Our present state of economic well-being shouldn't blind us to the fact that lean times have frequently inspired some great, innovative dishes. If necessity is the mother of invention, then we can see it in these simple recipes, which make the very most out of very little, and do so with great elegance and style.
The classic Italian recipe for Poor Man's Soup shows this alchemical magic at work: some water, some potatoes, some rocket, some bread and some oil conspire to produce what is one of the most elemental, refreshing and downright delicious of soups. Of course, rocket has become a chi-chi salad leaf, but in the days when it could be collected wild, it was used for this great soup.
One of the key factors, however, is the need for a pungent, fruity olive oil: that final anointing is vitally important in bringing the flavours of the starchy potato and bread and the peppery rocket together. I use an Italian extra virgin olive oil called Le Favate, which I buy in Sheridan's Cheese mongers of Dublin and Galway.
Zuppa dei Poveri:
500 g potato, peeled and cut into medium dice
1 litre water
100 g yesterdays bread
100 g rocket
sea salt
black pepper
fruity extra virgin olive oil
Place water and potatoes in a large saucepan, and bring to the boil, then turn down heat and cook for 15 minutes until the potatoes are just cooked. Chop or tear the bread into small pieces and throw it into the pot with the rocket leaves and two good pinches of sea salt. Simmer for two minutes.
Spoon out into large bowls, sprinkle freshly grated black pepper over the top and drizzle a good slather of very fruity olive oil over each bowl. Serve immediately.
"I lived in Spain during the Franco years," writes Nancy Harmon Jenkins in her book The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, "when the country was very poor and cut off from the rest of Europe. Meat was expensive, but eggs, potatoes and onions were always cheap and always available. For many Spaniards a tortilla espanola was the gastronomic highlight of the week."
Jenkins adds that this classic omelette has "an innate sense of balance and honesty", and thus it belongs in our clutch of simple recipes. This version is one which we were given many years ago by a young man called Matthew Summer, when he used to cook tapas for Fitzer's Spanish Restaurant, at the top of Camden Street. Mr Summer had polished his tapas skills in Andalucia.
Tortilla Espanola
2 large potatoes
1 small onion
3-4 eggs (depending on size)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
a knob of butter
Slice the potatoes very, very finely. Slice the onion too, slightly less finely. Mix together and fry, covered in olive oil over a low heat until very soft. When they are soft, strain them to remove most of the juices. They needn't be bone dry but you don't want them mushy either. Beat the eggs with the salt and pepper and add the potato mixture. Mix together well.
Soften a tiny amount of butter in your omelette/tortilla pan then tip up and down so that it is completely covered in a fine layer of fat. Pour any excess butter into a cup, and tip in the egg and potato mixture into the pan.
The pan should be very hot, hot enough for the tortilla to form a brown skin at its base. After a few minutes, upend the pan onto a plate and turn the tortilla over, put the reserved butter into the pan and melt it, then slide the tortilla back into the pan to let the top side cook for a couple of minutes. If you are nervous about upending the tortilla, you can simply shove the pan under a very hot grill for a couple of minutes to cook the top. Cut the tortilla into wedges and serve. It is good served both hot or cold, and may just be best when lukewarm.
Offal remains extremely inexpensive, especially lambs' hearts, which butchers will practically give you for free. Old-style dishes such as stuffed heart have virtually vanished from our culinary repertoire, but if you hanker for that inimitable aroma, here is a dish which is both the best and the easiest way to showcase the flavours of lamb offal. Richard Olney features this recipe in his classic book Simple French Food (Penguin) - a book without which your kitchen is incomplete, so startlingly resourceful and inspired are Olney's recipes. Speed is of the essence here: thin strips of liver only need to be shown a hot pan to be cooked exactly as they should be. Good bread is the best accompaniment.
Sauteed Lambs' Heart and Liver with Persillade
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 lamb's hearts, pared free of fat and tough vessels, split, each half cut lengthwise into 6 or 7 strips
200 g lamb's liver, sliced and cut into thin strips
for the Persillade
Handful chopped parsley mixed with 1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped half a lemon
Add the strips of lamb heart to the hot oil and saute over a high flame for about one minute or until they are seared on all sides, lower the flame, and continue tossing for two or three minutes longer. Turn the flame high again and add the liver, seasoned, and the persillade. Saute for another minute or until all the liver strips are grey on all sides from contact with the hot oil and miniscule pearl of rose begin to appear at the surface. They are done; the hearts will have cooked for just under five minutes and the liver for about one minute. Squeeze over lemon to taste and serve directly from the sauteing pan so as to lose no heat.
In her 1937 book Irish Country Recipes, Florence Irwin gives details of the "Peasant's way to cook ling", the salt fish which was a staple of the diet of the Irish for so many centuries. The peasants simply placed the salted fish on top of their potatoes as they boiled, a technique which meant one needed little fuel and only one cooking utensil.
Its past ubiquity means that too few of us today appreciate the fine thing that salted ling is, but it is as noble as any peasant food. Here, I have taken the old idea of cooking ling and potatoes in milk and adapted the technique in the Lyonnaise style.
Salt Ling cooked with Potatoes and Milk
750 g salt ling
3 medium onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
500-600 mls milk
freshly ground pepper
Soak the salted ling in cold water for 24 hours, changing the soaking water at least three or four times. Place the ling in a large pot with water to cover, and bring slowly to a simmer. When it reaches a simmer, cook for five minutes, then take off the heat and leave to sit while preparing the other ingredients. Preheat oven to 200C/400F.
Cut the onions in half and then into slices, cut the garlic and fry both in a tablespoon of olive oil until both the onion and garlic are softened and golden. Cut the potatoes into thin slices. Take the skin off the fish, remove any bones and flake the fish flesh with your fingers.
In a casserole or earthenware dish, rub a little olive oil on the base and place in a layer of sliced potatoes, then a thin layer of onions then a layer of the flaked fish. Add another layer of potatoes, onions and fish, then finish with a layer of potatoes. Sprinkle a little ground pepper on top, and pour in enough milk to just touch the surface. Place in the preheated oven and bake until a knife point easily pierces the top layer of potatoes. When it is cooked, scatter some chopped parsley on top.