Espying it among
the usual detritus to be found in a West London flea
market, it was love at first sight. Since that day when I beat
the dealer down to £9 for this splendid apparatus, the love
has blossomed.
Previously I steamed when I had to. The odd beetroot,
a chicken or duck prior to roasting and a bit of fish would
be committed to a wire rack suspended across a wok with
a steel bowl inverted over the top, a procedure that just
about did the job, but I needed something more. I have
always been excited by the process. Thirty years ago I
went to a restaurant in Paris (Le Dodin Bouffant, long
since gone) and loved the food: as I used to in those days,
I bought the chef’s cookbook, despite its laborious title, Le
Grand Livre de la Cuisine à la Vapeur. The chef, Jacques
Manière, aimed to prove not only that steaming was the
new healthy cuisine of the future, but also – not entirely
successfully – that there was nothing in the kitchen that
could not be achieved by steam.
Sadly, Manière died quite young and would be
disappointed that his enthusiasm for steam has borne
such little fruit. I am surprised that it has not taken hold in
the public imagination. In restaurants, chefs tend to either
pan-fry protein in a great deal of butter or they put it in
a bag and cook it in a water bath for a couple of hours.
Whereas I am using my steamer for all manner of fish and
meat, it is seeing a lot of vegetation, too, and here, in the
spirit of virtuous February, is a vegetarian main course
which is popular both at home and with my customers in
Hong Kong.
soft as the rain
and sweet as the end of pain
a star gleaming
bright as fire in the night
a theme
whenever I think of Steam
Archie Shepp, Attica Blues
54
STEAMED BEETROOT AND TURNIPS WITH BELUGA
LENTILS, PICKLED GARLIC AND LEMON
I used red, golden and candy stripe (a.k.a. Chioggia) on this
occasion, but all good beets may apply. Pickled garlic can
be bought, though you can easily pickle your own, as below.
Enough for six.
1kg (2lb 4oz) mixed beetroot
(with leaves if possible)
200g (7oz) small turnips
200g (7oz) black beluga
lentils, green if not available
1 red chilli
a few sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
2 lemons, plus extra juice
for seasoning
olive oil, for seasoning
30g (1oz) golden caster sugar
200–300g (7–10½oz) beet
tops or purple sprouting
broccoli
sea salt
1 red chilli, deseeded and
sliced into very thin rings,
to garnish
FOR THE PICKLED
GARLIC
30 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons sea salt
250ml (9fl oz) cider vinegar
100g (3½oz) golden caster
sugar
½ cinnamon stick
10 cloves
First, pickle the garlic. Sprinkle the garlic with the salt and
leave for 4 hours. Bring all the other ingredients to the boil
in a saucepan, then simmer for 10 minutes. Rinse the garlic
and pour over the pickling juice. Bottle in a clean 500ml
(18fl oz) jar and refrigerate, ideally for 2 weeks. Pickled
garlic should last a year in the fridge.
Wash the beetroot and turnips well, cutting off any
stalks and leaves. Half-fill the bottom of a steamer with
boiling water and place the vegetables in the top with
a sprinkling of sea salt. Steam gently for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, rinse the lentils in cold water, then bring
to a simmer in a pan with fresh cold water. Add the chilli,
thyme and bay leaves and, without seasoning at this
juncture, continue to simmer very gently without letting
the lentils dry out. Once tender, remove from the heat and
dress with sea salt, lemon juice and olive oil.
Peel the lemons, paring off the zest without any pith.
Cut this zest into very fine matchsticks and place in a
