On Food and Love

Someone once accused me of confusing food and love. I suppose I do, a bit, because the two seem to me to be very interconnected. I have a great love of food. I love to eat it. I love to cook it. I love to grow it. I love to talk about it, prepare it, shop for it. Mostly, however, I love to share it. In fact, if I don't have someone to cook for, I often don't bother cooking anything special at all.

A meal represents labor, effort evidenced by the quality of the final product. Naturally, then, I take great care when I cook for the people I love. Perhaps what my accuser meant is that I believe food is love, and that preparing and sharing a meal with someone is not unlike writing a love poem. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I cooked this dish for someone whom I love very much indeed.



Butter-Roasted Yabbie Tails with Parsnip Remoulade and a Salad of Herbs and Curly Endive

Yabbies, or crayfish/crawdads as they are known in the States, are farmed in Australia and sold live at fish markets. I used to catch them in the local lake in Wyoming when I was growing up and I wish now that someone would have told me the little guys were not only edible but really, really tasty. Wasted youth.

Remoulade is a flavored mayonnaise that is often mixed with shredded and cooked celeriac – the root bulb of a type of celery. I used parsnips here because I love their naturally sweet flavor and thought it would go nicely with the yabbies.

6 yabbies
3 medium parsnips
1 egg yolk
250 ml veg oil
2 Tbsp tarragon vinegar
1 bunch tarragon
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 bunch chives
1 large gherkin
1 head curly endive

Peel and grate the parsnips. Blanch them in boiling water for 2 minuets, drain and refresh them in ice water. Squeeze them as dry as possible.

To make the remoulade: Make a mayonnaise by whisking together the egg yolk, tarragon vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. While whisking, slowly pour in the veg oil until it is all incorporated and you have a thick, glossy mayo. Finely dice the gherkin and mix it into the mayo along with 1 tsp chopped tarragon leaves, 1 tsp chopped parsley leaves, and 1 tsp chopped chives. Taste the remoulade and adjust seasoning. Feel free to add a bit more vinegar is you think it is necessary; it should be quite tangy. Mix your remoulade with the shredded parsnip and again taste and adjust seasoning. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of heavily slated water to the boil. Stun the yabbies by placing them in the freezer for about 20 minuets before you cook them. Drop them all into the boiling water and cook them for 2 minuets. Remove them from the pot and cool them by placing them in a bowl with some ice (not ice water as this will make the meat soggy).

When the yabbies are cool, remove their tails and claws, discarding the heads (or save them to make a bit of shellfish oil). Peel the tails and set meat aside. Crack the claws and retrieve the meat using a skewer. Mix the claw meat into the parsnip remoulade.

For the salad, pick the innermost leaves of the curly endive only, as the outer ones have been exposed to more light and are therefore excessively bitter. Mix these with a few whole picked parsley and tarragon leaves, as well as some chives cut into 2 cm lengths. Dress this salad lightly with a bit of vinegar and olive oil.

Heat a small pan on medium heat and toss in a Tbsp of butter. When it begins to foam (but not brown) add the yabbie tails and sauté them just until they are warm. Remove them from the heat.

Divide the parsnip remoulade between two plates. Top with the dressed herb and endive salad. Arrange the yabbie tails around and dress with some of the butter from the pan.

Or, in other words: Show someone that you love them.