Hunting out Britain’s finest foodstuffs

BBC2s Great British Food Revival is extolling the virtues of mundane items such as bread, cauliflower and tomatoes.

The latter is being championed by Gary Rhodes.

“I wanted to show the strengths of this everyday ingredient. I don’t ever see someone in the supermarket without a packet of tomatoes. It’s actually a fruit, so I even put it in desserts.”

But just before filming the programme, Rhodes spent a month in Italy where he began to regret his choice of produce.

“The tomatoes I ate were phenomenal and I thought, ‘Nothing in Britain will match that’. Then, while making the show, I met an Englishman growing 50 to 60 varieties on his farm and when you put them in your mouth they were equally explosive. Amazing.

“I also learned that in this country we pick our tomatoes far too young, when they’re still green, so by the time they get to the supermarket they’ve lost that great flavour.”

Although Rhodes might not be synonymous with food campaigning, he’s still a chef who wants to see a change in our eating habits.

“I believe we have the finest ingredients in the world. The French buy our lobsters, Scottish raspberries are incredible, as is British beef, Welsh lamb, Scallops from Cornish waters and English asparagus... it goes on and on.”

And more could be done to encourage people to buy local without forcing them to give up the convenient supermarket shop, he says: “I don’t think the local greengrocer will ever be revived, so what I’d love is the mega supermarkets to create in-house markets on a Saturday. If people knew they could still get old Bob’s tomatoes, they’d be drawn to it. That would support Great British food and win the public’s respect.

“There should also be a place in supermarkets for the ‘odd’ food,” he continues, now in full flow. “The stuff that’s the ‘wrong’ shape. If I had a supermarket that did that, I’d be proud to go there – and out of respect, I’d buy everything else there too.”

Rhodes really enjoyed making The Great British Food Revival, because it was all about the products: “The star was the tomato. They weren’t looking for that flashy, arty ‘look what I’m making’ nonsense and I could just be myself. I do cringe at some of that gooey stuff of old, but at a young age, you do what you’re told.”

Obviously Rhodes has no reason to feel embarrassed about his cooking programmes, but this comment is revealing. Despite his success, he’s still humble about his abilities.

Here are two of Rhodes’s favourite tomato recipes to try.

ALMOND PUDDING WITH LIME SYRUP AND ENGLISH WHITE TOMATO SORBET

Serves 4

For the White Tomato Sorbet: 100g liquid glucose, 100g caster sugar, 500ml white tomato juice

For the Almond Pudding: 320g unsalted butter, room temperature, 120g caster sugar, 125g good quality ground almonds, 1tsp baking powder, 25g plain flour, 25g crumbled digestive biscuits, 3 free range eggs

For the Lime Syrup: 100ml lime juice (approximately 3-4 limes), 50g caster sugar, splash of vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod (optional)

You will need an ice cream machine and four 10cm loose-bottom tart tins.

Pre-chill the ice cream machine. Meanwhile, heat the glucose, sugar and tomato juice together until the sugar has dissolved. Boil together for a few minutes before straining and leaving to cool. Then put in the ice cream machine and churn. Preheat the oven to 140C/Gas Mark 1. Line the tart tins twice with soft butter then flour and set aside. Place all of the ingredients for the Almond Pudding in a food processor and blitz until smooth. Divide between the four greased tart tins and cook for 15-19 minutes, until they start to come away from the sides and are firm to the touch. Remove from the oven to cool.

For the lime syrup, gently warm the lime juice and caster sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. The syrup is now ready to drizzle over each of the almond puddings. A splash of vanilla essence or one vanilla pod can be added to the syrup for extra flavour.

When the puddings have been allowed to cool, place each on a large bowl or plate. Drizzle with the syrup and top with a scoop of the sorbet.

PAN-FRIED SALMON WITH TOMATOES, SHRIMPS AND FRESH HERBS

Serves 3

For the Tomato and Shrimp Sauce: 15ml olive oil, 25g brown shrimps, peeled, 1-2 plum or salad tomatoes, blanched, peeled and diced, mixed bunch of parsley, tarragon, chives and chervil, chopped, salt and pepper

For the spinach: Knob of butter, generous handful of spinach leaves, picked and washed, salt and pepper

For the salmon: salt and pepper, 3 x 50g square fillets of salmon, skinned, 15ml olive oil, squeeze lemon juice.

To make the sauce, warm the oil in a pan but do not let it become too hot. Add the shrimps and gently warm. Add the tomatoes and finally the herbs. Season to taste.

Melt the butter in another frying or saucepan. Once sizzling add the spinach leaves, stirring for just a minute or two until the leaves are tender. Season with salt and pepper and drain.

The leaves can be spooned on to a plate lined with kitchen towel. This will help to soak up any excess water remaining in the leaves. Season and fry the salmon fillets in a hot pan with a little olive oil, allowing them to colour on one side before turning the fillets and repeating the process. The fillets will only take three to four minutes in total, keeping a succulent moist centre. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Divide the leaves into three piles on a main course serving plate. Top each with a fillet of the fish, spooning the tomato, shrimp and fresh herb sauce on top of each and serve.

The Great British Food Revival featuring Gary Rhodes can be seen on BBC2 on Monday, April 4. The TV tie-in recipe book is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in hardback, £20.