Crave Cooking

Food writer Ed Smith doesn’t want ‘cravings’ to be a dirty word and his  latest book is about actually listening to what your body wants

When meal planning or deciding what to have for dinner, how often do you stop and actually think: what do I want to eat?

For many of us, listening to our body’s cravings is pretty low down the list – after more practical considerations, like what you have in the fridge and what will be healthiest/quickest/easiest to rustle up.

Food writer Ed Smith wants to change this, and it’s at the core of his new cookbook – Crave: Recipes Arranged By Flavour, To Suit Your Mood And Appetite. The book does what it says on the tin with six sections organised into separate flavour profiles: fresh and fragrant, tart and sour, chilli and heat, spiced and curried, rich and savoury, and finally, cheesy and creamy.

Smith wants us to start “cooking to your intuition”, he explains. It’s about putting “desire” back on the menu. “I started thinking, ‘What do I want to eat?’, and I found that what I wanted to eat was sometimes driven by mood, sometimes driven by weather, or sometimes driven by nothing at all. But every time, I could probably focus on one flavour – like today I really want something hot, or I want something savoury – there’s always a reason behind it.”

Smith admits he “doesn’t have the perfect answer” but this is, for him, “the most robust and logical way of thinking about it”.

Trying to identify what we’re craving might seem unusual to some, as ‘cravings’ tend to evoke ‘illicit’ images of chocolate, biscuits and sugary snacks, right?

Not necessarily. “So often, when people talk about comfort food, the media depicts it as sitting on the sofa eating a bucket of ice cream,” says Smith. “That’s kind of true – sometimes you do seek solace in sweet, creamy things. But actually, more often than not, that’s a slight under-representation of what comfort food can be.

“Comfort food, food that takes you to a happy place, is very often your childhood – which for some people can be beans on toast, roast chicken, chicken soup. But for other people, spicy food is the food of their native heritage that they were used to eating. So comfort food is different for different people.”

That’s why Smith shaped the book around all different types of flavours, giving people the power to choose what’s right for them. “I’m not going to prescribe you the recipe because of your mood. It’s not for me to tell you what is comforting. But what I’ve tried to do is offer the reader a solution, or ways to find what will comfort them,” he explains.

“Sometimes we look for food you can sink into, but more often than not, the food that’s going to make you happiest if full of fresh and fragrant things, things that make you feel good,” Smith suggests. “So you will bounce back quicker for having sprightly food, lighter food – dare I say it, healthier food.”

If Crave sounds like it was written by a hyper-organised person, it was – before switching careers and diving into the world of food (he’s already published two previous cookbooks: The Borough Market Cookbook and On The Side), Smith was a lawyer.

“I do think I have quite an analytical and ordered mind,” he muses. “That’s reflected in the use of bullet points, and the whole thematic approach. The extra directories and indexing are probably related to my lawyer background – I know a lot of my lawyer friends always comment on that as their favourite part of my books. The analytical and structuring bits are probably doing too many witness statements and regulatory reviews.” Transferable skills no one saw coming – certainly “no one in law school”, Smith quips.

“I think I realised about five years into law that whatever you want to do in life, if you want to succeed, you’re going to be working hard and for a long time. I started writing a food blog as a creative outlet – a reason to cook something every week and a reason to go to new restaurants. That made me realise that working hard – maybe I wanted to do that in an industry I was really deeply interested in.”

He took himself off to catering college and started writing recipes, many of which are inspired by his original love: going to restaurants and trying new cuisines. This global outlook is reflected in Crave, but Smith doesn’t claim he’s an expert in food from countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka.

“I’m not an authority on them, and I don’t want people to think I am,” he says frankly – which is why he has a directory in the back of Crave signposting you to other cookbooks where you can learn more.

“Last year in particular was an awakening in food media and modern life of understanding heritage and the story of food,” Smith says. “There’s always more than just a dish, there’s a reason that things came about, and I think it’s good to reflect on that and to point people in the right direction.”

Ultimately, he just wants Crave to be a “framework for thinking about food”.

