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In Season

Bio

Paul began his career in catering at the age of 20. Since then he has instinctively known that being a chef was for him.After completing three years of catering studies, Paul secured roles at various Michelin-starred restaurants, including Canterbury’s 74 Restaurant, Juniper and Gidleigh Park. He later moved to Nunsmere Hall Hotel in Cheshire as Head Chef where his partnership with Katie O’Brien began. His creations yield unexpected combinations of flavours that complement rather than compete. Paul and Katie relocated to Edinburgh and opened the award-winning 21212, a Michelin star restaurant with rooms, in May 2009.

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  • In Season: how to make Michelin star bread

    Nothing smells better than baked bread and it’s a living thing and it’s not often that you get to work with living things in a kitchen.

    Our bread is magical. We don’t make white or brown bread, we make cakey, hot cross bun bread. It’s more like a museli bread, two bites are never the same.

    It makes the most fantastic toast: big, thick and brilliant with a bit of butter. It also makes fantastic Welsh rarebit and, best of all, our bread matures for a day or two and becomes like Dundee cake so you never lose anything.

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  • In Season: unravelling the mysteries of asparagus

    Well, let’s get this confusion cleared up. The only bit you should save and eat is the soft, flowery bit: the rest should go in the bin.

    The best way to snap off the end cleanly is to raise the asparagus to eye level, hold its tail and head and bend it until it snaps. Whatever snaps off is what nature intended you to eat.

    Now, asparagus works really well with leeks, which are in fact known as poor mans asparagus. As a result, anything leeks can do asparagus can do better.

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  • In Season: classic lemon tart

    The world over this is probably one of my favourite desserts. It has its origins in France and then we nicked it off of them.

    Now this recipe involves some serious cooking and you will need a blow torch but it’s worth the effort.

    It’s always on the menu at our restaurant, we’ve been doing it for 20 years so I would definitely recommend that people give it a try. You don’t even have to make the pastry, you can just buy that in the shops.

    It is a serious Michelin star dessert so it is a challenge.

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  • In Season: around the world weekend chicken

    This is my Friday, Saturday and Sunday family chicken and it starts with a quick trip to the supermarket to buy a three and a half pound bird.

    Once you’ve brought it home, put it in a pot with cold water, bring it to a rolling boil, simmer it, chuck in lots of peeled root vegetables, peppercorns, crushed garlic and onions and boil it for an hour and a quarter.

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  • In Season: why Dundee Cake is a world beater

    White pudding is a classic example. It’s full of sultanas and prunes and it’s beautiful. This kind of stuff is right up my street and it got me thinking that most people love dried fruits but don’t realise they are eating it.

    The Scots have something in them that’s drawn to dried fruits. They must have because they came up with Dundee cake and it is one of the best things in the world. I could eat it forever.

    So I’ve decided to come up with a couple of quick recipes to show want you can do with dried fruits.

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  • In Season: why I'm nuts about nuts

    However, apart from peanuts and at Christmas, people do seem to get a bit freaked out by them.

    Well, I’m here to tell you that there’s more to nuts than Christmas day and dirty bars and to prove it I’ve drawn up a list of the best nuts around.

    Now the King, for me, is brazil nuts. They work really well with red meat, roasted and in home-made burgers or dipped in a boiled egg instead of toasted soldiers. They’re also fantastic added to the stuffing for a roasted leg of lamb.

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  • In Season: 12 things to do with popcorn

    It’s so unusual, exciting and adaptable. You can make it yourself, buy it in a thousand difference flavours or just get it plain and make your own taste concoctions.

    Never mind sitting eating it in the cinema: popcorn is the new potato, there’s just so much you can do with it.

    Forget bread and try salt and pepper popcorn with tomato soup. It’s fantastic, I know because I’ve tried it!

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  • In Season: why condiments are Gods

    They are the things that you find hidden at the back of the fridge or cupboards: you don’t want to throw them out but you have no idea what to do with them.

    Well, I think you should mix them up.

    There is no reason why you can’t serve mint sauce with beef or salad cream with pork instead of apple sauce.

    Take some mint sauce and mayonnaise and mix them together to create sauce paloise (I didn’t make that name up!). Mint and mayo is a magnificent combo that works really well.

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  • In Season: why I think porridge is a cereal killer

    However, it’s not the bowl of porridge that matters, it’s the peripheral things: there is so much you can do with it.

    If we go back to basics and add hot water and salt; that to me is porridge. I know people will have it with jam, fruit, cream, sweet toast or sugar and say they love porridge but they don’t, they love Ready Brek!

