Knowledge and wisdom

“Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” Or so the saying goes.

At the risk of ruining any reputation for sagacity I’d like to question this. I wonder if the originator of the saying had actually tried it. Have you?

A while ago the Times had a pullout section containing a selection of salad suggestions. I liked the idea of peach and tomato. It sounded an intriguing combination. So I gave it a go. And this is the result.

First make a ring , alternating segments of peach and tomato. I had some blueberries left over so filled the central hole with these. For garnish (and to make it more filling) I used Lamb’s lettuce.

I used it as a first course. I hesitate to use the word starter as that implies a small course and, where I have more than one, they tend to be more equal in size.

Why not surprise your next guests with this. Even if you are not raw it makes a healthy start to a meal.

Munkazina salad

While our “leaders” try to sort out a government my thoughts turn, as always, to food. And decluttering.

Sorting a shelf the other day I came across an old card index with some recipes from pre-raw days. One of these cards contained the details of Munkazina salad. It sounded interesting so I gave it a go. As usual I didn’t have all the specified ingredients so modified it as I went along.This is what I ended up with.

I started well with a base of thinly sliced oranges followed by sliced red onion. The recipe then called for paprika which, having none, I ignored. Instead I sprinkled some golden linseed over the oranges to provide interest. The garnish was supposed to be horseradish but I used lambs’ ear lettuce.

The dressing was more interesting. I had no details written down so decided to follow the general principle that the dish should contain the colour orange. So I put a generous handful of pinenuts into the blender with the juice of half a lemon. Then some grated carrot for the colour and some water and olive oil to get the required consistency.

The result was a satisfying starter. Definitely something I will repeat in the future.