25 September 2024
It Starts with Veg - Interview with Chef Ceri Jones
Ceri Jones is a chef, food educator and cookbook author whose recent release, It Starts with Veg, is the perfect companion to the weekly veg box.
Ceri Jones is a chef, food educator and cookbook author whose recent release, It Starts with Veg, is the perfect companion to the weekly veg box, giving incite and inspiration on how to use a plethora of seasonal vegetables to create delicious, easy dishes.
"When life gives you lemons you make lemonade. But, what happens when life gives you a stick of rhubarb, a kohlrabi or a cabbage? What do you make then? This book is here to help", explains Ceri. We were delighted to catch up with Ceri, especially to see how she uses herbs and spices in her recipes. Read on for top tips on how to pack plenty of veg into your diet...
1. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your book It Starts With Veg?
When I started getting a veg bag, I would continually find myself get stumped with certain vegetables like Jerusalem artichoke and kohlrabi, and would spend hours scouring the internet for exciting ideas for what to do with them. I thought, wouldn't it be useful if I always had a go to for these awkward veg, and of course find more creative ways with the popular veg like carrots and tomatoes too. When I started writing recipes and newsletters for my local veg bag scheme I discovered their customers were facing the same dilemma. At the same time I was cheffing on retreats and getting comments like 'I didn't think I liked fennel until I'd tried it like this' or 'I thought I hated beetroot, but this is so tasty' - they all wanted my recipes!
What these people needed was a guide. I loved the idea of creating a book that could work as a reference guide for veg as well as a comprehensive recipe resource. No need to neglect a cabbage until wilted and destined for the compost, instead find a recipe you enjoyed so much it would become the first thing you selected from the fridge.
Each recipe was devised with veg as the starting point - I thought about the best way to make the most of it, and built the recipe around it. Many of the recipes came from my archive of things I've been cooking in my work for the last 10 years, but there were a lot of new ones I had to research and come up with - these are now firmly part of my repertoire too.
2. Does it link in with your work for The Garden Museum in London?
Yes, absolutely. The classes I lead at the Garden Museum are always based around plants, and seasonal produce. A few years ago, before I had the idea to write the book, I based a series of family classes around veg families such as 'brassicas', 'roots, and 'squashes'. When I was researching for the book I went back and revisited this material for inspiration (the structure of my book is based around chapters of veg families). I split my work there between kids, families and adult / community groups, so am forever tweaking my recipes to suit the audiences, but the themes are universal.
3. Do you have a favourite herb or spice to use in your cooking?
Oh this is so hard for me to choose. The spice I probably go through the most is coriander seed. I love to toast the whole seeds, then use as a salad or soup topper. The burst of flavour you get from them with their hint of floral and citrus is so unexpected, and welcomed!
If we're talking dried herbs, then it'll be oregano. For fresh I'd say parsley simply because it has the most versatility from adding it in abundance to a tabbouleh, making a finely chopped gremolata with lemon zest and garlic to top a stew or whizzing into a salsa verde.
4. People are talking about the need to 'eat the rainbow’ and try to ‘eat 30+ plants’ per week. Do you have any top tips on how to do this?
'Plants' is a huge category and includes vegetables, grains, pulses, nuts and seeds and spices so when you make a list of all the things you can include its not that hard to get to 30 over 7 days - that's just 4-5 different plants a day. As well as showcasing 40 vegetables in the book, I tried really hard to cover a whole spectrum of store-cupboard plants through my recipes too, so that if you cooked your way through the book, you'd have the know-how to bring these into your diet on a regular basis. Instead of defaulting to rice there is bulgur wheat, quinoa, buckwheat for example. Then, for pulses there are chickpeas, lentils, butter beans, cannellini beans for starters. These all have a long shelf-life so if you have them in your cupboards ready, it'll be easy to choose a different one to cook each day.
I love getting a veg bag as it means I'm eating vegetables that might not be my go-to choice which means more range of plants in my diet - I honestly think I'd live off tomatoes if I could.
I also recommend using lots of fresh herbs and spices in your cooking too - this will easily help you get to 30 across a week.
5. What is your current favourite autumnal recipe to make the most of the seasonal produce?
As produce is so plentiful in autumn there are an incredible variety of veggies to choose from. I especially love to make the most of all the squashes, as its the perfect time of year for them - my squash and blue cheese risotto is a personal favourite. However when I want to cook something that is a little more involved I'll lean on my beetroot galette. In the recipe the beetroot is grated and sauteed down with onions, spices and thyme, which is then used alongside goat's cheese to fill a rustically rolled shortcrust pastry. It not only tastes delicious, but since the filling is a wonderfully vibrant dark pink - it's the perfect pick me up for when the days start to get shorter and greyer.
6. Who would you most like to share a meal with and why?
I always find these questions so tricky, and that I should perhaps be coming up with someone important from history or someone wildly famous. However I would have to say my Mum. My Mum died 12 years ago now, before I started working with food, and I'd love to catch her up on everything I've been up to since then.
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For more information on Ceri and to order her book, please head to her website: https://cerijoneschef.com/
To try out a couple of recipes from It Starts with Veg, do follow the links below:
Rainbow Chard and Saffron Orzotto with Prawns
Beetroot, Onion and Goat's Cheese Galette
