Monica Galetti - Comfort Food Food & Drink

There's nothing I can more about than what, how and why we eat and drink.

We're constantly being bombarded by trends

that influence the way we shop and cook today.

We're living in turbulent times

and there's no better way to make ourselves feel good about the world

than turning back the clock and digging in to nostalgic foods.

I close my eyes and that's it. Childhood memories.

Helping me create some of my favourite dishes

is writer and chef Monica Galetti.

I pulled it off the heat because Chef's a bit slow today

and I have to wait for him to finish cooking his...

My lovely floating islands.

I'll be passing on some of my trade secrets.

These that are left over, you just pop them open

and you get that lovely roasted garlic!

Award-winning drinks expert Kate Goodman

gives us the low-down on the best food and drink matches.

A lovely, warm, soothing wine, brilliant with this.

And food writer William Sitwell is convinced we've all lost the plot

when it comes to our obsession with nostalgic food.

I think the world has gone mad!

We hark back to a golden era that, at worst, didn't exist,

and, at best, was never as good as we thought it was.

Let's talk food.

Welcome to Food and Drink!

Comfort food. What's yours?

Pasta? Cake?

A roast? For many of us, our comfort food is rooted in nostalgia.

Coming from a family of Michelin-starred chefs,

you might think that mine is a Chateaubriand or lobster.

Well, actually, it's my mum's shepherd's pie!

My mother's shepherd's pie isn't just any old shepherd's pie.

I'll let you into a secret.

It's actually made with leftovers.

There were never any leftovers in our house!

There were five of us, and there were never any leftovers!

There should always be a little bit of leftover!

Or preferably a lot!

The trick is buying a leg of lamb that's big enough in the first place.

You'll need about 500g of lamb to make this dish.

Believe me, once you've tasted shepherd's pie made this way,

your Sunday joint will get even bigger.

Nothing else comes close.

-Could you use minced lamb, pre-bought?

-You can, but you know what?

It's not, I don't think, as good.

Because the beauty of using the roast leg of lamb

is that you've got this lovely fat and the caramelised meat on the outside

and the beautiful rare meat on the inside.

I think that gives it great balance. And you've got all these lovely roasting juices,

which you don't get if you're going to use mince.

Of course, being a French household, our lamb was roasted very rare.

But if I'm honest, as a kid, I really didn't like this rare one.

-I only liked the outside bits, the caramelised bits.

-Ah!

What was your comfort food as a child growing up in Samoa?

In Samoa, a lot of our food is coconut cream.

Just about everything. Desserts, starters, main courses.

Throw a bit of coconut cream in.

So if I think of Samoan food, the first thing that comes to mind is coconut cream.

No coconut cream in this shepherd's pie!

What would you recommend with this, Kate?

It's interesting with roast lamb.

If it was eaten like that, the classic wine mix would be a Rioja,

a Rioja Reserve, maybe a bit of spice.

Quite bold flavours.

-Or a Cabernet Sauvignon blend, perhaps a Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot from Bordeaux.

-Yes.

It's roast lamb but in another dish,

so I'm thinking I might spice it up a bit, go for something a bit different.

But what's going with the shepherd's pie?

Stir-fried cabbage with garlic and chilli and a bit of fish sauce.

Oh, man! Wow!

-Good luck!

-Thank you!

What I loved about my mum's roast lamb

was that she'd put loads and loads of garlic around it

in their skins. And these that are left over, you pop them open and get that lovely roast garlic.

Oh, lovely!

Mmm!

A golden rule when matching wine with food

is that the flavour of the wine

shouldn't be more or less powerful than the food.

I've gone for a hearty red wine from southern France

which will balance, not overwhelm or get lost amongst the flavours.

My second choice is a full-bodied bitter.

It has a freshness that will work really nicely with the spicy cabbage

and at the same time, its rich fruitiness

will cope with the wholesome meatiness of the pie.

My third match is a refreshing apple and beetroot juice.

The subtle earthiness of the beetroot will work well with the savouriness of the dish

and the apple will take out some of the heat of the chilli.

Let's get mincing. That goes in there. Everything in there.

Mind your fingers. Let's go.

The secret to making this dish really special is using a mincer.

For me, it's a vital bit of kit

that gives the filling a melt in the mouth texture.

Add a shallot, carrot, a couple of sticks of celery and parsley

to create the perfect shepherd's pie.

If you haven't got a mincer, you could chop it by hand,

but it's not quite the same.

I would invest in a mincer, even a hand mincer.

That smells amazing.

-Happy with that?

