Good Food Blog

It takes two

Posted at 4:17PM, 11 February 2009 by Adrian Bridgwater - Journalist

Our beloved celebrity chefs are just oh so fond of telling us that with good quality produce, you really don't need to do much to create great food that tastes outstanding aren't they? I remember attending a weekend at Rick Steins' seafood school a couple of years back and coming away with the words, "Let the ingredients speak for themselves," ringing in my ears for days afterwards.

Why is it then that we love to abandon simplicity and overcomplicate so much of our cooking? Curry recipes demand 16 dried herbs and spices, while four-stage risottos beg that we don't forget to pre-soak the dried porcini mushrooms before we move on to prepare the Moroccan pastillas with slowly stewed saffron-infused chicken layered with scrambled eggs and almonds in filo pastry.

By way of a contrast, I like to recall when I was lucky enough to live in Rome about a decade or so ago and once sat next to an old couple in a back street trattoria to have dinner. While his wife ordered something relatively simple for her 'prima' appetiser dish; the wise old Roman of the pair ordered a beef tomato and a salt shaker. I sat and watched somewhat furtively as he dived into his food with nothing more than a pinch of seasoning. OK, maybe he had a drizzle of olive oil too, but that was it!

Then, last week my wife served up a dish of only two ingredients that was just so simply wholesome that it couldn't fail to be appealing. I thought the cartoon cat Sylvester used to scream, "Suffrin' Succotash!" for alliterative comedy value only, but it turns out that succotash is a homely dish of corn and beans that became popular during the Great Depression, but has endured by virtue of its common sense value and good flavour.

I carried out a quick poll of web friends and family and asked them what they would suggest if I asked them to prepare a dish featuring just two ingredients. Predictably I got answers like beans on toast, fish and chips and a cheese omelette. But there have to be more two-ingredient dishes worth shouting about that those British staples surely?

Mexicans and Cubans regularly eat black beans and rice and laud it as a national dish with some pride. My favourite Floyd shows are when (Sir) Keith is extolling the manifold pleasures of a simple grilled mackerel sandwich in the back streets of Istanbul. That was fish and bread if you didn't catch the ingredients for that concoction.

I've eaten in the market stalls of the Djemma el Fna in Marrakech and a plate of meat brochettes and pickles (washed down with awful but somehow appropriate lukewarm orange Fanta) really sums up North African on a plate. Chickpeas in chicken stock with crushed cumin seeds sounds so basic, but it is so moreish - and so Moorish too for that matter.

So could you create something appealing if you were asked to rustle up a dish using only two ingredients? Salt and pepper for seasoning is a given I suppose, as is a little oil or butter to cook with if needed. Or is this too much to ask now that we have all got so used to 'over-engineering' our food today?

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Comments

  • Binder photo Craig
    11 February 2009, 5:29PM

    Craig

    Open QuoteLinguine with sage butter. Fabulous and takes 5 minutes to make. If we consider sage butter a condiment (and I do) you can add pan-fried pancetta or parmesan depending on preference, as your second ingredient. This adds another great taste to an incredibly simple and flavoursome dish. Also, toasted anchovy sandwiches are a salty, fishy delight - assuming you like anchovies, obviously!

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  • Binder photo miniminx
    11 February 2009, 6:52PM

    miniminx

    Open QuoteMozzarella and tomato salad :)

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  • Binder photo tracy
    11 February 2009, 9:31PM

    tracy

    Open Quotechicken and sweetcorn soup-delicious!!

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  • Binder photo Lushious
    12 February 2009, 7:22AM

    Lushious

    Open QuoteSerrano jamon and melon, avocado and prawns (although this WOULD benefit from the addition of mayo!)

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  • Binder photo Chris Brack
    12 February 2009, 8:59AM

    Chris Brack

    Open QuoteA fried egg (organic free range of course....) toasted sambo and its a great cure for a hangover

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  • Binder photo sioden
    12 February 2009, 10:22AM

    sioden

    Open QuoteA brushcetta made from fresh tomatoes and good ciabatta bread - little seasoning - and maybe cheat with some garlic if the tomatoes are out of season - perfect snack or light lunch!!

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  • Binder photo Ann
    12 February 2009, 10:50PM

    Ann

    Open Quoterice and sweetcorn with lots of butter, my mother used to serve this with grilled pork chops, it was heaven

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  • Binder photo Ann
    12 February 2009, 10:51PM

    Ann

    Open Quoteavacado mashed with salt and pepper on toast

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  • Binder photo Belit
    14 February 2009, 1:06PM

    Belit

    Open QuoteSourdough bread with salted butter

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  • Binder photo jencoleby
    15 February 2009, 4:36PM

    jencoleby

    Open QuoteWhat about a couple of slices of rare roast beef between two slices of crusty farmhouse bread? Would be sacrilege to mess with that!

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  • Binder photo Leamac83
    16 February 2009, 9:04AM

    Leamac83

    Open QuoteBacon and eggs!!! Sausage and mash!!! Sardines on toast!!! A crepe with lemon juice..ok so maybe there are a few things to make the crepe but worth it!

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  • Binder photo KarenKL
    16 February 2009, 6:28PM

    KarenKL

    Open QuoteI'm with miniminx: "ensalata caprese" or tomatos with mozzerlla was the first thing that came to my mind.

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  • Binder photo KathrynsFood
    18 February 2009, 3:57PM

    KathrynsFood

    Open QuoteCheese on toast! Good farmhouse loaf, thickly sliced and toasted with melted gruyere cheese under the grill till really brown and bubbling.

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  • Binder photo Surya
    18 February 2009, 6:28PM

    Surya

    Open QuoteGlobe artichoke and butter. Simmer for 20 mins or until the leaves peel off easily. Strain. Add butter or lemon juice or vinegar, which ever you prefer. To eat peel of a leaf and eat the bottom of it, as you get closer to the heart more of the leaf will be edible. When all of the leaves are gone eat the heart. Delicious!

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  • Binder photo LiesbethM
    31 December 2012, 10:32AM

    LiesbethM

    Open QuoteI'm with KathrynsFood. Just a loaf of bread with some cheese (I prefer a Brie-like cheese). I like to add some honey and crushed black pepper as well. Then just pop it into the oven till the cheese had melted and enjoy! It tastes even better when you use nutbread.

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