A Recipe for the Best Burnt Cauliflower You Will Ever Taste!

Israeli food is fresh, gutsy and vibrant and having spent a couple of weeks eating my way around this wonderful country as part of Vibe Israel Food Tour of 2016, I soon became fascinated (if slightly obsessed) by it. As a chef, food & travel writer, I can honestly say that Israel has been one of the most inspiring culinary destinations I have visited in recent years. 

Israelis place great importance on good quality vegetables and how these are prepared; vegetables play a major role in any Israeli meal from breakfast to lunch and dinner. I was intrigued by some of their cooking techniques (they make extensive use of char-grilling), and also by their clever use of Middle Eastern spices, salted cheeses and yoghurts, lemony dressings and nutty tahini, elevating some of the simplest ingredients to completely new levels. I can say that this trip made me look at vegetables in a totally different light.

Take for example Eyal Shani’s burnt cauliflower – who would have thought you needed a recipe to burn cauliflower? Well apparently you do! One of the restaurants we got to visit in Tel Aviv during our trip was North Abraxas owned by celebrity chef Eyal Shani (reviewed here). Here we tried his signature burnt cauliflower, whose recipe he was kind enough to share with me.

I have tried this at home in London on a number of occasions, and it still impresses me every time. I love how such an inexpensive and ordinary vegetable can be transformed into something so utterly delicious.

We have all tried to be clever about cauliflower – we have added bacon, or baked it with tons of cheese or smothered it with curry sauce, but this recipe is all about the humble veg and it alone, with nothing else added but olive oil and salt. It is a winner of a recipe, dead easy to prepare and super quick too. I hope you will give it a try!

Burnt Cauliflower

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-sized cauliflower (about 600g)
• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Malden sea salt flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper

For the tahini dressing (optional)

• 100g good quality tahini
• Juice of ½ lemon, to taste
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• Pinch of salt, to taste
• 100-200ml water, to taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to its highest setting (300°C or higher if possible). If your oven temperature does not go this high, you will need to use the grill at the end of the cooking process.

2. Fill a pan (large enough to take the entire cauliflower) with salted water (10g salt/litre water). Bring it to boil, then add the whole cauliflower to the pan and simmer for 8-10 minutes until softened.

3. Carefully remove the cauliflower from the pan and drain it over a colander for 10 minutes.

4. Using your hands, gently baste the entire cauliflower head with the extra virgin olive oil, season with the Malden sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

5. Place the cauliflower (head side up) on a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper. Cook it in the pre-heated oven for 20-30 minutes or until blackened. If the cauliflower is not thoroughly blackened (because your oven is not hot enough), you may use the grill – place the cauliflower under the grill and let it burn for 3-5 minutes, carefully rotating it so that the entire upper part of the cauliflower is caramelized.

6. While the cauliflower is in the oven, prepare the tahini dressing – in a bowl add the tahini, salt, crushed garlic and lemon juice, then start adding the water little by little mixing vigorously as you do to incorporate it into the mix. The mix will initially curdle but do not worry, continue adding more water and mixing all the time, it will bind again. Add enough water until it has the consistency of double cream, check for seasoning and adjust if necessary. 

7. Serve the burnt cauliflower whilst hot with the lemony tahini dressing.

Nikkei Recipe - Salmon Tiradito with Passion Fruit and Aji Amarillo Tiger's Milk

My cookbook 'Nikkei Cuisine: Japanese Food the South South American Way' was recently published by Jacqui Small. It was a hectic but incredible time writing this book, which saw me travelling to Peru, Brazil and Europe to research it. I learnt a great deal about Nikkei life and cuisine and some touching stories about my own family I never knew. The book is a personal collection of over 100 recipes ranging from family favourites to contributions by Japanese and Nikkei Michelin-starred restaurants I visited during my research trips.

I will be sharing with you in the coming 12 weeks, 12 recipes from the Nikkei cookbook and I hope they will encourage you try cooking Nikkei at home. If you try one of these recipes I would be keen to hear your thoughts.

Thanks and enjoy!

Salmon and Passion Fruit Tiradito
Crispy Butternut Squash, Espelette Pepper

The world is your oyster when it comes to seasoning Tiradito. Much as I love using lime as a major component for Leche de Tigre, there is a whole range of different fruits to play with. Here, I use passion fruit and aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chilli) to create a zingy, punchy dressing that works really well with the fatty salmon. Finish the dish with a dusting of fine Espelette pepper for a gentle, fruity hint of chilli.

Serves 4

200g sushi-graded salmon fillet, skinned
½ butternut squash 
Sunflower oil for deep-frying
a few sprigs of chervil (or coriander)

For the passion fruit Leche de Tigre (Tiger’s Milk):
4 small passion fruit, juice and seeds (around 50g in total)
1 teaspoon of aji amarillo paste
1 lemon, juiced (60ml)
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 clove garlic, cut 
1cm slice of ginger
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
¼ banana shallot, very finely chopped
2 tbsp of chervil, very finely chopped (or coriander)

A sprinkle of Espelette pepper (can substitute with sichimi pepper)
A sprinkle of Maldon salt flakes

Make the passion fruit leche de tigre by whizzing all the ingredients (except the shallot and chervil, and 1-2 tablespoons of passion fruit seeds to be reserved for the presentation) in a food processor. Pass it through a fine sieve, add the finely chopped shallot and chervil. Refrigerate until needed.

Peel the butternut squash. Using a zester, cut fine strips of squash rather like spaghetti. Line a plate with absorbent paper. Add sunflower oil to a pan and heat to 140°C (note – use a deep pan and do not fill more than 1/3 full as the hot oil will rise to the surface as the squash is added). Fry the butternut squash spaghetti for about 1 minute until lightly browned, transfer to the lined plate. The squash strands will not be crispy at this stage but do not worry – they will crisp up as they cool down. Season with sea salt.

Remove any residual brown flesh from the salmon fillet. Cut the salmon into thin slices and arrange them in a single row over each of the four serving plates. For each plate, spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the passion fruit leche de tigre over the salmon, dot with a few passion fruit seeds around the plate, arrange a line of crispy butternut squash spaghetti in the middle of the salmon row, and scatter a few sprigs of chervil (or coriander) over the squash and on the plate. Sprinkle some Maldon sea salt flakes and Espelette pepper. Serve immediately.

If you would like to purchase a copy of this book, it is on sale on Amazon here. Alternatively, if you are visiting my supper club, you can purchase a signed copy here.