-Now we need to season this

and Kate?

Can you pass me my secret ingredient, please?

Yep. Direction?

-On the shelf. What do you reckon?

-It's not going to be that.

-Yeah, that's the one!

-Tommy K?

You use Tommy K in your shepherd's pie?! You're a Michelin-starred chef!

-What's that about?

-That's why they've all got Michelin stars! Tommy K!

-It's the secret!

-It's going to sweeten the shepherd's pie,

season it and give it a lovely texture as well.

Now, that all gets mixed in. Here we go.

I want to serve with this wonderful seasonal cabbage - hispi cabbage -

which is sweet, crunchy,

and it's perfect for sauteeing or stir-frying.

But you can use any kind of cabbage that's in season.

If you haven't got cabbage, then pak choi.

-Pak choi is available all year round.

-Nice.

With it, I'm going to put some chilli and fish sauce.

I want to stir-fry it and not boil it to death!

Good. That reminds me of my gran.

That's obviously a good thing, my gran,

but boiled cabbage wasn't!

After spooning the base of the pie into the dish,

generously cover it with lots of buttery mash.

Floury potatoes make the best mash.

And I never add anything else to the mix except butter and a splash of milk.

This mashed potato is made the way the Roux household make mashed potato.

And that's practically equal quantities of butter to potato!

-Wow!

-Cover the shepherd's pie with foil and put in the oven at 180 degrees.

The secret to getting the perfect, crunchy golden brown topping

is to remove the foil after half an hour and turn up the temperature to 200 degrees for the last 10 minutes.

And to go with this crispy, comforting pie,

a spicy modern take on a nostalgic classic.

We need a little bit of garlic and a little chilli.

It's up to you how hot you want it, really, isn't it?

-I agree.

-I like this accompaniment because it is different

and I think it's challenging.

Quickly stir-fry the finely-sliced cabbage, chilli and garlic

with the fish sauce,

so it keeps its colour and stays crunchy.

This is the ideal accompaniment to the ultimate comfort food.

Smells great!

Mmm!

-Doesn't that looks good?

-Looks good.

-Looks gorgeous!

And all these lovely burnt bits on the side are the best bits.

Yes, you can break them off later.

-Are you ready for this?

-Go for it!

Right.

Here goes.

Ooh, look at that.

Tell you what, I think your mum would be pleased!

-You haven't tasted it yet!

-It looks and smells divine.

I remember with my sister we would fight over this, especially the corner bits

which were so caramelised.

And in our haste, we would burn the roof of our mouths

because we wanted to gobble it down so quickly.

This really was one of our favourite dishes.

Kate, do you want some Tommy K to go on top of that?

-That would offend your mother.

-It would offend me, as well!

Please!

Monica, some red wine for you.

We've got a lovely Cairanne wine, it comes under the umbrella of Cotes du Rhone Villages.

There's lots of Grenache, a lovely supple grape.

A bit of spice, lots of juicy red fruits.

A bit of blackcurrant, a bit of white pepper.

It's a lovely, warm, soothing wine, brilliant with this.

This is lovely, and it does match very well.

What is surprising is it actually brings the spice out even more

in the cabbage.

You really get that spice that's opened up with this wine.

It's a great match. You've done yourself justice here.

Shame I'm not drinking it!

-I've got a beetroot juice!

-I'll enjoy it for you!

The apple and beetroot juice, because it's got that apple,

it's actually quite refreshing.

It's working really well with the cabbage and the spiciness of the cabbage.

There's a bit of saltiness in there. So I'm enjoying it.

I think it might be a bit heavy to drink any more than that.

A nice little taste is working nicely

but a long glass, I'm not so sure.

-So what have I got?

-Michel, you've got the lovely, spicy, peppery ale.

See how you find it. It's hearty, so it's good for the shepherd's pie.

But equally, it will bring out the flavours again of the cabbage and the chilli

cos it's got that spicy peppery character.

It is a damn good match

and I do like my beer!

I like wine more, but I do like my beer!

And it works really well

especially with this spicy cabbage.

But the thing is, this is a really homely, warm and filling dish.

And that's why I think the beer works well, as well.

'Cooking a proper home-made meal like this

'gives me as much comfort as eating it.

'But as food writer William Sitwell finds out,

'the explosion in sales of factory produced traditional old-fashioned food and drink

'tells us that the future is the past and it's big business.'

MUSIC: New World Symphony by Dvorak

I think the world has gone mad.

Sales of old-fashioned comfort food are up.

Corned beef is up 16%.

