Viva Brighton Issue #56 October 2017

RECIPE
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Lee Miller’s coriander rice
Lee Miller is best known as a photographer, but her latter career was as a
chef, and her granddaughter Ami Bouhassane has been working on a book
incorporating many of her unique and imaginative recipes
My grandmother left behind thousands of photo
negatives, and we have spent many years archiving
them. But after moving to Sussex in 1949 she
became more and more serious about making food,
and she also left behind a number of recipes she
devised, including a draft of an entire cookbook
she was preparing in the mid-70s, The Entertaining
Freezer. It’s only in recent years that we’ve had the
chance to make the most of these.
Of course Lee was a surrealist, and there are some
recipes – like Cauliflower Breasts – that were
devised in this vein. It was tempting to put a recipe
like that in this slot, but I chose not to, so people
didn’t get the wrong idea and deduce she wasn’t
serious about her cooking. She was deadly serious:
she did two Cordon Bleu courses, including one
for six months in Paris. She was in the running to
be Vogue’s first cookery writer, before they took on
Elizabeth David. And she did a lot of cooking for
the illustrious guests who frequently visited Farleys
House as well as devising special menus to be prepared
for exhibition openings for some of her artist
friends like Picasso.
Lee’s influences came from all over, and she was
very ahead of her time in her use of foreign ingredients
we take for granted in today’s cooking. This
dish, for example, will have been influenced by the
time she spent in Egypt. But most of all you can
see Lee’s personality coming out in her recipes: her
inventiveness and her sense of humour. Her artistry,
too: she was very particular about how dishes
were served up, as you can see from this recipe for
coriander rice salad. This dish serves six.
Main ingredients: 640g / 4 cups white or brown
long grained basmati rice, cooked; 2 spring onions,
finely chopped; 2 tablespoons raisins or currants
soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained; 1
tablespoon coriander seeds, simmered for 10 minutes
and drained; 10 large green olives, chopped; 4
stalks of celery with green leaves, finely chopped;
1 large green pepper, deseeded and cut into thin
slivers; ½ cucumber, peeled and finely chopped; 2
tablespoons sliced almonds; 1 tablespoon pine nuts;
1 teaspoon olive oil.
For dressing: 120ml / ½ cup extra virgin olive oil;
120ml / ½ cup white wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon
fresh tarragon, finely chopped; 2 cloves of garlic,
finely chopped; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1 tablespoon
honey; salt and pepper to taste.
To serve: 40g / 1 cup fresh coriander, lightly
chopped; French basil leaves; 2 lettuce hearts; 8
baby plum tomatoes, halved. In a large bowl, mix
cooked rice with chopped vegetables, fruits and
nuts. Sprinkle oil on top.
When ready to serve: Drizzle French dressing
over the rice and let it sink in. Place a row of heart
lettuce leaves around the rice and garnish with
‘petals’ of tomatoes and basil leaves.
As told to Alex Leith
Thanks to Chloe Edwards of Seven Sisters
Spices, who prepared the salad for the photo.
sevensistersspices.com. Ami’s book, Lee Miller; a
Life with Food, Friends & Recipes, is published
in October. Ami presents an exclusive ‘Talk and
Tasting’ preview of the cookbook and some of
its recipes at Westgate Chapel in Lewes, on the
5th October at 7pm, as part of OctoberFeast.
lewesoctoberfeast.com
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