Over the past 50 years, chef Alice Waters, owner and chief ideologue at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, has played a pivotal role in popularizing local, seasonal cooking. In her 2017 memoir, Coming to My Senses, Waters boiled her motive down to its essence, nearly actually. Her favorite recipe, she wrote, is: “Go reduce some mint from the lawn, boil water, pour it over the mint. Wait. And then drink.”
Can fantastic flavors be that simple? To discover, G2 asked a panel of pinnacle cooks for their favored easy recipes, in which minor cooking transforms some ingredients into a killer dish.
Seasonal strawberry slushie
Bindu Patel, chef-proprietor, Sanctuary, Leicester
“As a toddler, my largest loves had been strawberries and Slush Puppies. In summer, we’d pass fruit-picking and collect a glut of juicy strawberries, and Mum could mix them with sugar and ice to create the maximum superb slushies. Being Asian, you’re brought to chilies and heat early, and mum could grind black pepper on the pinnacle, which brings out the flavor in strawberries.”
“A Hot climate encourages simplicity; true produce organized with little faff—the Spanish excel at this. I frequently recreate a dish I first served at the beach in Almería: chopped tomatoes, true olive oil, and fresh oregano with tinned ventresca tuna. No cooking in any way. The Spanish love properly tinned seafood, and ventresca is the prized tuna belly, line-stuck, cooked in seawater, filleted, and tinned by hand. It’s meals of the gods.”
Michelin-starred Rice Krispie Cakes
Simon Hulstone, chef-owner of the Elephant, Torquay
“I love to softly soften marshmallows in a Bain Marie to blood temperature and mix through Rice Krispies. Set it in a tray, reduce it into portions, dip them in melted chocolate, and those bloody love them. This is Michelin cooking: we only use a pinnacle-give up Kellogg’s and right Flumps.”
Khatta there
Irfan Khan, head chef, Lucknow 49, London
“This is a street snack in India, but I adore it as a simple summertime salad. Chop a cucumber into cubes, sprinkle chaat masala, cumin powder, and black salt, and finish with lime juice. On warm days, there’s no better way to settle down.”
Labneh with za’atar
Stuart Ralston, chef-proprietor, Aizle, Edinburgh
“In New York, I worked with an Israeli chef, Shlomo Kashy, who introduced me to labneh, essentially a Middle Eastern yogurt. You can find it in the UK now. He might spoon it into jars, top it with excellent olive oil and a heated za’atar spice blend of dried marjoram, sesame, and sumac, and then dip warm bread into it. It was a revelation.”
Burnt-butter cabbage salad
Mary-Ellen McTague, chef-owner of the Creameries, Manchester
“The nutty, caramel flavor of burnt flavor beurre noisette in French – lifts the entirety. Put butter in a pan, practice warmness until it turns a pleasant golden n, ice it off the heat, allow it to cool, and stress it. It will be preserved in the refrigerator for months. It’s an excellent dressing for fish, particularly meaty roast fish, including turbot, and it’s perfect on cabbage and celeriac. You may produce a pretty suitable lunch with four components – grilled cabbage, burnt butter, salt, and lemon juice.
