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TAKE 3 RECIPE COMPETITION |
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THE TAKE 3 COMPETITION is a mechanism, and incentive, for you to re-engage your taste buds, explore flavours, discover combinations and think creatively about inexpensive, accessible ingredients and how to adapt simple techniques.
I select 3 flavours/ingredients, and then put it to you to create your own recipes for them. What you do with those three, and what you combine them with is totally up to you.
The winning recipe will go into the Hall of Fame and its creator will win a prize of a bespoke, limited-edition hamper including a personalised signed copy of my book FLAVOUR, ingredients personally and specially selected by myself, pre-measured spice packs and some surprise unique items. |
There will be an overall annual winner from the Hall of Fame recipes, and the winner will be invited, along with a friend, to an exclusive and atmospheric VIP master class and meal with me and my team at a special venue in London.
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We are told as children not to play with our food, but I sometimes feel a little ‘play’ and creativity is what is slightly amiss in our adult lives; that joyous experimentation, intuitive originality and journey into the unknown just for sheer curiosity’s sake.
So let’s put all the rules aside for a moment. Here’s a little ‘play time’.
When it comes to cooking at home, the only taste buds that matter are your own. We have become so used to being told what is right and wrong and what we should like and should cook and how, that I fear we may have detached somewhat from our own unique preferences.
Traditional combinations and techniques are steeped in knowledge and experience.But a little avant-garde creativity is a refreshing counter-balance.
My favourite approach is to work with three flavours: maybe in a classic combination that is subtly adjusted by using alternatives with similar profiles, such as apple and mint with lemongrass instead of lemon, or by taking a classic pair and adding an unexpected third (perhaps one that has a known relationship to one of the existing pair), such as lime, basil and mandarin. Sometimes I’ll just pluck three just for the simple reason that they intuitively appeal! The third ingredient is often, although not always, used in less intensity than the main two. There may be other flavours used too, but they are often in supporting roles and not star players. |
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For the latest recipe challenge, I am inspired by the stripey vegetable emblem of childhood harvest festivals, the nutty spice whose warmth is like a cashmere scarf to ward off the autumn chill and a ubiquitous flavour of Coco Chanel’s homeland of France, whose biography I am currently reading. So I am going for:
MARROW. CUMIN. GARLIC.
So get your thinking caps on, taste buds primed and mail me your recipes and photos.
ENJOY. |
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