Custard powder - custard powder?! - has doubled!

You know, this obsession for "nosh-talgia" is simply nonsense,

but worse than that,

I think it holds our food culture back.

Because we hark back to a golden era

that, at worst, didn't exist,

and, at best, was never as good as we thought it was.

Take our current nostalgic obsession with cake.

When I think of cup cakes, I think of home baking, 1950s.

"You've never had it so good."

When I eat it...

I think sugar, rotted teeth.

They might have tasted good at the time,

but they ended up being a real pain in the gums.

Nostalgic food disappoints me in so many ways.

Take the pasty.

Ah, the smell gets me every time.

I'm back in my childhood. The sea, a shrimp net in my hand.

But it's actually just dough and a really boring filling.

The main thing I hate about it is that these foods bear little resemblance

to their original robust form.

But worse than that,

some of our favourite "traditional" dishes have just been made up!

I hate the ploughman's lunch. What a fake!

Invented, apparently by the English Country Cheese Council.

I bet they all wore smocks!

Clearly a marketing ploy to sell cheese.

And a successful one at that.

But really? Does harking back to an imagined past do us any favours?

This retreat to the food of our grandparents or great-grandparents

is a reaction to the stressful times we live in.

But paradoxically, in times of stress,

comfort is not our friend.

Human evolution depends on innovation.

Let's face it, we'd still be eating raw meat

if our ancestors hadn't moved onto cooking our food.

I think we're way too nervous of the future

and need to get our heads out of the past.

If we do think that food in the past was great,

well, we ignore a lot of facts.

Firstly, that quality food was really only for rich people.

That two World Wars meant decades of rationing

and if we did get hold of some decent vegetables,

well, what was our national sport? Ruining them!

And who's to blame for much of this?

Well, in my view, one lady.

Mrs Isabella Beeton.

This book meant the death of culinary sophistication.

Not a single one of the thousands of recipes in this tome

uses any spices, wine or even fresh herbs.

And she was obsessed with overcooking things.

"Vegetables that are cooked in a raw state

"are apt to ferment in the stomach", she said,

thereby convincing people to boil vegetables to death,

a tradition that lasted well into the 1980s.

Don't get me wrong. Mrs Beeton has her place.

But we should have more confidence in today.

Modern chefs have been busy building new relationships with real heritage foods.

We've actually now got a cuisine we can be proud of.

I think we should take comfort from that.

If I was a psychologist, I'd put you on the couch

and I'd say, "Forget this crazy obsession with foody nostalgia.

"Let it go.

"The important thing is what food tastes like now."

So loosen the straitjacket of sticky buns and stodgy pies.

For a delicious future, your food culture needs you!

There's so much emotion invested in nostalgic food,

it's often hard to separate taste and flavour from meaning.

Has William really got a point?

Well, I'm not sure, you know. I think the thing about nostalgia is,

the pleasure that it gives me now.

It's kind of irrelevant what happened then.

What I like now, if I'm chatting with my brother and sister

and we'd talk about the times we went to Cornwall and ate pasties every day,

I can't remember how they tasted. What I remember now is that experience.

The fact that we were probably sat in a car park in Cornwall and it was pouring down

and I was probably moaning, saying, "Why can't we go to Spain like all my mates?"

that sort of thing, is irrelevant.

Then again, we've all had a bad pasty or some overcooked cabbage.

If it's bad, then how can it evoke good memories?

You could say that about anything. The fact it was bad might make us laugh now!

-Exactly!

-The main thing is we were having a good time

and maybe it wasn't the best pasty.

That's why the supermarkets have labelled all these dishes,

these pies, "traditionally baked" or "hand-made" or such like.

They're selling us this dream.

But it's food, comfort food, something I have in my culture.

I live away from Samoa. I don't know any here in the UK.

If you take that away, what do you have? You crave it.

-Exactly.

-That's what I find. I crave it because I'm here and I don't have the access to that.

For example, my cousin lives in Japan.

And when the tsunami hit,

he said all the Japanese were asking people to send ramen noodles

because it was their comfort food.

In their time of need, what do they all have in common?

-They all related to this one simple food.

-Yeah.

It's all they wanted.

Another example was 9/11.

When that horrible tragedy hit, the people wanted macaroni and cheese.

Why? Because they were in need to be comforted and this is what they wanted.

It's called comfort food for that reason.

So I have to disagree with him. I have to disagree.

Talking of comfort food, if I gave you a fiver,

what would you get for that fiver as comfort food?

I would buy a big bag of crisps!

-Really?!

