Nigel Slater Simple Suppers

We British tend to be circumspect in making a connection between food and the inner person, however, Marcel Proust used food as a spring to memory writing 'Taste and smell alone, more fragile but more enduring...remain poised a long time...and bear...in the tiny and almost impossible drop of their essence, the vast structure of recollection.'

Food is emotive and many cooks and food writers are passionate because of the memories and emotions evoked by certain dishes, all memories are not created equal, however, many of us have fond memories pertaining to our pasts through taste and smell.

Nigel Slater is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster, he wrote a moving and award winning autobiography 'Toast' focused on his love of food. Unlike many of our happy food memories from childhood, Slater wrote that he used food to compete with his stepmother for his father's attention. From his often unhappy childhood and adolescence, Slater continued to love food, his TV programmes such as simple suppers were filmed within his beautiful kitchen and kitchen garden. Slater starred alongside Adam Henson in 'Nigel and Adam's farm kitchen' a project which involved Adam - the farmer and Nigel - the chef, joining forces to sow, grow, rear and cook Britain's favourite foods, from a working farm in the cotswolds, as they tried to get people back in touch with where our food comes from.

One of Nigel's simple supper recipes was a slow cooked pork shoulder covered in squished blackberries from his garden, it's stayed in my memory even though it possibly dates back to 2009 when the series began. Having treated us to a free range piece of pork I suddenly pulled Nigel's recipe out of the deep recesses of my mind, unfortunately I didn't have any blackberries, an absolute prerequisite if you're making blackberry pork! I did however have a couple of jars of cranberry sauce and decided to take my chances, the resulting dish was delicious, the pork was moist and tender due to the marinade.

Cranberry pork

Recipe
8lb free range boneless pork shoulder, rind on and scored
12 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons paprika
100ml vegetable oil
2 jars cranberry sauce

In a food processor blend garlic, oil, cranberry sauce and paprika until smooth
Rub pork with marinade and refrigerate for 12-24 hours

Preheat oven to 150c/gas 2
Cover pork with a foil tent and place in oven for 5 hours
Remove foil and increase temperature 180c/gas 4 cook for 1 hour
Remove from oven and allow meat to rest for 15 minutes before slicing

As with Nigel's blackberry pork mine had a a hard crust on the outside with all the soft meat contained within.

' Food has been my career, my hobby, and, it must be said, my escape.'
-Nigel Slater

Lots of love Donna xxxxxx