Three summer recipes to try, from kachumber salad to lobster with chips
Hailing from India, Spain and England, these three recipes — kachumber salad, lobster with chips and sopa bullabesa de Almería — epitomise the summer months for chefs Romy Gill, Jack Stein and José Pizarro.
Chef Romy Gill's kachumber salad is quick to throw together, and makes a fresh accompaniment to a range of Indian dishes.
Romy Gill’s kachumber salad
This salad is commonly made in Indian restaurants and homes. It goes really well with so many dishes because of its fresh flavour and vibrant colours.
Serves: 3 - 4
Takes: 5 mins
Ingredients
1/2 small cucumber, deseeded and chopped into fine batons
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
40g hard white cabbage, shredded
1/2 green apple, cored and sliced
seeds of 1/2 pomegranate
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp chopped fresh coriander
pitta, wrap or boiled rice, to serve (optional)
Method
Add all the ingredients to a serving bowl with 1/2 tsp salt and toss well. Serve immediately on its own, or with a pitta, wrap or boiled rice for something more substantial.
Discover more of Romy Gill's favourite summer flavours
Recipe taken from Zaika, by Romy Gill (Seven Dials, £20)
Chef Jack Stein enhances his lobster with chips with a splash of burgundy.
Jack Stein’s lobster with chips
Back in the early 1990s, my dad had recently been commissioned to do his first series for the BBC and, to celebrate, he made lobster and chips, with a 1987 burgundy. It’s a combination that would’ve been frowned on back then by many, but, to me, exemplifies his love of simple things and his blithe disregard for what people think.
Serves: 4
Takes: 45 mins
Ingredients
4 cooked lobsters (around 500g)
4 tbsp clarified butter
150ml fish stock
100g butter, cold and cubed
1/2 lemon, juiced
handful of tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
mixed salad leaves, to serve
lemon wedges, to serve
For the chips
500g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and sliced into 2cm-thick batons
sunflower oil, for deep-frying
Method
1. First, prepare the chips. Rinse the potatoes to remove the starch, then immerse them in boiling water for 6 mins. Drain and dry, then double-fry them in the oil: first at 140C for 4 mins, before leaving to cool for 10 mins, then at 180C until crisp and golden. Season with salt.
2. Heat the grill. Cut the lobsters in half and season with salt, then pour over the clarified butter and set on a tray. Grill for 8-10 mins (the internal temperature should have reached 68C). If you’re cooking in batches, keep the cooked lobsters warm on a plate under foil.
3. Heat the stock until boiling, then whisk in the cold butter until emulsified. Season with salt and finish with the lemon juice and tarragon. Scoop out the cooked head meat and anything left on the tray and add to the sauce. Serve with salad, and drizzle the sauce over the salad and lobsters.
Discover more of Jack Stein's favourite summer flavours
Recipe taken from Jack Stein’s World on a Plate (Bloomsbury Absolute, £26)
Chef José Pizarro suggests adapting the recipe for sopa bullabesa de Almería depending on what's in season.
José Pizarro’s sopa bullabesa de Almería
Feel free to adapt this recipe by using different fish and seafood, depending on what’s available; fresh and seasonal options make a superior soup. Some chefs add aioli or mayonnaise, but I prefer it without.
Serves: 4 - 6
Takes: 35 mins
Ingredients
olive oil, for frying
1 onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, finely chopped, fronds reserved
2 tsp pimentón de la Vera
pinch of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp boiling water
200ml white wine
50ml Pernod
300g ripe tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1/2 orange, zested and juiced
200ml shellfish or fish stock
400g monkfish, cut into chunks
400g clams, cleaned
500g raw prawns, shell on
crusty bread, to serve
Method
1. Pour the olive oil into a large frying pan set over a medium heat and gently cook the onion and fennel for 15 mins until softened. Add the pimentón and saffron (with its soaking liquid), then pour in the wine and Pernod and bubble for 1-2 mins.
2. Add the tomatoes, orange zest and juice and stock. Season and bring to a simmer.
3. Add the monkfish to the pan and cook for 3-4 mins, then add the clams and prawns and cook for a further 2-3 mins until the prawns are pink and the clams are open (discard any that haven’t opened).
4. Scatter with the reserved fennel fronds and serve with crusty bread.
Discover more of José Pizarro's favourite summer flavours
Recipe taken from Andalusia: Recipes from Seville and Beyond, by José Pizarro (Hardie Grant, £26)
Published in Issue 9 (summer 2020) of National Geographic Traveller Food
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