-Good crisps. Salt and vinegar, preferably.

-Monica?

-I do like salt and vinegar crisps. I do.

But chocolate wins hands down for me.

If I had five pounds, I'd go out and buy the best darkest chocolate.

Even if it was only a mouthful.

But the hit of cocoa solids

and let it melt in the mouth. Mmm.

-That's your comfort food, is it?

-It is.

But there is something else I'm really partial to

and that's instant custard!

Wow! Instant custard! There's a revelation!

I'm guessing it's childhood memories of school.

I used to hate the skin on the custard, but push the skin away

and that custard was so good. It was lovely. I'd just have a bowl of it.

'And I'm not alone. Comforting puddings are coming back.

'Out in the cold for so many years,

'it seems that now old-fashioned British stodgy pudds are back on the world's menus.

'But are they worth the calories?

'Food writer Matthew Fort'

believes it's time to come out in support

of the great British pudding.

Over the years, I've eaten more than my fair share of Italian gelatis,

fancy French tarts, baklava from Turkey,

kulfi from India, desserts from around the world.

But let's face it. When it comes down to it,

there is absolutely nothing to beat

a grand British pudding

in bringing a lunch or dinner to a glorious, happy,

mouth-watering, tummy-filling full stop!

Summer pudding, bread and butter pudding,

crunchy, munchy puddings.

Creamy, dreamy puddings.

Puddings not just to be eaten, but to be savoured, to be indulged in,

to be loved.

Let's face it, no country in the world approaches Britain

for the wealth and diversity of its pudding culture.

But there was a time when puddings fell from public favour.

Perhaps we took them for granted,

perhaps their home-spun virtues paled beside the lure of the exotic.

For whatever reason, they almost vanished from the culinary radar.

And here, at the uber-fashionable Tramshed

in uber-fashionable East London,

the same thing is happening.

Great British puddings from the past are back on the menu.

Owner Mark Hix is one of the capital's hottest culinary names.

He and his pastry chef Ronnie Murray are behind this retro re-invention.

Mark, why are you bringing back British puddings on your menu?

I think that people realise these days that flavour is the key.

Years ago, presentation, especially in a restaurant, was key, and flavour was second.

But I think the thing with British desserts

is that they don't always look great,

but the flavour's fantastic.

They taste fabulous.

A lot of desserts on the continent, there's too many flavours going on.

Whereas I think if you've got an apple pie, for example,

you're eating apple pie all the way through.

'Ronnie is preparing that classic pudd,

'the Sussex pond pudding.

'It may not be exactly eye candy, but it's a joy to eat!'

For me, the Sussex pond pudding is the Everest of puddings.

There is no greater pudding.

It is a monument to British puddingdom!

-So you've got a suet pastry lining the inside of the basin.

-Yep.

And then the whole of the inside is filled with?

Almost equal quantities of butter to light brown sugar.

So very healthy(!)

Combined with the fat in the pastry!

-And the healthy element which is...

-The lemon!

-..the lemon!

But, in terms of delivering happiness,

bringing a smile to the face

and a beam to the tummy,

there's absolutely nothing quite like it!

Mmm!

There's a subtle crunch of the suet crust

that leaves your lips glossy.

That little bit of dripping contained inside.

There is...

..that divine combination

of butter and brown sugar

that wrap themselves like a warm scarf around your taste buds.

And when you have cleared up that last nubbly crumb,

when you have scooped up...

the last smear of cream or custard on your finger,

you know, you just know

that puddings are true, deep, sweet-natured soul food.

Matthew is a fan of British pudds,

but I'm a Frenchman, and in France,

desserts don't get more nostalgic than Isles Flottantes,

poached meringues on a creme Anglaise.

It looks and tastes impressive

and is not as hard to make as you might imagine.

It's a French classic, and it's one that I love.

It's homely, it's warm and it is incredibly simple.

I'm going to show you how simple it is.

Monica, if you could crack the eggs. I need eight egg yolks

eight egg whites in the machine and 190g of sugar.

Right.

So we're talking meringues.

-We are talking meringues.

-Scary for me.

Why? What part is scary?

I don't know. Burning them, or what you put in there.

Do you put vinegar in? That sort of thing?

I just would be... It just makes me nervous.

No. These are really very, very simple

and they're poached, so you don't have to dry them out in the oven.

-OK.

-They're light and fluffy

and they'll be covered in caramel

so they have that lovely crunchy texture on the outside, gooey in the middle.

And creamy and unctuous with the creme Anglaise.

No cornflour, no vinegar.

Just egg white and sugar.

