Two recipes for either side of the equator
Charred asparagus with romesco, red lentil dal with butternut squash, and why I love you all (equally).
I love you all!
And I love you all equally.
It’s just that I often get wrapped up in my own little world and neglect to look outside. Like last week, when I was about to write something long about my Easter, which, if you live in London, is inevitably about novelty chocolates (I am really not complaining), private and public egg hunts (I am complaining, a little), and very-yellow-and-fluffy chicks, that I momentarily forgot that not all Spring celebrations are about Easter, that, for many, Easter isn’t a thing at all, and that not all Easters are the same.
I have done this before. In January, I posted a note to Substack about all the winter warming things that I’d been making and wondered what everyone else was cooking to fend off the cold. I was thinking about stews, soups, the usuals.
The next day, I opened my laptop to find my inbox full of polite corrections from readers in Australia. (‘Actually, Yotam’...).
“Totally the opposite down south. Salads and BBQs," wrote Sally from Melbourne, while Lisa in Queensland mentioned "torrential summer rain" in the tropics, though she still managed to make leek and potato soup with "the AC on 20°C."
It was one of those moments that made me recalibrate. As a recipe writer, I often create dishes in a sort of season-agnostic vacuum. But as a home cook, like so many of you, I am rooted in the moment - in weather, in light, in what I am craving when I get home…
It made me want to dedicate a whole piece to this paradoxical state I am in: writing from a very specific place to an audience that can be anywhere, really; imagining, for once, that I have one foot in each hemisphere, simultaneously.
This week, I'm embracing the hemispheric divide with two recipes - one for each side of the equator. The first celebrates spring's tentative arrival in the north, and the second, the slide into autumn in the south. Both are quick for weeknights.
I'll show no favouritism to either hemisphere, so both recipes will be free. As I said, I love you all equally.
BTW - next week marks ANZAC Day on April 25th (a day to remember Australians and New Zealanders who have served in all wars, particularly those who died in Gallipoli in WW1). It got me thinking about Lamingtons, a chocolate-dipped, coconut-rolled sponge cake I first encountered years ago in Sydney. We've been testing them for our delis in celebration of ANZAC Day (available all of next week!). I'll share that recipe on Wednesday for anyone interested in some cross-hemispheric baking.
Red lentil dal with butternut squash
Butternut is coming into its prime in the southern hemisphere…just as it's fading from our supermarkets. Here, I’ve roasted the squash until it caramelises slightly at the edges, which mingles so perfectly with earthy lentils. I love how the cubes hold their shape at first, then gradually begin to melt into the mix as you eat.
Lentils have a comforting presence in cooler months (though I realise it's warmer in Australia and New Zealand at the moment than it is here…). They improve with time, soaking up spices and developing more complex flavours as they sit. And the burnt lemon is what ties it all together - sharp, slightly bitter bursts cutting through.
This recipe is perfect to make ahead, easy to double if you're feeding a few more, and just as good reheated on a busy night.
Finish with a drizzle of your favourite olive oil. At the moment, mine's Two Fields - they have such a lovely story, built by two brothers in Dorset, one of whom met his wife in Crete and now farms there. They've created a knowledge-sharing cooperative to encourage better farming practices in the olive oil industry. Great guys, and even better oil - the grassy, peppery freshness is exactly what these lentils need.
Asparagus with romesco
When asparagus first arrives, I usually hard sear it and drown it in butter. But by the third or fourth bunch, I start playing around. Pairing some roasted asparagus with this romesco sauce has become a favourite- smokey from the charred peppers, nutty from the hazelnuts, with that gentle cumin warmth all the way through. It's substantial enough to make asparagus feel like dinner, not just a side.
For those of you who need to wait another six months for asparagus, file this recipe away for six months' time when your own asparagus season returns. Or adapt it now with whatever looks best at your markets - the romesco works wonderfully with grilled courgettes or aubergines.
Serves 4
Prep 5 mins
Cook 25 mins
Ingredients
1 tsp cumin seeds
50g hazelnuts
1 red pepper, stalk and seeds removed, cut into 6 wedges
2 tomatoes, quartered
350g asparagus, woody ends trimmed (250g)
70ml olive oil
1 small clove of garlic, crushed
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
10g tarragon leaves, roughly chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 180c
Place the hazelnuts and cumin seeds on a large baking tray and bake for 8 minutes until the hazelnuts are deep golden brown and toasted. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and lightly crush.
Set the oven to the highest grill setting.
Season the pepper slices and tomatoes on the baking tray with ¼ teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of oil. Once the grill is hot, grill for 10 minutes on the top shelf of the oven until well charred. Transfer to the small bowl of a food processor and leave to cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove and discard the tomato and pepper skins.
Add the asparagus to the baking tray and season with ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil, and grill for 5 minutes on the top shelf of the oven, until tender and lightly charred.
Blend the tomatoes and peppers until finely chopped but still slightly textured. Stir in the garlic, vinegar, 40 millilitres of oil, ½ teaspoon of salt, and all but 1 tablespoon of the tarragon and hazelnut-cumin mixture (reserving the rest to serve).
Spoon the pepper mixture onto a serving dish and top with the asparagus. Sprinkle over the remaining tarragon and hazelnut cumin mixture.
Hi Yotam, don’t worry too much about the country situation, if you are in Spring and we are in Autumn, it doesn’t mean we can’t cook what is seasonal for you, living in Melbourne, we can have four seasons in a day 😂😂😂
Toda raba indeed. And Shabbat shalom from those of us who are celebrating the end of Passover, not Easter.