My mother only knew how to cook cauliflower one way and that was as a Aloo Gobi salan, sometimes this was mashed and stuffed into a paratha, a sneaky, but delicious way my mother would make us eat this vegetable. Then I left my parents home, and discovered a little home cook in me. I experimented with many vegetables, including the cauliflower in soups and as the popular cauliflower cheese. Yet somehow I have not been able to shirk that childish perspective of it looking unattractive and resembling the human brain, there was also its offensive smell that would linger in my small flat.
Then I learned my then accidental boyfriend (fiancée) now husband) loved this creamy white curd vegetable. So like anyone trying to win over a suitor, I tried to overcome these prejudices of mine and tried to look at the cauli-Flower florets with a ‘love dove eyes’ and tolerate its ghastly smell. This has resulted in me making a number of cauliflower recipes for my loved one. I also learned to respect this all year round vegetable. Some of these recipes, I admit to have enjoying such as the cauliflower tempura, terrine, cauliflower quiche, paprika cauliflower and others such as cauliflower 'rice' aka cauliflower 'couscous', and cauliflower pancakes, cauliflower, caper and chilli pasta, cauliflower and sun dried tomato tart, cauliflower with dukkah not so much, but I still ate them.
For this reason, I am still looking for inspiration to disguise the cauliflower. I’ve recently seen cauliflower popcorn where florets are chopped into bite sized and cooked or roasted in oil slowly until they are crisp and molten brown; and even Cauliflower steaks, popularized by the actress Alicia Silverstone in her book the Kind Diet. Cauliflower steaks are simply cauliflower pieces cut into thick slices and cooked in oil until golden. Today though it is this Cauliflower with Gherkins and capers.
Cauliflower dishes are not the easiest to present beautifully in photographs. They always appear very yellow, as does this one.The sharp twang of the capers and gherkins was an interesting change. This dish has a few stages: cooking the cauliflower, making the breadcrumbs, the sauce, so if you decide to make it, be prepared to spend a little more time in the kitchen.
Cauliflower with Gherkins and capers Serves 4 – 6
Ingredients
25g butter or margarine
2 medium onions, minced
1 generous tablespoon of flour
Pinch of thyme
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon tomato puree
450ml vegetable stock
2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons capers, minced
1 tablespoon gherkin, finely sliced
Oil for frying
4 stalks of celery, finely sliced
1 small cauliflower, cut into bite sized and steamed until tender
Salt and pepper to taste
2 slices of stale bread, made into breadcrumbs mixed with 100g cheese, grated
Method In a large pan, fry half of the onions in the butter, then sprinkle over the flour and thyme and cook at medium heat, stirring for a couple of minutes. Add 1 teaspoon coriander and tomato puree and thoroughly stir until the onions are well coated. Slowly whisk in the stock and 1 teaspoon of tamari and heat until simmering, then turn down and simmer until it thickens. Then whisk in the vinegar, capers and gherkins and set aside.
In another pan, fry the rest of the onions in a little oil until soft, then add the celery, remaining coriander and tamari. Stir well and cook for five minutes or so. Set aside. Combine the vegetables and the sauce in an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the cheese and breadcrumbs mixture. Bake on Gas mark 5 for 30 minute or until bubbling and hot around the edges. Serve with roast potatoes and some greens. Adapted from The Food for Thought cookbook by Guy Garrett and Kit Norman.
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