Action Cook Book. Len Deighton

For instance, the reputation of bread and butter pudding had sunk out of sight; it was the last resort of cost-conscious school meals and factory canteens. Tom Maschler—who later published Action Cook Book—first declined this pudding when I brought it to the table at a party. I was gratified later to watch him scraping the tin for his third helping, and hear him explain that at his school they had not included cream, eggs or real vanilla in the recipe. Crème caramel and many other traditional English milk puddings, restored to the glory they’d enjoyed a generation earlier, were always dinner party successes.

      Although my interest in food preparation has always been grounded in the discipline of French cooking, these recipes do not reflect that. These are my old favourites. A fisherman in Portugal taught me how to cook squid. In the London suburb of Hampstead I watched a Viennese grandmother produce a superb cheesecake using a recipe from her childhood. (She made a Sachertorte too but I never attempted that.) While working as a waiter in Piccadilly, I learned from a Hungarian cook that making strudel dough was not a daunting task or even a very lengthy one. It was a French publisher who introduced me to cooking fish in red wine and, although it was a well-established method, I had more correspondence about that than about anything else. Not all of my readers were appalled but many were.

      Ris de veau, tripe, brains, tongue and the rich fragrant stew that only oxtail produces were all dishes my mother had shown me how to cook, for during the war these were available in addition to the meat ration. I’ve always been enormously fond of eels and scallops. The huge cassoulet had been the subject of passionate disagreements between neighbours when I was in rural France. Mutton? Salt pork? The confit d’oie? Even the beans were disputed. Each one I served was substantially different. And still is.

      Cooking, together with all other aspects of food, has always been a very important part of my family life. When my children were of pre-school age we taught them to make a loaf of bread. This meant learning about using weights and liquid measures and about the necessary temperatures for yeast and for baking. After the loaf of bread was eaten I challenged them to do the whole process again, this time after converting to metric measures. Recently one of my sons said that of all the things they learnt when young, nothing had been more interesting or more useful than learning to cook.

      My entire family shares my great interest in food. I very much hope you will enjoy these dishes—cooking them, serving them and eating them—as much as I have done.

       Len Deighton

      In addition to ° F, temperatures are also listed in ‘Regulo’ (eg. ‘Regulo 3’). This is a trademark for a type of temperature control on some gas ovens.

       READ THIS FIRST

      I have assumed little or no knowledge on the part of my reader; on the other hand I have learnt enough while doing the research for this book to claim that even the serious student of good food (only some of whom are cooks) will learn enough to justify reading it. Throughout this ACTION COOK BOOK I have given the classic recipes for the dishes without substitutes or short cuts except where I have stated otherwise. All I have cut out is the smoke-screen of mystique and witch-doctory; professional cooks have no time for that and neither, I suggest, have you. Everywhere I have suggested that the reader ask the shop to prepare food for cooking, e.g. fish, lobster, poultry, etc. This does not mean that the cook should not know how to do it; it means that watching an expert do it is the best way to learn. Things that I can’t get your local shopkeeper to show you (like making a roux) I have described. If you can find an expert at making pastry or a sauce, have them show you. If you can find an expert at all other aspects of cooking—who needs a book?

       ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT NUTRITION

      With advice from Dr V. Radclyffe

      Nutrition is something no cook can ignore. Here the subject is reduced to a few words but only by over-simplifying. In each group which I have mentioned, I have selected only the good sources and ignored the hundreds of foods with lesser amounts of nutrients. If a food is omitted from this list it does not mean that it is not necessary to a normal diet. These are the good sources of body-building foods. Remember them, buy them and eat them.

      Protein. This is essential every day for the normal action of the body (movement, respiration, etc.). Animal protein is the best (beef, veal, etc.), but vegetable protein is also good in dried peas, lentils, haricot beans and nuts (especially peanuts). Fish protein is as rich as meat. Two other good sources are dried egg, dried skim milk.

      You could live on meat alone, but you would need 17 lb. per day. So, instead, we turn to the high-energy foods (i.e. carbohydrates and fats); but neither of these are body-building foods.

      Calcium. This is a builder of bones and teeth. It is vital during the first six months of life and remains important throughout life for replacement. Cheese (Cheddar-type) and whitebait (surprisingly) are the two finest sources. Next come sardines and the soft cheeses and condensed milk, with fresh milk, watercress and tinned salmon at about one-third of the value per ounce that Cheddar cheese gives.

Iron. This is important for haemoglobin (the red in red blood-cells). The best way to get iron is to cook in iron cooking utensils.^* Once a week you should have a portion of undercooked liver. If you don’t like it, get to like it—you need it. The sausage called ‘black pudding’ and any sort of kidney is a good source, so are cocoa and lentils. Curry powder is chock-a-block with it (21 mgs. per oz.), but an ounce of curry powder goes a long way, so it won’t give you so much per serving.

      Vitamins. There is no need to take vitamin pills if you are eating well, for the body adjusts its intake to the correct proportions for health.

      Vitamin A. Important for cell-growth, especially cells of eye, mouth and intestines. It aids the retina in vision. Best sources are undoubtedly fish-liver oils (which are sold in chemists’). Sheep and beef liver also contain Vitamin A, but only one per cent of the amount the best fish liver does (measured ounce for ounce). If your diet is Western and adequate, you are getting enough.

      Vitamin B. A large complex, covering many groups of chemicals. It is vital for the working of all muscles and nerves, and is needed in large quantities when convalescing from influenza, colds, pneumonia. If you eat much starch and sugar, you use Vitamin B to convert these foods into energy. Therefore, you need even more Vitamin B. Eat liver, lean meat, peas, whole-grain bread or flour, and lentils.

      Vitamin C. This is needed daily because it cannot be stored. It is important in forming the connective tissue between cells. Gums, joints and muscles weaken when there is a deficiency of it. The best sources in order of descending value are: blackcurrants, or blackcurrant juice, brussels sprouts, cabbage, watercress (and other green vegetables) and citrus fruits. Remember Vitamin C is washed away by water and destroyed by heat.

      Vitamin D. Important in the formation of bone and therefore growth. It also keeps the bone hard in normal wear and tear. We make it in our skin in sunlight (but we destroy some Vitamin B), and therefore need more Vitamin-D-rich foods in winter. They are the fish-liver oils (especially tuna and halibut), with cod-liver oil also a source. Certain whole fish are also rich sources, namely herring, sardine, pilchard and salmon. There are two other sources, but they are comparatively poor (about one-sixtieth of the poorest of the above foods); they are egg yolk, and the type of margarine that has added vitamin.

      Carbohydrates and Fats. The eating of these is proportionate to the sophisticated wealth (but not health) of a person. If you care enough to read this book, you are probably sophisticated and wealthy and already cutting down on these foods.

      Our civilization has developed a craving for starches. Starch gives a fast lift, because