    Porridge is just so versatile and in the restaurant we use it in more or less everything.

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  • In Season: unravelling the mysteries of rhubarb

    It’s just in season but the mystery to everyone the world over is that no-one knows what to do with it!

    It’s got a big pink stalk that people love to eat but, for some reason, people only tend to use it in crumbles.

    What you might not know though is that whatever Branston pickle does, rhubarb does better. Take the thought that it must be served as part of a crumble out of your mind and think of it more as a conserve.

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  • In Season: why onions are man's best vegetable friend

    The whole world runs on onions, everyone eats them and loves them and no-one would eat a hotdog in a million years without them.

    When I was a kid my mum used to fry them so they would go crispy and they were fantastic but on a Wednesday night we would have boiled onions. They need about an hour to cook with a bit of salt and vinegar but what my mum would do, which was brilliant, was scoop out the middle and put a lot of cheese on top so it became like an onion mornay. It was delicious and if you’re feeling a bit posh then add a bit of cream or butter as well.

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  • In Season: 11 things to do with blood oranges

    They are only in season during January and February but they are definitely worth looking up as you can do anything with them.

    However, I do have one plea, don’t make marmalade with them! Marmalade is horrible and there are better things to do with blood oranges than making this.

    In fact there are so many things that they go well with that I have written a list. They work well with shellfish and will be brilliant with any pan-fried scallops, crab or, if you’re going crazy, lobster.

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  • In Season: Brussels sprouts - the eternal green mystery

    Brussels sprouts are essentially a little cabbage. Many people boil the living daylights out of them. That treatment is great for making sprout purée. My Mum would boil them for about a month and a half with loads of salt. She made us drink the briny water because its good for spots. And I haven’t had a spot since!

    But sprouts are very versatile. They hold their flavour better than most vegetables even when cooked for a long time. They also take on seasonings and spices well.

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  • In Season: why I find beetroot magical

    Its taste, flavour, texture and piquancy are unique and it is just so bright and appealing.

    I was brought up on beetroot and I love it, hot or cold. In fact, one of the best things I have ever eaten was a sandwich which I had whilst I was working on a building site which was filled with pea pudding, corned beef and jarred beetroot. By the time I got to work the sandwich had turned pink and tasted almost like a savoury bread pudding. It was fantastic.

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  • In Season: why venison makes me reminisce about Queen Victoria

    It is wrapped up in romantic notions and is the epitome of Scotland, in the same way that haggis and smoked salmon are.

    However, when it comes to cooking it at home, venison can seem like quite a daunting challenge for the uninitiated and the mystery thickens when it comes to working out the difference between the cuts.

    But there is no need to be afraid because you can do the same things with venison that you do with beef, it has the same bits and cuts that you would find on a cow, they just have different names.

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  • In Season: cooking the perfect parsnip

    It is one of those vegetables that people love to serve along with their turkey and stuffing. However, did you know that in Scotland the parsnip is often called the white carrot?

    I think that parsnips are seen by most people as a bit of a mystery because they don’t know what to do with them, but they should not be. They are the best vegetable you can get, followed closely by cauliflower and Swedes and, for me, they stand up for themselves.

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  • In Season: my passion for potatoes

    Jacket potatoes are up there with porridge and, for me, they are the ultimate potato dish. I absolutely love them.

    They are the most honest vegetable I can think of and if I had to have a last meal that is what it would be.

    Texture is the key with a baked potato and the filling is paramount. A crispy skin is also essential.

    I was brought up on jacket potatoes and I started with cheddar and other hard cheeses but as I got older and wiser, clever and stupider, I looked at different fillings.

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  • In Season: pears

    These soft, juicy delicacies are perfect for adding a bit of sweetness to desserts and savoury dishes in autumn but, did you know that pears are a fantastic source of fibre, with one medium fruit containing around 25% of your recommended daily allowance?

    HeraldScotland food expert Paul Kitching, from 21212 in Edinburgh, has always loved pears and says that they are one of the most versatile ingredients you can use in the kitchen.

    He said: "Pears are perfect right now and you can do anything with them.

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  • In Season: mushrooms

    Mushrooms are one of the most versatile ingredients around, whether you’re making a hearty stew or a Chinese delicacy, they can always add something special to any dish. However, did you know that there are around 2,000 different species of edible mushrooms currently eaten around the world?

    HeraldScotland food expert Paul Kitching, from 21212 in Edinburgh, is a big fan of the edible fungi and says that using them during November, when they are in season, makes them even better.

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In Season

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Paul Kitching

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