[COMM] A slight change of tactic

It's been a while since the last recipes were added; time to return to this mammoth task of indexing. However, the Mammal has decided to take a different tack so that the index is of more immediate use during its slow compilation.

The previous method was simply to start at the beginning and plough through the recipes in sequence, but that has meant that lots of things that don't particularly appeal or are not suited to the Mammal's circumstances are added while other recipes that it has, in fact, tried and liked have yet to appear. This means that instead of conveniently searching for these recipes via the blog, the poor beast has to continue to trawl through the whole range of cut-out pages and Sainsbury's Magazine tables of contents from scratch, which sort of defeats the purpose.

So from now on, the focus will be on prioritizing the Mammal's favourite recipes, or untried ones that it really likes the look of. Which means that other readers will be at the mercy of its idiosyncrasies: if you like light summery salads or sweet cakes and desserts, you will be less catered for in this phase, but if your taste runs to hearty stews and soups and fruit-based or dark chocolate desserts and cakes, you'll strike lucky more often.

And now that the Mammal's favourite food seasons of Autumn and Winter are coming round again, it is looking forward to putting its apron on and getting down to some real cooking ...

[COMM] Food from the ancient world!

The Mammal owns a copy of the ancient Roman writer Apicius' cookbook (translated into English and with modern weights and measures, ingredient substitutions). Some of the recipes are very good indeed—it's not all roast dormouse and stuffed swan: lots of legumes, herbs, root veg and ordinary meats and fish, relatively simple to make and constituting a pretty healthy diet.

So it was with great delight that we discovered the existence of Pass the Garum, a blog about ancient—so far, mostly Roman—food maintained by a food-loving ancient history graduate (part of the Mammal's CV, too, as it happens). Everything is set out clearly, with lovely photos as well:

"I aim to stay as true to the original recipes as possible, capturing the essence of the food if nothing else.  Rather than using a blender, I have a trusty mortar and pestle to pound my ingredients.  Where measurements aren't given, I'll use ratios or just go by what feels right.  When a recipe calls for an unusual ingredient, I'll try to get as close to that as is possible."

Time to get stuck into Parsnip Mash and Salt Pork and other delights ...

[COMM] Kruid & Druif—new food shop on the block!

The Mammal decided to pop down the road yesterday to investigate a new food shop with an interesting concept. Kruid & Druif (spice & grape) provides 'ingredient packs' and recipes for meals from a range of Asian cuisines, along with wines suited to each meal. For vegetarian meals, everything is included in the price; for fish and meat meals, you have to buy the fish/meat separately, though it is available in the shop. Each 'pack' provides 3 portions (in some cases stretching to 4). Some of the main courses are all-in-one, others need side dishes to complete the meal.

It works very simply. Recipes are grouped into a number of types (mild, hot, etc); you decide which you want, plus starter and/or side dishes if required, get the recipe card from the rack, and then either find the ingredients or ask one of the staff to do it for you. There is an array of fresh vegetables, whole or cut to size (e.g. 1cm pieces of ginger) as required for the recipes, along with coconut milk and similar. Rice and noodles are provided in the amounts required for the recipe; the exact quantities of the necessary spices, herbs or sauces/pastes are provided in little sachets or containers, which are all packed into a labelled box. 

The meat (free-range or organic from the artisan butcher a couple of doors down) and fish (from the harbour at Scheveningen) is also packaged up in quantities appropriate to the various recipes. A good selection of wines (the staff will advise which go best with your chosen recipe) and some Asian beers are also available. Some good but rather pricey kitchen equipment (chopping boards, herb caskets, knives etc) can be bought, if you're feeling reckless. You can order online and have the pack prepared in advance for collection; if you live in or near Den Haag, it can also be delivered (the delivery service is limited because the ingredients are fresh).

The Mammal tried out Massaman Curry last night, a mild and aromatic Thai chicken curry which is big enough for 4 portions (so it's on the menu again tonight!). The whole lot, including 500g chicken, came in at about €21, which is pretty good for four meals and definitely a lot cheaper than buying the various spices in separate jars (and probably not using them again for ages, if at all). Oh, and it was very tasty indeed: we foresee several return visits in the Mammal's future ...

[COMM] A new relative for the Inner Mammal?

Thanks to Aidan for drawing our attention to this delightful little beast, which is clearly a member of the Mammal's extended family ...

[COMM] Woah, how did it get to be nearly March?

The Mammal has been trapped in the clutches of heavy work and study ogres for the last while, and posts to the blog have languished somewhat in consequence. However, even a busy mammal has to eat, so while the ogre is not looking, we'll try to sneak in the odd recipe as we go along. The original idea was to plough through the backlog of recipes from (mostly) Sainsbury's Magazine, but at the moment it makes more sense to add previously unposted recipes as we use them: the February issue, for instance, had a real gem in the form of olive and chorizo soda bread which is perfect for lunches and has already become a staple of the Mammal's repertoire.

