The Devil in the Kitchen (34 page)

My literary agent, Jonathan Lloyd of Curtis Brown, has done more than enough to earn a mention here. And I truly appreciate Kim Witherspoon and Eleanor Jackson at Inkwell Management, the U.S. agents who brought me together with Bloomsbury.

At Bloomsbury, Nick Trautwein steered and guided the manuscript toward a better place. He was meticulous, fastidious and . . . patient. The copy editor, Maureen Klier, saved me from looking like a complete idiot. Alan J. Kaufman, the libel lawyer, devoted hours to poring over the pages with aspirin at his side. Sticking with the legal side of things, Beverley Nunnery, of the eponymously named company of shorthand writers, kindly gave permission to publish transcripts of my High Court action against the
New York Times
and
International Herald Tribune.

I am particularly indebted to Karen Rinaldi, who was confident the Americans could do with a hefty dose of me and my bizarre existence. Karen backed me, believed in the dream and admired the story.

To James Steen, my ghostwriter, I want to say a million kind things. But he’s probably sick of my voice, so let’s leave it at this: Thank you, thank you, thank you, matey.

Recipes

If I had to think of my life in food as a collection of favorite recipes, then they would be the ones that follow. To me, each one was an epiphany, either in terms of taste, refinement or, quite simply, perfection.

If I were to choose any one recipe above the others, then it would be the braised pig’s trotters. When Pierre Koffmann was not whacking chefs on the arse with his palette knife, he taught me how to make them. My preferred dessert would have to be the Harveys Lemon Tart, which, like the trotters, has been on the menu at many of my restaurants over the years. This tart, I promise, will win you smiles and respect from your friends and loved ones.

I have worked with chefs who have put blood, sweat and tears— and pure aggression—into creating the lightest, most divine dessert, and I have worked with the most intelligent chefs who have put decades of knowledge into the creation of a sandwich. I have worked with the best and taken the best and now I am giving them to you.

CLUB SANDWICH OF CRAB AND TOMATO

The vinaigrette:
5 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ cup peanut oil
½ cup olive oil
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

The mayonnaise:
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
A dash of Tabasco sauce
2 cups plus 1½ tablespoons peanut oil

The tomato coulis:
7 ounces good-quality ripe cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons tomato purée
A dash each of tomato ketchup and Tabasco sauce
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

The sandwich:
20 even-sized beefsteak tomatoes, peeled
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 bunch watercress, leaves separated from the stems
4 teaspoons vinaigrette
2 Golden Delicious apples
1 avocado
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
8 ounces fresh white crab meat
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
½ cup tomato coulis
8 chervil leaves

TO PREPARE THE VINAIGRETTE:

Place the vinegar in a bowl and add a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stir to dissolve. Add both oils and whisk to an emulsion. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. This keeps well for up to a week in the fridge. Whisk or shake well before use.

TO PREPARE THE MAYONNAISE:

Place the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar, salt and Tabasco sauce in a bowl and whisk together. Add the oil drop-by-drop to start with, constantly whisking so that the yolks absorb the oil. When about half of the oil has been incorporated, you can start adding the remaining oil in slightly larger amounts, whisking continually. Once all of the oil has been added and the sauce is thick, creamy and just a little stiff, it is ready for use. The mayonnaise can be stored in the fridge, covered well, for up to a week.

TO PREPARE THE TOMATO
COULIS
:

1. Place all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and blend to a purée. Add the oil and blend for an additional 30 seconds.

2. Pass through a fine sieve three times to make a very smooth
coulis
. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

TO PREPARE THE SANDWICH:

1. Cut a thin slice off the stem-end of each tomato, and place the tomato cut-side-down on the work surface. Cut a vertical slice off each side of the tomato, scoop out the seeds and flesh, and flatten each slice so that it forms a rectangle. You should end up with 20 rectangles, which will form the layers of the sandwiches. Be sure that they are uniform in size and, if necessary, tidy them up with a sharp knife.

2. Separate the lettuce leaves. Take several leaves at a time, roll them into a cigar shape and slice very thinly with a very sharp knife to give you fine ribbons (
chiffonade
). Do the same with the watercress leaves. Keep the lettuce and watercress separate and dress each with a small amount of vinaigrette.

3. Peel and core the apples, then cut into
-inch cubes. Peel, stone and dice the avocado similarly. Keep the apple and avocado separate and sprinkle both as quickly as you can with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.

