Simon Gault - homemade

I wrote about this book the other day and said how much I was enjoying it.I mentioned his strong family connections which shine through the book. Right at the back of the book Simon's acknowledgements appear and the publishers have kindly agreed to let me reproduce them here for your interest.

Acknowledgements

I’m fortunate to enjoy the enduring support of a tremendous group of colleagues,

family and friends. To all of you, please know that I wouldn’t be without you.

Special thanks go to my mum, Ellerie, and dad, Bryan, for gifting me a love of

food. You taught me not to tolerate second best, and to be obsessive in the search

for excellence. You have been there to support me every step of the way in all my

crazy projects and new ventures. You are my staunchest critics, for which I thank

you. I dedicate this book to you.

To my beautiful wife, Katrina, thank you for putting up with yet another

project, and for giving me such honest feedback. You are my best friend and the

love of my life.

Sarah, you are the most loyal sister, and a great support to me, Mum and Dad.

Special thanks go to my right-hand man and friend, Eugene Hamilton. You

have worked tirelessly and shown me unstinting loyalty over the years, and I

have you to thank for keeping me out of trouble most of the time. Thanks, too, to

Darren Lim, another great chef and trusted colleague.

Thank you to my business partners, Richard Sigley, Phil Clark and Brian

Fitzgerald, whose support is unwavering and who (almost) never question

anything I do.

This book would not have happened without the brilliant photographer

Kieran Scott. You are inspiring to work with, and you and your photographs

tell it how it is. Thank you, too, to Tamara West for your creative eye and for

interpreting my food with your sensitive styling.

I wouldn’t have wanted to work with any editor other than Toni Mason.

Thank you for persevering with Skype and for helping to shape my recipes for

the home cook.

It has been wonderful to work with the team at Penguin Group (NZ). Thanks

go to Debra Millar for her vision and patience when I got distracted by other

projects; to Catherine O’Loughlin for her unrelenting attention to detail, and to

Sarah Healey for her design.

And, finally, thanks to all those diners who keep coming back and who share

with us their favourite dishes on our restaurant menus. You also keep us honest.

Ultimately, this book is for you.

Good stuff Simon, well expressed.
Since I last wrote I have made a couple of dishes from the book both with great success.
First up was Mussel salad which went down an absolute treat, as did number 2 - Venetian-style prawns (stunning, so full of flavour) and then number three which the publishers have agreed I may reproduce here:

shrimp fritters

You will find these crisp little fritters, called tortillitas de camarones in Spanish, being sold on every windswept street corner in the port of Cádiz in southern Spain. They source the smallest shrimps they can find, but in my recipe I have used prawn cutlets. Chickpea flour and good Spanish paprika are the secret ingredients that make these fritters unforgettable.

Serves 8

1 tbsp self-raising flour

1¼ cups chickpea flour

¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda

1½ tsp flaky salt

100ml water

1 egg

90ml extra virgin olive oil

1½ tsp Spanish smoked paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper

zest of 1 lemon

3 tbsp very finely chopped onion

4 tbsp finely chopped curly parsley

330g raw prawn cutlets (defrosted and roughly chopped) or baby shrimps

100ml olive oil for frying

lemon wedges to serve

Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. Mix the water and egg, add the olive oil and stir to combine, then gradually blend into the flour mixture to form a thin batter. Add the paprika, cayenne pepper, onion, parsley and prawns or shrimps and mix well.

Heat the olive oil in a frying-pan. When it begins to shimmer, drop in a large spoonful of batter for each fritter, frying 3 at a time (if you crowd the pan, the oil temperature will drop and you will end up with oily fritters). Fry until golden and crisp on both sides and cooked through. Ensure the batter is well spread out so the fritters will be crisp all the way through. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Serve hot in stacks with lemon wedges.

Simon says

The perfect dip for these fritters is to take your favourite mayonnaise and add some Spanish smoked paprika and a touch of garlic. This makes a paprika aïoli.

And finally a couple more of Kieran Scott's masterful photographs:

Copyright line

Reproduced with permission from SIMON GAULT Homemade  by Simon Gault. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $60.00. Copyright © text, Simon Gault, 2013.

Copyright © photographs, Kieran Scott, 2013