Good Things #13 | Centrepiece
A standout debut cookbook full of vibrant recipes (3 of which are extracted here!)
Hi everyone
I’m going to get straight to it.
It’s my pleasure this week to present you with three recipes from Helen Graham’s debut cookbook, Centrepiece. This is a chef and a book offering something rare: new ideas, new flavour combinations, a break from the tried and tired.
Some of you will be familiar with the (IMO excellent) London restaurant mini-chain, Bubala (3 sites, Spitalfields, Soho, Kings Cross). If not, it’s modern Middle Eastern, it’s a great place for a group meal, and it’s vegetarian … but no carnivore has ever walked out of there thinking they missed out on a big slab of meat.
Helen was the head chef and originator of much of what came out the kitchens in the first few years. And Centrepiece touches on some of that veg-forward food (ingenious skewers, roast cauliflowers and courgettes and other good things slathered in chilli oils and tahini and, well, other good things). But there’s more of her here. Which in my estimation means a magpie-ing of global (or contemporary London?) flavourings, and a cooking style that’s inquisitive and innovative but also quite chill: meals and dressings are made from scratch, but faff is not entertained.
Every recipe developer over the last two decades has been guilty of putting ‘their twist’ on a classic dish; adding cardamom to a custard, ground ginger to a Victoria sponge, putting some fennel seed with a fruit or mixing and matching classic carb and protein combos. All nice enough, but not rocket science.
Helen adds tweaks and embellishments that are genuinely creative. There’s a whole roast cauliflower recipe below that’s drenched in tahini and chilli oil; but the tahini is laced with saffron, and the very textured chilli oil includes dried cranberries – for a sweet sharp chew alongside the savoury crunch of frazzled shallots and garlic that I can picture and taste right now as being sensational, and would never have imagined myself. The finished dish is a riot of different aromatics and textures; and a genuine centrepiece.
Another of the recipes that follow is an Earl Grey, halva and vanilla fool, topped with macerated blackberries. The tea is strong and oversteeped into the cream - leading to a deliberate bitterness to balance the saccharine halva, and the acidity in the blackberries. It’s thoughtful. A level beyond copy-paste, ‘just add nduja’, or spin-the-roulette-reel-of-in-vogue-ingredient cooking.
There are other standout dishes the book. Take, for example, the humble hispi cabbage … blanch the leaves … then sit them a puddle of stem ginger syrup and orange flavoured whipped tofu, before spooning bucketloads of a spring onion and ginger oil over the top. Watch this video and appreciate the flavour bomb.
What else? Well, as already hinted, the various skewers are going to the top of my list for the coming barbecue season. And you’ll find all manner of ways to liven up your carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and aubergines; Meera’s quote on the cover is a very apt one.
If you’re a meat and two veg man, repulsed by a long-ish list of ingredients (even if most of them are spices), or get a sweat on when someone mentions harissa or tahini or something else that sits unused in your cupboard, then in all honesty this probably isn’t for you. And that’s fine. But if you like to not just try but embrace new ideas, then I heartily suggest giving Centrepiece a go. You can, of course, try before you buy with the recipes extracted here! (Recipes two & three are for paid supporters - join us?)
Recipes from Centrepiece, by Helen Graham
Ful Medames, Harissa Roast Tomatoes & Pickled Chilli Salsa
My non-traditional take on this Egyptian dish, usually served at breakfast, but breakfast, lunch or dinner, ful medames has got your back.
Fava beans can be bought in Middle Eastern supermarkets. You can also find dried fava (which you would need to pre-cook) in health food shops; just soak 400g (14oz), as they double in weight after cooking, and reserve 600ml (20fl oz) of the cooking liquid to add to the pot in addition to the 300ml (½ pint) water added later in the recipe.
Serves 6
2 × 400g (14oz) cans of fava beans (or see recipe introduction)
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1½ tablespoons ground cumin
5 tablespoons tahini paste
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
300ml (½ pint) water
4 tablespoons lemon juice
olive oil, to serve (optional)
For the harissa roast tomatoes
500g (1lb 2oz) cherry or baby plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
2 tablespoons harissa
For the pickled chilli salsa
½ red onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons olive oil
finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves
40g (1½oz) whole pickled chillies, finely chopped
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
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Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (400°F), Gas Mark 6.
Line a baking tray with nonstick baking paper.
For the roast tomatoes, toss the tomatoes together with the oil, salt and harissa in a bowl, then transfer to the lined tray. Roast for 25–30 minutes, tossing halfway through, until jammy and soft.
Put the fava beans and their liquid in a saucepan, along with the garlic, cumin, tahini, salt, paprika and measured water. Set over a medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Use a potato masher to lightly crush some of the beans while they cook; this will help to thicken the sauce. The texture should have become much thicker, but should also remain loose enough to spoon. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
To make the salsa, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir to combine.
To serve, spoon the warm ful medames into a serving dish and scatter the tomatoes and salsa on top, drizzling over olive oil, if you like.
How to serve
This makes a great side dish, especially good with Harissa Roast Carrots, Mango Labneh & Mint (see page 122). But it is also an amazing stand-alone dish (when it will serve four), or, when served alongside hummus or feta, to be eaten with some lovely flatbreads and lashings of olive oil.
Roast Cauliflower, Saffron Tahini & Cranberry-Chilli Oil
