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BiteFeb2011:Layout 1 27/1/11 18:41 Page 2424The Insider: Choux swans forF. Scott Fitzgeraldhefs, almost invariably, eat simplywhen not on duty. Messrs BlumenthalCand Novelli like nothing better than acarry-out curry after work, Ferran Adriaenjoys clams stirred around the plancha in hislocal village eatery while sucking the insidesout of prawn heads and Mr Pierre Whitedoesn’t appear to eat at all, merely pushingfood around a plate as if it were still alive andhe was stopping it escaping. As a young chef Isubsisted on half pints of custard andevaporated milk during service and twobowls of Sugar Frosties at the end – whilstpraying the last dessert orders wouldn’tinclude devilled kidneys on toast or timeconsumingzabaglione. After all, the pubbeckoned.Later at the Braid Hills Hotel, then still miredin the culinary practices of the 50s, a curiousritual was carried out. Every night at 5.30precisely, a table was dragged into the middleof the kitchen, it was laid to the finestspecifications and then the head chef wouldcook his brigade anything they requested.The equivalent if you like, before the bustleof evening service, of a condemned man’sfinal meal. In no time the table was groaningwith veal Holstein, truites amandine and duckbiggarade. Ever the contrarian, I ordereddouble egg & chips with two slices ofdiagonally sliced bread and butter…everysingle night! The German chef (touching 70)and Swiss pastry chef (a breath short of his90s) would entrance me with stories ofkitchens past and I would never get furtherthan breaking the yolks with my doughytriangles, awed mouth too agape for chewing.It was then us young ‘uns job to, literally, tiethe sauce chef to his stove, where he swayedthroughout service for all the world like hewas cooking herring on a trawler in a forcenine gale. He never ate either; two bottles ofrum his only (lonely) sustenance, but he neverfailed to deliver an order on time and à point.The communal table ritual was revived in theold L’Alliance and Le Marché Noir restaurantsin the 80s, but my old chefs had long diedand their stories with them. There were notales of baking choux swans for F. ScottFitzgerald in a Swiss mountain hotel (later tosurface in Tender is the Night), or indeedwhat horrors passed for five-star hotelcuisine in Berlin during and after the war. Wewere reduced to someone questioning achef’s ‘attitude’ and said chef mumbling the80s equivalent of: “Whateva”.Ever the contrarian, I ordered double egg & chips with twoslices of diagonally sliced bread and butter...every single night!
BiteFeb2011:Layout 1 27/1/11 18:41 Page 25Gourmet Girl Goes To:Eddie’s Seafood MarketIt’s the Valentine’s issue,and we’re heady withnotions of love andpredictably, a little bithungry. I thought a visit toEddie’s Seafood Market inMarchmont would be agood place for menu ideasfor a suitably tasty dinner.Eddie’s opened in 1986,and has since become oneof the best-knownfishmongers in the city.They supply many of Edinburgh’s top chefs,and it’s well worth the jaunt across town tostop in at this buzzy shop if you aren’t luckyenough to be a local.Getting here early is the top tip for a chanceof finding the best of the day’s catches, andexpect long queues on Saturday mornings.Eddie himself, and indeed all the staff arealways ultra-enthusiastic about helping youto choose some great shellfish for a paella,expertly filleted fish, or deftly plucking oneof the live lobsters from the tank.So how about a couple of dishes to preparefor your good lady or fella (and not forgettingyourself) on the 14th of February? Thesupposed aphrodisiac qualities of oystersmight seem like a bit of a cliché, however thistheory goes back as far as Roman times so Ifigure it’s been tried and tested! Although acommon accompaniment, I’d avoid thesledgehammer qualities ofTabasco, and insteadsuggest pairing oysterswith a tangy mignonettedressing made withChampagne, white winevinegar, finely-choppedshallots and black pepper.For the bubbles, ‘blanc desblancs’ work well with thesaltiness of the oysters, soif you want to splash out,try a bottle of RuinartChampagne. Otherwise, try Lindauer’sexcellent and budget-friendly Special Reserve(both from www.majestic.co.uk).For a main course, it’s good to keep thingssimple. A BBQ would get my first vote, butsadly February’s temperatures don’t reallyallow, so instead go for pan-searing or grillinga chunky fillet. On any given day, Eddie’s willhave a great choice of fish for this kind ofdinner, and I’d be keen on a nice tuna ormahi-mahi steak. Teamed up with somefreshly made salsa verde, salad and newpotatoes, this is easy cooking, and leavesplenty of time for romancing!Leila Arfa writeswww.leilappetit.blogspot.comEddie’s Seafood Market–7 Roseneath Street, Edinburgh EH9 1JH– 0131 229 420725
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