Escoffier, the charity of which I am President. This is the Great Kitchen Clearout, details of which can be found on http://www.lesdameslondon.org/ and www.greatkitchenclearout.org.uk
Please do donate some items to our cause – anything gently loved that you might be throwing out of your kitchen – or come and buy, have a cuppa and a slice of cake and bid online for the items donated by celenbrity chefs such Raymond Blanc and the Roux family. I hope to see you there!
Meanwhile, I have located a wonderful boutique hotel in Cornwall where I plan to hold some culinary adventures with a very Italian flavour, launching on October 6th to 9th. This is a wonderful opportunity to stay in a lovely place and make and eat some lovely food! Tredethy House is very near Bodmin and just down the road from the Camel Valley vineyards. Take a peep at our Culinary Adventures in the UK for further details, and come and join us. The principle is very simple, we will use only the best seasonal, organic and local ingredients, and some gourmet Italian staples, like the creamy and freshest buffalo mozzarella, the best single estates extra virgin olive oils and Taggiasche olives from Liguria to name a few. Handmade pasta, plus the award winning produce Cornwall has to offer. Tredethy House has 11 oustandingly comfortable en suite bedrooms, and the whole house exudes a sense of peace and tranquillity. We have a specially created room for our cooking classes, in the old kitchen with its flagstoned floor, smoothed shiny by time. Check it out on http://www.tredethyhouse.com/
We also have some spaces left on our fabulous truffle weekend in Umbria at the end of October, see all the details on our Culinary Adventures abroad page. I can hardly wait for the truffle season to start and to be back in romantic Montone again, with its little cobbled streets, no cars and plenty of locals just enjoying life in their lovely hilltop village. The village has so many characters for you to meet, there’s even a pharmacist who can’t stand the sight of blood! The hotel is just amazing and the host, Il Capitano, even more so, and he is such an amazing chef! Please do call us for further details, we’d love to see you there to feast with you at length on all the local delicacies, and toast to each other’s health and prosperity with the best of the local wines.
My recipe this time around is one to the most of the end of season tomatoes, which hopefully are abundant where you are! This is the gorgeously simple and utterly delicious bread and tomato soup from my native Tuscany, a real treat when made with fresh tomatoes.
PAPPA AL POMODORO/TUSCAN BREAD AND TOMATO SOUP
SERVES 6
Ingredients:
1.5 litres/2 1/2 pints vegetable, chicken or meat broth
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1.2 kg/2 lbs 12 ozs very ripe, soft tomatoes, coarsely chopped
8 tablespoons olive oil
400 g/14 oz stale bread, crusts removed and thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper
To serve – basil leaves to taste
METHOD
Heat the broth slowly in a large saucepan. Meanwhile, put the onion, tomatoes and half the oil in a separate pan and fry together over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes until soft. Push the mixture through a food mill or sieve and add it to the hot broth. Add the bread, garlic and basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes until thick and creamy, stirring occasionally. Stir in the remaining oil, adjust seasoning and serve, sprinkled with more basil torn into small shreds.