December 2016

SIMON'S FOOD SCHOOL:

Stuff You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Food

Those of you who have followed my exploits on my social media accounts will know that I rarely travel anywhere in the world without my own stash of tea -- you can take the man out of England, but you can’t take England out of the man. I am not alone in my passion for tea, however as, after water, tea is by far the most popular beverage in the world, with over six billion cups being consumed EVERY single day.

Even though the Brits, surprisingly only rank third in the world in the per capita consumption of tea (behind the Turkish and the Irish) the notion of “a nice cup of tea” has become something that is recognized as being quintessentially British, and the thought that most of the world’s problems can be solved by the simple act of “putting the kettle on” is one that is inculcated into most British people from the moment they gain sentience.

How the British gained this love affair with dried leaves soaked in hot water (with just a splash of milk, naturally) is a long and fascinating story, but began with its arrival in the 1600’s with Dutch missionaries who promoted its use as an exotic medicine. We now know that drinking tea can have many health benefits, but at that time, the main reason it helped to ward off illness was that the water used in its making had to be boiled.

Tea gained increasing popularity over the next 100 years or so, to the point where taxation on tea resulted in nearly 10% of the country’s tax revenue (and caused some mild disturbance in one of its outlying colonies to boot). But, it really became a drink for the everyman in the mid-1800’s when Britain began to grow its own tea in India rather than having to buy it from China. The story of how that happened is one of the great stories of culinary espionage, involving as its most unlikely hero a surly Scottish botanist named Robert Fortune, who, in the 1840’s and at the behest of The East India Co., disguised himself a traveler from “a distant province” and travelled around areas of China that were forbidden to foreign visitors. This enabled him not only to smuggle tea plants out of the country, but also to observe exactly how the best teas were made, information that the Chinese had protected under pain of death.

Over a number of visits, Fortune was able to bring back over 20,000 seedlings which were cultivated in vast tracks of land in the Assam and Darjeeling regions of India, which had been prepared for the purpose by the East India Co. It was such a success that India remains the largest producer of tea in the world today and still supplies its former occupier of Britain with most of its tea supply.

So, next time you put the kettle on (for the love of God, please let’s do away with iced tea, it’s an abomination) for the perfect cup of tea, take time to remember that if it wasn’t for the bravery of Dutch missionaries and a dour Scots botanist, you might have to drink coffee instead. Ugh.

THE BOOK ZONE

Those of you who have been following my adventures on social media for a while will know that I am quite a carnivorous fellow at heart. That being said, there are always times when a meatless meal makes a welcome change and that's where my book recommendation for this month's newsletter comes in.

The Chubby Vegetarian: 100 Inspired Vegetable Recipes for The Modern Table by my chums, Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence is packed full of the sorts of recipes that will make "Meatless Monday" something to look forward to rather than dread.  

Definitely worth checking out.

YOUR "FIRST LOOK" RECIPE:

Porchetta

This dish has, perhaps, become the single most requested of my recipes. It's not hard to see why. The combination of flavours combined with the texture of crunchy skin giving way to creamy pork flesh is hard to beat. It is definitely not a "quick and easy" recipe, but if you have time to dedicate to it, you will certainly be repaid in the slightly inappropriate moaning noises your companions will make as they tuck in.

Please click on the picture to take you to a video of me preparing this dish.