Bitter made better.
And intrinsic contentment.
Hello from NL 39. This is Bake Sense, the somewhat ordered record of ramblings that concern the world of baking, from championing flavour and wholesome ingredients to questioning where those ingredients come from and how we can make the most of them. Along the way, you’ll find recipes and insights from life in and out of the professional bakery and plenty of fruitful chat.
The transition from October to November has come to hold considerable significance for me and my enclave built of butter, flour and flavour. My baking body is weary from the year thus far, yet my baker’s brain is cognisant that the most exciting and flavourful parts of the baking year are still to come.
The celebrations of Samhain, DÃa de los Muertos, All Saints and All Souls around the world are days that bridge the transition between October and November. I think of the culinary pins dropping on the map of the world: the Barm Brack, Pan de Muerto, sugar skulls, marzipan and pine nut studded Panellets, and candied pumpkin in all its guises.
Hot on the heels of these holidays are Thanksgiving and Christmas. The flavour train within my brain is picking up speed, and I feel the inspiration I could indulge in over the coming months.
But ultimately, on these transitionary days of remembering, I have come to benefit from standing still, acknowledging that the before and after are a hair’s breadth away from the space I hold right now.
It’s a moment of intrinsic contentment in a world that often equates staying where you are with the satisfaction of what you have as lax, soft or unambitious. Society at once encourages and disparages this state of ease, comfort and fulfilment. Can ease be that easy? I decide on these days it can and will.
In the spirit of that, I wanted to share this off-the-cuff assemblage of ingredients that I enjoyed this week, and that will be my culinary pin drop to mark this point of the year for years to come.
Radicchio Salad with Apple Syrup & Toasted Almonds
I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be blessed with a friend that could grow radicchio. But dreams come true, and I have already committed to buying every bitter head that grows next year.
Chioggia, Treviso Tardivo or any other chicory or bitter leaf can be used; I prefer ones with softer leaves and a smaller mid-rib for raw salads. Save your strong mid-ribbed kind for cooking on the griddle, in a gratin or risotto.
As with all off-the-cuff, assemble-as-you-feel recipes, this one does not have a measured ingredient list. My advice is to taste the leaf raw and let your buds guide you to a dressing balanced enough to make the bitter better.
We enjoyed this as part of a pizza party where it accompanied sourdough wholegrain pizza bases. In my book, raw salad atop cooked pizza is as underrated as intrinsic contentment.
Ingredients
1 head of Raddichio
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Apple Syrup (I used this from Liberty Fields)
Maldon Sea Salt
Toasted Almonds
Unfurl the leaves from their headed bundle and wash as required. Toss the leaves with olive oil, sea salt and apple syrup; if I were to hazard a guess, it was in the 2 parts oil to 1 part apple syrup range.
Taste the dressed leaves and season with more oil, syrup or salt as needed. When you’re happy, assemble the leaves in the bowl in a manner that will maximise the capture of the finishing touches.
Drizzle with more apple syrup and a scattering of toasted almonds, ensuring each leafy cup catches the goods.
Make it your own: This was pulled together from what was to hand in a ready, steady, cook fashion, but if foresight is on your side, consider all the other ingredients that make friends with bitter frilly leaves -
Walnuts, hazelnuts or pumpkin seeds in place of almonds.
Cheeses, hard or soft, shaved fine or crumbled in chunks to your liking.
Try grape or pomegranate molasses, sorghum, or maple syrup if you can't source apple syrup.
Add or adjust acidity with lemon juice or vinegar based on the inherent acidity of your syrup.
Amp up the sweetness with raw shards of crisp apple, persimmon or roasted squash.
Lovely to find another radicchio fan. Autumn salads are my favourite.