It's so simple. Everybody can make this, trust me!

Creme Anglaise classic. It's going to be flavoured with vanilla.

One of my all-time favourite spices.

It's just so heavenly. This sings out French patisserie.

A really lush vanilla pod is really worth spending the extra money on.

You'll smell why, the moment you scrape the seeds out.

Simmer the vanilla in 750ml of milk without bringing to the boil

before adding 190g of sugar to eight egg yolks.

Whisk that up so it goes to a lovely nice white ribbon.

Then you pour the boiling milk over.

A little bit at first, as we know what's going to happen otherwise!

-Scrambled eggs!

-Right. We don't want scrambled eggs.

'Whisk the milk in before putting the custard back in the pan

'and heat until it thickens.

'Finally, the meringues.

'Add another 190g of sugar to the remaining eight egg whites

'and whisk until the peaks are smooth and glossy.'

I'm not weighing the sugar

because I've got years and years of experience.

I can tell by the silkiness and the consistency of the egg whites when to stop!

And I've got a sweet tooth, so I always put an extra spoonful in.

There we go.

Lovely. That looks so good.

Silky white, perfect meringue.

-Looking good.

-Come and join us, Kate.

-Love to.

So...

-Watch the action.

-Watch the action.

Right, Kate, here goes the caramel.

So you just poured the sugar in.

Yes, this is straight caramel, this is.

Just the sugars. What we call in the chef world, a dry caramel.

Because there's no liquid in it, it won't crystallise.

So this, you can actually stir.

So if it's getting too dark on one side, or not enough caramel on one side,

-stir it round.

-Keep the action going. OK.

I've pulled it off the heat because Chef is a bit slow today

and I've got to wait for him to finish cooking his...

-My lovely floating islands.

-They're looking good, I have to say.

-Beautiful.

-They do look good.

So we've just got egg whites and sugar here.

I'm shaping them into these lovely floating islands,

dipped into the milk and sugar mix

that's been slightly sweetened.

And they poach away. It really is so simple.

They look fantastic.

There we go. We just poach them very, very gently.

It mustn't boil. If it boils,

-the egg white will puff up and then they'll collapse.

-Right.

So what would you recommend with this, Kate?

It looks quite elegant.

I would like an equally elegant drink to go with it.

I think for that, there's only one choice, personally!

What would that be?

I would love to drink with this a champagne.

Yes!

Obviously, with champagne, naturally you think champagne, it's an aperitif, it's dry.

But actually there's some fantastic demi-sec champagnes.

They're a touch sweeter with a nice honey character.

I think it would be a really nice match.

If not a champagne, then perhaps a nice dessert wine, a Muscat,

something nice and aromatic, nice and fragrant.

A little bit of apricot-type character.

Nothing too dominant that's going to overwhelm it,

but you need that sweetness there

to match the sweetness in the dessert.

'After five minutes poaching in some milk and sugar,

'remove the meringues and leave them to cool on a wire rack...'

They should be firm but light.

'..before drizzling with the caramel

'and gently placing on the custard.'

-CORK POPS

-That's a sound I like!

'The combination of textures makes this the perfect dessert.

'The light and fluffy meringue, crunchy caramel

'and creamy custard sauce. Delicious!'

-You need to crack it.

-Oh, I like it.

-It's a good sharing dessert, isn't it?

-Yes.

-All get stuck in.

-It is.

-I like food like that.

It's all about textures as well.

That champagne works so well. It is so rich, it cleans the palate at the end.

Cleans the mouth out. Makes it feel nice and fresh.

I'm very pleased with that.

I love the freshness that champagne brings to this.

-It is a very sweet dessert.

-It really is. Really is.

I love the crunch on it, as well.

-This is heavenly.

-That's good to hear. I'm pleased.

'The definition of comfort food

'is food that's simply prepared

'and gives a sense of wellbeing.

'My mum's shepherd's pie made with leftover roast lamb

'and her secret ingredient of tomato ketchup.

'And the Isles Flottantes, a timeless French classic,

'are the epitome of comfort food for me.'

There's something about nostalgic food that I just love.

Whether it's cooking it or eating it.

And if I've inspired you to try to cook something that makes you feel good,

then it makes me feel good!

'Next time, in an Italian special,

'pasta purist Angela Hartnett shows me how to make the perfect tagliatelle.'

You're making it look so easy.

Well, in my youth, I've made a fair bit.

'And Antonio Carluccio shares his secrets about what makes Italian food so good.'

You need passion, fantastic ingredients and a lot of confidence!

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