It’s always so cold in Malta come January, it’s windy with sporadic rain but there are redeeming factors especially in the kitchen.
Pomegranate (Rummien) Winter wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the bejewelled Pomegranate with it’s deep red seeds, bursting with juice and flavour.
Like many things on the island, the pomegranate is an interloper, ancient ruins have produced preserved artefacts of the fruit on vessels darting to and fro in the Mediterranean for millennia. This fruit-bearing deciduous shrub grows between 5 and 10 m tall but originates in the region from Iran to northern India, and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region.
Loaded with nutrients and antioxidants, the Pomegranate is actually categorised as a berry and whilst there are a multitude of health claims … that’s not something I’m going to get into here…
Citrus If there was one thing alone I loved about winter, it would have to be the various citrus fruit available and the wonderful way they are so bloody useful in the kitchen. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit, limes, mandarin oranges, navel oranges, red grapefruit and my absolute favourite, the blood orange with its deep red blush and a hint of berry in the flavour.
Whether it’s a dressing, an acidulator, a flavour enhancer or simply there to add a zing, nothing comes close to the citrus dynasty in winter.
Strawberries should get an honourable mention at this time of year, as the second annual season comes to fruition. It’s clearly forced in glasshouses and to my mind doesn’t quite have the same flavour as the sun kissed summer berry. Personally I find it difficult to equate strawberries with December, but there is no doubt about their lovely flavour and the fact they do add a touch of colour and flavour to what’s normally a fairly drab selection.
Root vegetables are normally a chefs staple but unlike most other vegetables, they keep very well. When fully grown, these roots develop tough skins that allow them to store well.
I often challenge young chefs to write menus based on seasonality and tell them that if they can be creative with a carrot, it will show their creativity much more than being creative with a truffle. Clare Smyth wows her diners with her signature Lamb carrot dish. The simplicity and flavour profile is just stunning.
Calamari The Squid is a cephalopod mollusc with a cone shaped body and with currently around 375 species of squids in the world, the Mediterranean Squid is considered one of the finest, thanks to its deliciously delicate flesh. … Try to buy ‘Hand Jigged’ Squid as they are more sustainable. Squid is enjoyed all round the Mediterranean and as such there is no shortage of recipes and ideas but for me the nicest way to prepare squid has to be the easiest and simplest method, as in Greek-style Squid with lemon, garlic and olive oil, delicious.
“Squid is caught using relatively sustainable fishing methods and its rate of reproduction makes it highly resilient to fishing pressure, fish for tomorrow recommends squid for consumption..”
Meat The old general rule for meat in the winter used to be, “Four legs good, two legs bad.” However we seem to have forgotten that even meat has a season, by which we mean it’s at its best to eat. Cattle has been fattened for the winter on the years green grass, Lamb is obviously the exception to the rule as it seasons in the spring and summer time. Meat from animals that have been fed grass, rather than dried grass and grain, is much more nutritious and flavoursome. Steaks are much tastier and the unctuous mouth feel of braised beef has no comparison at other times of the year. Venison used to be the generic name for any furred wild creature (from Latin venatus, “to hunt”), but nowadays it has come to mean the meat of a Deer which is absolutely at its best come the winter. Chicken is available all year round but is a less tasty creature come the winter.
An appreciation of meat in its proper season means eating it at its best. It encourages proper animal husbandry, more humane farming methods and it means a better understanding of what we eat. Ask a well-educated butcher … he will be delighted you did.
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