We have three of Ed Smith’s recipes for you to try overleaf.

Bun cha recipe

This Vietnamese-inspired dish has it all: juicy pork patties, spicy dressing and a fresh noodle salad. Ed Smith readily admits he has “not invented bun cha” – the classic Vietnamese pork and noodle dish – but living in East London has given him a great appreciation for it. “There are lots of Vietnamese supermarkets and restaurants nearby,” he says – and bun cha is his go-to meal when he needs to feel “enlivened and refreshed”.

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

For the pork patties:

500g pork mince

1 clove garlic, minced

1 small banana shallot, very finely chopped

1 stick lemongrass, very finely chopped

3tsp golden caster sugar

3tbsp fish sauce

2tbsp cold water

1 lime, zest finely grated, remainder quartered

1tbsp neutral cooking oil, for frying

For the sauce:

3tbsp fish sauce

3tbsp rice vinegar

1tbsp golden caster sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 red bird’s eye chilli, finely chopped

150ml water

For the noodle salad:

2 large carrots, peeled

25g mint

25g coriander

25g Thai holy basil

400g dried rice vermicelli noodles

1 butterhead lettuce, torn

2–3tbsp roasted, salted peanuts, crushed

2tbsp crisp fried shallots or onions

1 lime, zested and quartered (included above)

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients for the patties into a bowl (except the oil, which is used for frying), mix well, then use wet hands to shape into eight balls, approximately 80g each. Set on a plate, lightly press into patty shapes and refrigerate until required.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Cut the carrots into thin matchstick-like strips, ideally using a julienne peeler if you have one, or with a sharp knife and a bit of patience. Cut away the thickest stems from the herbs but otherwise leave as intact sprigs.

3. Cook the noodles following the packet instructions (usually around three to four minutes), drain and either plunge into iced water or cool under a running tap, then drain again, shuffling them with clean fingers to ensure they don’t clump together.

4. To cook the patties, place a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan or griddle pan over a medium heat. Add a tablespoon of neutral cooking oil and, once hot, add the patties. Fry for 90 seconds before flipping them and cooking for the same amount of time, then repeat on both sides. Sear the edges too, then remove from the heat. While the pork patties are cooking, assemble four separate bowls of noodles, adding the carrots, lettuce and fresh herbs. Add the patties and a good sprinkling of peanuts, shallots or onions, and a lime quarter to each bowl, before pouring the sauce over the top.

Parent and child rice recipe

Short on time but want to go big on flavour? This chicken and rice dish will sort you out. Ed Smith makes this chicken and rice recipe once a week, on the night his wife heads out of the house. “It’s just me and my son, so I usually throw that in front of him and enjoy it myself as well,” he says. A recipe with classic Japanese ingredients like dashi and mirin might seem a bit adventurous for a toddler, but Smith quips his son is “unfortunately a horrific foodie – he’ll eat oysters, and one of his first words was kimchi”. Whether you’ve got a toddler at home or not, this dish is bursting with flavour and perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Parent and child rice

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

For the rice:

200g short-grain sushi rice

300ml cold water

2tsp sushi vinegar

For the topping:

1 x 10g instant dashi sachet

250ml just-boiled water

2tbsp mirin

2tbsp light soy sauce

1½ tbsp golden caster sugar

2tbsp neutral cooking oil

2 boneless chicken thighs, skin on (ideally)

½ small onion, finely sliced

4 medium eggs

Method:

1. To cook the rice, first measure it into a saucepan and cover with cold water. Stir for 20 seconds, drain through a sieve, return the rice to the pan and repeat the process six times so the water is much less cloudy. Add 300ml of cold water and set on a high heat. As soon as the water boils, stir to ensure the rice is not stuck to the bottom of the pan, then reduce to the lowest heat possible, place a lid on top and simmer for seven to eight minutes. Remove from the heat at the point the water has almost all been absorbed, but the rice is still loose. Stir in the sushi vinegar and place a folded dish towel over the top, leaving just a little gap. Leave for 20 minutes for the rice to steam, finish cooking and also dry out a little, stirring three or four times over that period.

