J47

Whilst greatly enjoying Mr Hopkinson's fine book I got to thinking what my chapters would be if I were writing it. His format is a chapter dedicated to each ingredient with a short piece of maybe childhood reminisces or early days in a professional kitchen or maybe a rant about the curious habits of some eaters today. Then he has three exponents of each of these fine ingredients. He has 47, and a couple of his are on the 'banned list', so instead I'll go for my 47.
And these are, in no particular order:
Parmesan
Duck – naturally!
Pancetta
Garlic
Chocolate
Chicken
Brie (I know another cheese, but so different)
Leeks
Asparagus
Risotto rice
Ginger
Chambord (okay, unusual choice but it's my list)
Pepper (corns, not nasty slimy red or green things)
Eggs
Raspberries
Ice cream
Sausages
Mâche (or Lamb’s lettuce, if you must)
Purple sprouting broccoli
Potatoes (I was going to say ‘mashed potatoes’, but where would I put Gratin Dauphinois and duchesse potatoes?)
Mozzarella (Lamb bumped to make way for more cheese!)
Crab
Butter
Pineapple
Bacon – hmmm, or is this too similar to pancetta? No, on second thought I could think of so many lovely recipes enhanced by salty bacony goodness that I’ll leave it in.
Artichoke – globe not Jerusalem
Beef
Pasta – fresh, of course
Butternut Squash (formerly Hazelnuts)
Lemons
Bread
Mussels
Basil
Monkfish
Foie gras
Lobster
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Oranges
Sprouts (Brussels not bean-)
Salmon
Parma ham
Scallops (a late substitition for Mango)
Plaice
Pancakes
Truffles
And finally, but definitely not least, mustard

Hmmm, that was easier than I thought. I considered cherries, tarragon, peas, onion, strawberry jam, pork (though prefer to separate chapters for sausages and bacon) and broccoli but they didn’t make the cut. Oh no, I’ve just thought of Mozzarella, but what to ‘bump’? Ahh, and there’s also butternut squash. Okay this is a bad idea, I am going to be obsessed. Okay I think I will swap Lamb for Mozzarella, it may be a lovely sweet meat but my three recipes would probably all be get a fine specimen from Mr Knibbs, butterfly it, stud it aggressively with garlic, rosemary and pancetta and chuck it on the bar-b-que and then do it again and then again. And maybe Hazelnuts can go to make way for Butternut Squash – I love hazelnuts but just a handful or maybe in a salad or in chocolate so not what you'd really call recipes. Now I wonder if I can think of my very favourite three things to do with each one... hmmmm!