[COMM] Hearty food for the cold season

We had guests the other evening, and decided the chillier weather called for some good comfort food in the main course and dessert. For the heart of the mains, we went for a tried and tested favourite, this Czech goulash full of warm flavours. For dessert, we tried something new and very appropriate to the season here in the Netherlands: gevulde speculaas, spicy biscuit dough filled with almond paste (we had it hot as a dessert, with a scoop of ice cream, with plenty left over to be eaten in its more usual form as a cake). Both well worth trying!

[COMM] Waking from hibernation

Image from National Geographic, not the IM's family album 

The Mammal has been sleeping for a number of months, as is its wont, but is now beginning to emerge from hibernation. Admittedly, the weather we're having right now does not offer much encouragement to it in this brave endeavour, but its duty as a haphazard web publisher calls.

The next few posts will make note of some good recipes used recently, before returning to the more systematic purpose of the blog in indexing the Mammal's recipe collection.

A handful of links have also been added to the categories at the right of the page, as we sample new recipes or find new shops and suppliers.

Happy 2012 to all who light upon this blog.

[COMM] New toy – the amazing Vita-Mix!

Earlier this year, not long before moving to Den Haag, the Inner Mammal was in John Lewis in Newcastle in the company of M, who was visiting the North East for cultural reasons (a live performance of songs from The Wicker Man followed by a late-night screening).

As we went in from the bus station through the kitchenware section, our attention was caught by the sight of a small crowd gathered around a lady who was clearly demonstrating something or other to a rapt audience. Moving forward to see the show, we too stood slack-jawed and amazed at the spectacle.

The piece of kit being demonstrated was the Vita-Mix, a US invention of long standing now being promoted in the UK. It is basically a blender, but put your standard blender experience out of your mind: this was a weapons-grade blender with a true capacity for shock and awe.

Two tasks in particular had us all staring in fascinated disbelief. First, the demonstrator whanged in a series of raw ingredients (those given in the previous post) and blended them together to form a soup. So what? I hear the sceptical ask: she liquidized a bunch of vegetables – big deal. But the magic came when she left the blender running, and after 6 minutes or so the soup was cooked. Apparently, the motor is so powerful that the heat created from just letting the blades run on was enough to heat the mixture all by itself. She poured the result into little cups for the audience to taste, and it was delicious.

The second marvel went to the other extreme. Again, some basic ingredients were added – frozen fruit or ice, whole fruit, etc – and the Vita-Mix switched on and left to run. This time, left to its own devices, it created ice-cream. Once again, the power of the blades was such that it rapidly broke down the ice or frozen ingredients so thoroughly that they froze the entire mixture as it gelled together; and, of course, one could accompany this with a hot chocolate sauce created from scratch within minutes afterwards. As with the soup, the proof of the pudding was in the eating.

What made this stand out from other demonstrations of cooking aids was that there was no trickery involved and no special skills that would be found sadly lacking in oneself when trying it out at home. Although the demonstrator carried out the procedures with the ease and insouciance of the excellent saleswoman that she was, it really was just a matter of adding the ingredients in the correct order, switching it all on, and waiting for the requisite time. The worst complication was that the stuff might not always blend easily to start with, but there is a special attachment to get over this by pushing the ingredients onto the blades, so no real problem. For once, what you saw was what you got.

Fired up by the vision of soups and desserts produced in minutes, as well as all of the usual things you would expect of a blender (and it substitutes for a juicer, too, and breaks fruit and vegetables down so finely that pips and stalks and all can be left attached), the Mammal found itself forking out hard-earned cash for this marvellous machine. And today, for lunch, the new toy was finally removed from its packaging and put to the test in making the very Thai ginger soup demonstrated in John Lewis: it passed with flying colours.

A word of warning: even with a very hefty special discount on the day, it was by far the most expensive piece of mobile kitchen equipment we had ever bought. So if you tend to buy gadgets and then leave them unused, don't even think about it. But if, like the Mammal, you find your steamers, slow cookers, bread-makers and such to be regular and indispensable standbys, the Vita-Mix might engage your curiosity, not to mention impress your friends.

You can watch it in action at https://www.vitamix.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85&Itemid=103, and find out all you could want to know and more at the parent web-site, http://www.vitamix.com/index_int.asp.

[COMM] Welcome to Feeding The Inner Mammal!

This blog arose in the first instance as a way of indexing a growing collection of recipes kept from Sainsbury's Magazine over the last few years. What is catalogued so far is only a drop in the ocean, but is being added to whenever time allows.

For most recipes, only the title and main and more unusual ingredients are given; however, if you really like the look of something listed here, do ask via a comment and we will try to provide the full ingredient list and recipe, if possible.

Not all of the lovely recipes we have tried come from the Sainsbury's mag; some are in various cookery books or have been found in other publications or on the web. Notable examples of these will be posted as well, and links given to full recipes, where available.

Occasionally, we may feel moved to add a post commenting on or reviewing a food-related topic, or noting some change or addition to the blog itself. These posts will be noted by [COMM] in the title – as with this post.

See the other tabs for further information about the Inner Mammal.