4. Shred the crab meat and mix with the mayonnaise and shredded lettuce. In a separate bowl, combine the watercress, chopped apple and avocado.

5. For each sandwich, lay a base tomato rectangle on a cutting board. Place a little of the lettuce and the crab mixture on the rectangle and top with another tomato rectangle. Top this with more lettuce and crab, and then another tomato rectangle. Cover with the watercress, apple and avocado mixture. Finish off with a final layer of tomato.

6. Using a very sharp knife, slice the layered rectangle diagonally to transform it into two triangles.

7. Place a small amount of tomato
coulis
in the middle of each plate. Place a club sandwich in the center and garnish with a chervil leaf at each end.

TIP:
If you are not very confident in your knife work, you could also use a very sharp circular cutter to shape the club sandwich, which would look just as pretty.

WHITE ASPARAGUS WITH TRUFFLE VINAIGRETTE

The truffle vinaigrette:
3½ tablespoons sherry vinegar
cup truffle juice (the liquid in jarred truffles)
cup olive oil
1 cup heavy cream
1 small whole truffle, roughly chopped

The asparagus:
24 medium white asparagus spears
Salt
A dash of lemon juice
Sprigs of chervil

TO PREPARE THE TRUFFLE VINAIGRETTE:

Whisk together all of the ingredients.

TO PREPARE THE ASPARAGUS:

1. Snap off the tough bottoms at the ends of the asparagus spears. Asparagus spears snap naturally at the point at the bottom where they become woody and inedible. Cook the spears in salted boiling water, with a squeeze of lemon juice added, for 4–6 minutes until just tender but still slightly crisp.

2. Warm 6 plates. Drain the asparagus and place 6 spears on each plate. Pour the dressing over the asparagus and garnish with fresh chervil.

GRILLED LOBSTER WITH SAUCE VIERGE

The stock:
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 celery stick, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
A sprig of thyme
A small handful of parsley stalks
20 white peppercorns
2 cups white wine
2 cups white wine vinegar
Sea salt

The lobster:
4 1¼-pound lobsters, preferably alive
Sauce vierge
A few sprigs of chervil

The sauce vierge:
cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
8 basil leaves, cut into fine julienne strips
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced

TO PREPARE THE STOCK:

Put all the stock ingredients into a large pot with 10 quarts of water and simmer until all of the vegetables are cooked. Remove from the heat and let stand for one hour. Strain the stock through a fine sieve into a clean pot and season with salt to taste.

TO PREPARE THE SAUCE VIERGE:

1. Heat the oil gently in a small pan, and then add the lemon juice. Remove from the heat.

2. Add the coriander and basil and let it infuse the warm oil for a few minutes.

3. Add the diced tomato and serve immediately.

TO PREPARE THE LOBSTER:

1. Using a cooking thermometer to check, heat the stock to 175°F. Carefully take the bands off of the lobster claws and then plunge the lobsters into the stock to cook for 3½ minutes. Remove from the pan, wrap individually in plastic film and set aside in a warm place for 45 minutes to relax and rebalance the juices in the lobsters.

2. Remove the claws from the lobsters. Crack them open and carefully remove the meat in whole pieces. Do the same with the knuckles of the lobsters. With a large, sharp chopping knife, cut the body of each lobster in half lengthwise, from the head through to the end of the tail, taking care to preserve the shells. Remove the meat. Discard the brain sac, which is at the front of the head. Wash and clean up the lobster shells.

3. Cut each portion of body/tail meat into 3–4 pieces and place them in the shell so that the red edge is visible. Put the knuckle and claw meat into the head cavity. Lightly cover the lobster with the sauce vierge.

4. Arrange on plates and garnish with parsley or chervil.

GRILLED DOVER SOLE NIÇOISE

4 1-pound whole Dover sole, skinned and left on the bone
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
1 teaspoon chopped shallot
¼ teaspoon crushed garlic
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying
8 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
12 black olives
8 very large canned anchovies, drained and rinsed
1 lemon, halved
A large handful of cilantro sprigs

TO PREPARE:

1. Panfry the fish in a little olive oil for 6–7 minutes, turning halfway through (you may have to do this in batches). Season with salt and white pepper. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

2. While the sole are frying, gently cook the shallots and garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan; do not allow to brown. Add the tomatoes and cook until all of the water from the tomatoes evaporates, which should take about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.