Fresh and Wild Cookbook: A Real Food Adventure. Ysanne Spevack

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СКАЧАТЬ trays filled with a precise mixture of layered gravels and sands. These beds are then flooded with freshly drawn spring water from the freshwater springs deep in the chalky Wiltshire grounds of the farm, with up to half a million gallons of spring water flowing through each acre every day.

      John invented the techniques needed to grow watercress organically on a large enough scale to supply shops. Previously, large-scale watercress farms in the UK routinely used copious amounts of molluscicides, pesticides that are designed to specifically kill slugs and snails. In fact, nonorganic watercress farms still do, hence non-organic watercress is one of the most pesticide-rich crops you can buy.

      Slugs and snails would love to live in John’s organic watercress trays and munch our tasty peppery greens, but he’s worked out a way to keep the trays snail and slug free without resorting to poisonous chemicals. This is a real breakthrough, as watercress farms were plagued in the 1910s and 1920s with a type of snail that passes on liver fluke to the people that eat it. John Hurd’s meticulous organic cleansing methods ensure that the organic watercress we eat today is free of both nasty molluscicides and potentially sickness-causing beasties.

      The strong peppery taste of watercress is a real wake-up call to the senses, and it’s full of get-up-and-go vitamins, too. As John says: ‘Watercress contains more vitamin C than fresh oranges and more calcium than cow’s milk.’ It’s also packed with zinc, magnesium and vitamins B6 and E, plus the beta-carotene and iron that our bodies synthesize into vitamin A. The balance of these vitamins is causing a stir in the cancer healing community, as they’re proven to protect from, and help reverse, free-radical damage. Watercress has also been proclaimed an aphrodisiac since ancient times. Get it on.

      SLOW ROASTED GARLICKY TOMATOES

      with Tymsboro’ Cheese and Watercress

      LUNCH FOR 2:

       6 medium-sized ripe tomatoes

       3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

       A knob of butter

       1 Tymsboro’ cheese

       A bunch of John Hurd’s watercress

       Olive oil, to taste

       A handful of walnut pieces, to taste

      Preheat the oven to 130°C/250°F/Gas Mark ½. Cut the tomatoes along their lengths and put them on a baking sheet, cut side up. Put a couple of slices of garlic on top of each half, then roast for about 3 hours. Take them out of the oven and remove the garlic.

      Put the grill on full power. Slice the Tymsboro’ into 0.5cm thick squares and butter the widest side, apart from the top one, which should be buttered on the crust. Put the cheese slices onto a baking tray, buttered side down, and grill for about 3 or 4 minutes, until they’re bubbling and have gone golden brown.

      Serve the tomatoes with the Tymsboro’ cheese and a bowl of freshly-cut watercress, drizzled with olive oil to taste and scattered with walnuts. Put some Quinoa Grissini (see page 254) on the table too, plus some decent bread.

CHEEKY CHILLI CHOCOLATE MUSHROOMS

       There’s a lot of confusion about whether or not chocolate is good for you. Some people feel that it’s natural, so it’s gotta be good for you. Well, sort of, but then again, lots of natural things aren’t healthy, like tobacco and tarantulas. On the plus side, cocoa is high on the polyphenol antioxidants that protect you from cancer. And it’s high in the phenylethylamine chemicals released by your brain when you fall in love. It’s got lots of iron and magnesium, too, which may be why women often crave good dark chocolate when the moon is full.

      On the downside, cocoa also has a lot of caffeine in it and contains another stimulant called theobromine. And almost all chocolate bars are stuffed with saturated fat and sugar. Of course, organic chocolate is a zillion times better than dodgy mass market brands, and is the best way of guaranteeing that you don’t eat artery-clogging hydrogenated fats.

      On balance, the feel-good factor generated by the phenylethylamines makes great quality cocoa an acceptable part of a happy and balanced diet – which is lucky, ‘cause I know y’all would ignore me if I said you shouldn’t eat it.

      This savoury cocoa recipe will help wean you off the chocolate bars. Don’t grimace – savoury was the original way with cocoa; the one and only way for the Aztecs who invented cocoa powder. Just try this dish – it works. You’ll soon be liberally scattering cocoa onto lots of savoury numbers in your kitchen. It’s particularly good when paired with robust flavours like red meats and earthy vegetables. Cooked with chilli, it’s a marriage made in heaven. So maybe you could eat a few less chocolate bars containing sugar and supplement with your new-found savoury cocoa numbers in between.

      On the chilli front, there are conflicting opinions again about their healthiness. But one thing’s for sure – they stimulate the release of the same happiness endorphins as cocoa. That’s why when you eat some really hot chillies, you can’t bear the heat, but you find yourself going back for more a few seconds later. It’s addictive stuff that makes you feel good. It’s also high in vitamin C, although Ayurvedic principles say that some people should go easy. Try telling that to the Aztecs.

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