IF music be the food of love, play on." Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, but you knew that.
How ironic (inevitable?) that the only literary quotation I can recall from my school days, should be about food. And, indeed, music. The two often seem to go hand in hand, especially in professional kitchens where the playing of music is contentious.
In one of my first jobs, in a hectic London brasserie, the blaring radio was as essential as coffee and oxygen. In smarter (ie Michelin starred) establishments, I discovered that coffee and music were usurped by silent, disciplined focus. The only sound was the chef's voice and our obedient responses.
Yet at home, I would never dream of cooking in silence. Music and food make harmonious partners, so when we refurbished the restaurant earlier this year, we installed music in the dining room - a response to many guests who had found things starchy in the past.
One Italian chef I worked for happily combined music (opera, naturally) and food, both in the kitchen and on the plate: "pane carasatu", or music bread, is the wafer-thin, crisp bread found either in the bread basket or as a canapé base in southern Italy. Topped with slivers of cold cuts, raw vegetables or mousse, its brittle crunch is irresistible - eaten, of course, with music.
Pane carasatu (Sardinian music bread) with parma ham, marinated fennel and chives
Recipes serve 6
1 packet pane carasatu, available from delicatessens or online
Parma ham, about 2 slices per person
1 bulb fennel, preferably with leafy herb intact
A few radishes, optional
For the vinaigrette:
1 rounded tsp Dijon mustard
80ml tarragon vinegar
80ml vegetable or rapeseed oil
120ml olive oil
Pinch of salt
A generous pinch of sugar
Fresh black pepper
1 lemon
Method:
1. Place vinaigrette ingredients (except the oils and lemon) in a bowl and briefly whisk to combine thoroughly. Gradually and very slowly whisk in the oils. Taste and adjust as desired: it should be reasonably acidic. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Refrigerate until required in a screw-cap jar (will last several days).
2. Remove the fennel herb from the top of the bulb. Place in a small tub covered with damp kitchen paper towel and refrigerate. Halve the fennel bulb lengthways; cut out the root and discard. Slice across the width of fennel, to give fine, half-moon-shaped slivers. Place in a small bowl. Over these, squeeze a little lemon juice and season lightly with sea salt flakes. Add enough vinaigrette to cover it generously, but don't drown it in liquid. Set aside to marinade for one to several hours. Pick the fennel herb down with your fingers into smaller sized fronds, or chop roughly then set aside.
3. Break the music bread into pieces that are a suitable size to act as a large canapé base, then lay these out on a large serving platter.
4. Assemble as close to serving as possible: slice each piece of Parma ham into three, then fold up in billowy waves and place one slice on top of each piece of bread. Toss the fennel herb through the marinated fennel, keeping a little back for scattering over the top. Now spoon some of the chopped marinated fennel over the parma ham, sprinkling some of the fennel herb over as well. Slice the radishes in thin slivers (if using) and arrange one or two over each piece, or scatter them all over the plate. Add a few twists of pepper and a little drizzle of olive oil then serve immediately as a snack, canapé, or on top of a salad.
PANE CARASATU WITH SMOKED TROUT PATE AND A ROCKET & WALNUT PESTO
For the smoked trout pate
4 fillets smoked trout, about 400g
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 rounded dstsp thick crème fraiche
Fresh ground black pepper
1 dstsp finely chopped chives
For the pesto:
300g wild rocket
200g walnut halves
8 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 red chillies
Zest of 1 lemon
Method
1. Pesto: halve chillies lengthways, de-seed then slice roughly. Place rocket leaves, chilli and half of the walnuts in a blender jug. Add a quarter of the oil. Pulse a few times to chop finely then with the motor running, slowly add all the oil in a steady drizzle to process to a puree. Now add remaining walnuts and the lemon, and pulse, keeping the walnuts chunky. Place in an opaque container (to protect from the light), cover the pesto's surface with cling film then cover with a lid and refrigerate until needed. (Will keep for two days.)
2. Flake the trout flesh into a bowl, removing any skin and bones. Add the crème fraiche, pepper and lemon then beat powerfully with a firm spatula, wooden spoon or similar until it is flaked down, well mixed to form a coarse, textured puree. If it seems too stiff, add more crème fraiche. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Add the herbs and fold in then set aside until needed. (Can be done in advance and kept for 24 hours.) Be sure to remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving.
3. To serve: transfer the pesto to a small bowl and place the smoked trout mixture in a similar dish. Arrange on a serving platter then break up the music bread and arrange around the outside of the platter. Place two spoons in the bowls of pesto and smoked fish pate then let everyone help themselves, spooning some of the fish onto a piece of music bread, before topping it with some pesto.
Geoffrey Smeddle is the chef patron of The Peat Inn, by St Andrews, Fife, KY15 5LH 01334 840206 www.thepeatinn.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article