Rachel Demuth PHOTOGRAPH: MARK WOOD PHOTOGRAPH

IN THE KITCHEN WITH Rachel Demuth PHOTOGRAPH: MARK WOOD PHOTOGRAPH:

Resident chef Rachel Demuth shares seasonal cooking ideas, tips, recipes and more…

Rachel was chef-proprietor of the award-winning Demuths vegetarian restaurant in Bath for 25 years, and is

now dedicated to running the Demuths PICTURES EAT © ROB WICKS Vegetarian Cookery School. She is the author of four vegetarian cookbooks, including The Green Seasons Cookbook.

FROM THE PANTRY UNUSUAL TUBERS Mashua and ocha varieties are popular in Peru and I have grown both easily in my garden – just make sure you leave them in the ground until late November and after the frosts for the tubers to have fully filled. Healthy food, Peruvian style MASHUA (Tropaeolum tuberosum) South American cooking is gaining in Ceviche is a classic way of preparing food These grow under a very pretty climber popularity – first it was Mexican and now in Peru, using a lime marinade to lightly ‘cook’ with orange flowers, while the tubers Peruvian is on the hot list. And I agree, there’s meats and fish with the natural acidity of have a peppery, mustardy flavour similar nothing zingier than a fresh plate of ceviche the dressing. However, ceviche also works to mild wasabi. They are crunchy and (vegetarian-style) washed down with a couple brilliantly for crisp vegetables such as ocha, taste delicious eaten raw ceviche-style, of pisco sours. mashua, beetroot, fennel and radishes, which roasted, or added to stews. soften slightly with the acidity of the limes. In London, Peruvian food is at its finest at OCHA (Oxalis tuberosa) Martin Morales’ Ceviche Peruvian kitchen, and Ocha (or oca) have edible lemony his cookbook Ceviche was the Sunday Times shamrock leaves and stunning rainbow- Book of the Year in 2013. At the cookery coloured tubers. When first harvested school we’ve noticed our South American they have a strong lemon flavour from courses filling up fast, as people realise what the oxalic acid (similar to sorrel and rich and interesting flavours can be found in rhubarb), but this acidity softens if you the food of this diverse region. leave them out for a few days. There’s no I discovered this for myself on a recent need to peel; they are delicious roasted trip to Peru, where I was lucky enough to or sliced thinly for a salad. try a wonderful array of unusual foods and different cooking methods that were all veggie-friendly. For breakfast we had quinoa or amaranth porridge, while later in the day we tucked into snacks of empanadas made with cornmeal pastry filled with spinach and chilli beans. Other highlights included vegetable soups enriched with quinoa, and steaming hot corn on the cobs bought from street vendors, rubbed with salt and chillies and a squeeze of lime. We also enjoyed fresh,

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Find out more at www.vegetariancookeryschool.com. For weekly seasonal recipes, follow Rachel’s blog at www.racheldemuth.co.uk/blog.

ESSENTIAL TIPS…

SOUTH AMERICAN GRAINS l QUINOA (pronounced ‘keenwa’) is a relative of spinach and beets and is not a ‘true’ grain. It has a higher protein content ‘We’ve noticed our South than rice and is gluten-free. The red and American courses filling up black varieties take longer to cook and absorb more water than the white. My tip fast, as people realise what for cooking quinoa is to stir-fry in a little rich and interesting flavours oil first before adding stock, then it cooks to beautiful fluffy spheres that keep their can be found in the food of texture. I love to serve quinoa in a big Vegetable ceviche salad topped with roasted pumpkin seeds this diverse region’ Serves 4 | Prep 15 mins + marinating and roasted squash, but it’s so versatile and crisp vegetables served ceviche-style, you can buy it in popped, flake, flour and 4 medium radishes corn fritters with super-hot chilli sauces, milk forms. 1 small bulb of fennel rich bean stews served with pumpkins l CHIA is from the mint family and the 1 ripe avocado and a variety of potatoes, plus avocados seeds are rich in protein, calcium, short- 2 spring onions so sweet and ripe and an abundance of chain omega-3 and fibre, plus they are 1 raw beetroot, peeled mangos, papaya, custard apples and gluten-free. The seeds are a very good handful of chopped coriander, to garnish finger bananas. In fact, the only dish I egg replacement: mix with water into a gel For the ceviche dressing: didn’t enjoy was a lupin stew! in the same way as with flax seeds. Chia 1 lime, zest and juice Peru is also the birthplace of potatoes can be eaten raw, sprinkled on breakfast ½ tsp sherry vinegar and has over 4,000 different cultivars, cereal, added to bread dough or cooked 1 tbsp soft brown sugar ranging in colour from yellow to red and with grains. 1 small red chilli, finely chopped purple. The difference in flavour and l AMARANTH is another pseudo-grain salt and pepper texture is so marked that restaurants will but also an excellent source of protein often serve three or more different types and gluten-free with a malty, nutty taste. 1 Slice all of the vegetables as thinly as of potato in one meal. When cooking amaranth, add lots of you can with a sharp knife, peeler or Up in the Andes, potatoes are the staple water, as you will find the grains and the mandolin. Place the vegetables, except food and have to be stored to keep all cooking liquid will turn gelatinous. I like the beetroot, in a bowl. Keep the beetroot year round. First they are left out in the to pop the grains – just add a couple of in a separate bowl, as otherwise it will turn winter frost to freeze, where the frost tablespoons to a dry frying pan and stir everything pink. breaks them down and the liquid inside is over a medium heat until they pop. You 2 Mix the dressing ingredients together then squeezed out. Finally they are left to can combine with other grains at a ratio in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar dry in the winter sun, and eventually will of one amaranth to four of another grain, has dissolved fully. Taste and adjust the be rehydrated to cook. The dried potatoes or to thicken a soup add a tablespoonful amounts of lime, sugar, salt and pepper. will keep forever – they have even been during cooking. 3 Dress the vegetables with the ceviche found in Incan tombs! marinade and leave for up to an hour Finding different varieties of potatoes Amaranth to marinate. in the UK is becoming much easier, even 4 Just before serving, arrange the supermarkets sell a range of coloured beetroot on the plate and then the other potatoes now. For keen gardeners, this vegetables on top. Sprinkle with the is the time to buy seed potatoes, to get chopped coriander. them chitting and ready to plant by Easter n PER SERVING 105 cals, fat 6g, sat fat 1g, – so why not try growing something a carbs 9.5g, sugars 9g, protein 2g, salt 1.1g, little more unusual this year? fibre 3g