for it is a brassica and when raw has a cabbagey taste
that diminishes on cooking, whereupon it acquires both a
delicate and subtle taste and a very succulent texture. It is
excellent simply dressed with butter or olive oil and is a
good partner for eggs and butter sauces. To serve sea kale
with eggs and truffles is a rare indulgence. Should you
manage to get your hands on the sea kale, but the truffles,
French or Italian, prove elusive, I would not worry too
much. Sea kale with a poached egg, or with boiled eggs,
or with hollandaise, is still a great delicacy.
I have my own truffle supplier who brings them from
Southern Umbria, a region long famous for its black
truffles, especially the town of Norcia, which positively
reeks of truffle. Most of my competitors scorn Italian
truffles in favour of the French ‘Perigord’ variety: I think
they are misguided in thinking one better than the other.
They may also be being duped, since half the truffles sold
as Perigourdine are rumoured to come from Italy anyway.
23
January
SEA KALE WITH POACHED EGGS AND TRUFFLES
The eggs can be poached in advance. The truffles should
be shaved with a bespoke truffle slicer but a very sharp
Japanese mandoline will work very well. Slicing with a knife
is not really an option.
Serves six.
12 fresh eggs
1 tablespoon white wine
vinegar
2 bunches of sea kale
60ml (2fl oz) new season’s
olive oil
30–60g (1–21⁄4oz) fresh truffle
1 tablespoon chopped chives
sea salt flakes and black
pepper
To poach the eggs, fill a medium saucepan three-quarters
full of water and bring to the boil with the wine vinegar.
Have a large bowl of iced water nearby.
Break each egg into a cup. Slip an egg gently into the
area where the water is boiling most vigorously. It will sink
to the bottom, the water will come off the boil and return
to it as the egg rises back to the top, the white enclosing
the yolk in a round ball. If it fails to enclose it properly,
you may need to add more vinegar. Each time an egg rises
towards the surface, slip another into the just-boiling water
and repeat the process. Once 6 eggs are happily poaching
away, turn the heat down to the merest simmer for a few
moments. Lift out the first eggs with a slotted spoon as
soon as the white feels properly set and the yolk
underneath is still soft and yielding to the touch, then
transfer them to the iced water. Repeat with the remaining
6 eggs. Once chilled, lift the eggs out of the water, trim
away any lacy frills of egg white and dry on kitchen paper.
Place a rack in a deep baking tray and half fill the tray
with water. Place the sea kale on the rack, cover the tray
with another tray of the same size (or use foil), then steam
the sea kale on the hob for 3 minutes until just tender but
still with a little bite. Transfer the sea kale to a serving dish
and sit the eggs on the steamer rack to reheat.
Place the eggs on top of the sea kale and season both
with lightly crushed sea salt flakes and freshly ground
black pepper. Trickle olive oil over both, then cover
lavishly with the thinnest-possible shavings of truffle.
Sprinkle with chives then serve absolutely immediately.
WINE: Truffles do not always enhance wine and truffly
sauces can also overwhelm a wine’s fruit. I do not often
recommend champagne with food but this is undoubtedly
the moment for that rich cuvée of Blanc de Blancs that you
have been wondering when to drink.
26
Storecupboard Favourites
Pennette with Ceps, Cabbage and Pancetta
Dried mushrooms are no substitute for fresh, but they
are a great product in their own right. Fresh ceps and
morels in particular are totally different from their dried
counterparts. They both have soft, unctuous textures, a
sort of squelchy fleshiness that those who like mushrooms
love and others – especially most young people, in my
experience – recoil from in horror. In addition, both
mushrooms release their distinctive flavours quite slowly
and with a degree of subtlety.
A dried mushroom is quite the reverse. The texture,
even
