While it's not a new idea, the concept of three main ingredients that contrast and complement each other is simple and even intuitive - think beetroot, feta and parsley; ham, egg and chips; tomato, mozzarella and basil. The secret is to think about the properties of the ingredients - salty, sweet, crunchy; or sharp, rich, crumbly; or hot, bland, crisp, he says.
Unlike some cookbook authors, he doesn't restrict himself to just three ingredients in a recipe. It's a looser notion and he adds spices, oils and pantry stand-bys such as flour or stock as needed, and suggests alternatives and additions. He encourages the reader and cook to swap - celery for fennel, plums for peaches etc - and use the recipes as a launchpad for their own ideas.
There are some unusual combinations, cabbage, avocado and lentils; egg, purple sprouting broccoli and garam masala; chicken, rocket and redcurrants; or ham, squash and marmalade, as well as many classic and comforting ones such as polenta, mushrooms and cheese; pappardelle, squash and sage; fish, onions and olives; smoked fish, leek and potato (he exhorts you to use sustainably caught fish).
Sometimes he pulls apart a basic concept such as meat and two veg and reassembles them, like spiced lamb, kale and quince; or bacon, radicchio and shallots.
This has already become another denizen of my kitchen bench, kept handy for inspiration and regular use.
How does he do it?
Well, he often, but not always, uses fast-cooking or sometimes pre-cooked rice, ready-made polenta, precooked beetroot and tinned beans and lentils, but he does make pestos and sauces from scratch - the food processor is essential here, and for quickly slicing salad vegetables. To meet the time limit, he also requires all ingredients to be out, the oven on, pots heated, kettle boiled and food processor ready with the required blades and slicers.
I timed myself cooking one - white fish tagine with carrot and clementine salad and couscous.
It took about 10 minutes to read the recipe, get out all the ingredients (using mandarins which are similar to clementines) and equipment, boil the kettle, turn on the burners, peel the carrots and get some herbs from the garden. It took 17 minutes to make the dish - soaking the couscous in boiling water, with half a lemon and mint stalks, heating oil, garlic, anchovies, olives, harissa and passata, adding fish and simmering for about eight minutes, grating the carrots in the processor, peeling and slicing the mandarins, mixing with mint leaves and carrots and sprinkling with lemon juice and olive oil, and stirring harissa into some yoghurt for the sauce. By then the fish was cooked, the couscous ready to fluff up and the last thing to do was to tear fresh coriander over everything and serve. And it was delicious. I'll certainly try some of his other recipes.
The cleaning up after the whirlwind cooking took almost as long as the preparation, and I did have to get a few extra things at the supermarket so it needed planning ahead.
To be on the safe side, I'd allow 30 minutes including the preparation, but even so, this book should be a winner. Now, can he do a seven and a-half-minute meal?