2. As the rice cooks, dissolve the dashi powder for the topping into the just-boiled water. Stir the mirin, soy sauce and sugar into the dashi. Add a little cooking oil to a small, heavy-based saucepan and place over a medium–high heat. Cook the chicken thighs skin-side down for six to eight minutes so the skin is bronzed and about two-thirds of the flesh cooked through. Remove from the pan and chop into bite-size pieces.

3. When the rice is ready, tip half the dashi into a small (18–20cm) omelette or frying pan. Add half of both the chicken and onions and simmer over a medium heat for three to four minutes until the liquid is reduced by a third and the onions are softening.

4. Ensure both chicken and onions are evenly distributed. Lightly beat two of the eggs and pour into the pan, prodding and shuffling so it moves through and around the chicken and onions. Place a lid on top and steam for one minute so the egg is about two-thirds cooked – it should still be a little loose in the middle, as part of the pleasure is in the slipperiness of the egg. Decant half the rice into a bowl and slide the omelette over the top – the dashi will leave the pan first, seasoning the rice as it falls. Repeat (using the remaining dashi, chicken, onions and eggs) for the second portion.

Cherry and apricot slab pie recipe

Who can resist a tangy fruit pie with buttery pastry? Cherries and apricots are a match made in heaven, in Ed Smith’s recipe for a luxurious slab pie. Making your own pastry isn’t always the easiest, but your labour will be rewarded with a buttery casing that melts in the mouth. You can still get in on the fun if you don’t have cherry and apricots to hand – any berries that are in season will do. We particularly recommend subbing in rhubarb and gooseberries for a more unusual take on the classic fruit pie.

Ingredients:

(Serves 8)

430g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

200g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

100g icing sugar

½tsp flaky sea salt

1tbsp apple cider vinegar

3tbsp cold milk, plus a little extra as a wash

700g apricots, pitted and quartered

250g cherries, pitted

100g golden caster sugar

120g ground almonds

2tbsp demerara sugar

Serve with crème fraîche

This works particularly well in a 30 x 20 x 3cm baking tin.

Method:

1. Rub together (or use a food processor to pulse) the flour, butter, icing sugar and salt into a breadcrumb-like consistency. Add the vinegar and cold milk, and press into a ball of dough. Divide the pastry into two not-quite-equal pieces, push into rectangles about 3cm thick, then wrap both and refrigerate for at least an hour, ideally longer.

2. The pastry is very buttery and can be tricky to handle, so roll out between two sheets of baking paper: the smaller one so that it’s the same size as your tin (this will be the lid); the other, big enough to line the base and sides; and both to 2-3mm thick. You’ll be able to break off bits that are not in the right shape and place them where they should be as you go. Refrigerate for at least an hour (again).

3. Combine the fruit in a bowl with the caster sugar and leave to macerate. After 20 minutes, add half the ground almonds, stir and set to one side. Butter the baking tin, dust with flour, then line the tin with the larger pastry sheet. Use a knife to trim the pastry so it’s flush with the top of the tin, using the excess to patch up any holes or thinner areas. Sprinkle the base with the remaining ground almonds then tip the filling in, ensuring an even distribution. Brush the edge of the pastry base with milk, then place the lid on top, pressing down firmly to seal the pastry together. Trim any overhang. Brush with milk, then add a liberal sprinkling of demerara sugar. Refrigerate one final time for at least 30 minutes (the pastry needs to be cold and the oven fully to temperature).

4. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan. Place the baking tin on a larger sheet (to catch any spilled juices) and bake for 45 minutes, until the pastry is hard and golden, with some of the fruit bubbling through. If after 35–40 minutes the pie is looking very bronzed, turn the oven down to 180°C/160°C fan but do keep it in for the full amount of time. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving with big dollops of crème fraîche.

Recipes Arranged By flavour, To Suit Your Mood And Appetite by Ed Smith is published by Quadrille and out now. Photography by Sam A Harris.