Seasonal Recipe of the Week – For four big salads, by Paul Cunningham
Ingredients
2 ripe Thai mangoes
2 papayas
1 large handful fresh ripe Jack fruit
1 large ripe white dragon fruit
2 small yellow dragon fruits
4 tamarillos
12 lychees
1 guava
12 okra
4 baby aubergines
4 yellow aubergines
1 small handful small green aubergines
8 small red shallots
12 spring onions
2 red chillies
2 yellow chillies
Fresh coriander
Fresh mint
Sweet Thai basil
For the dressing
Seeds and juice from 2 passion fruits
Seeds and juice from 2 ripe pomegranates
1tsp fresh green Madagascar peppercorns, crushed
½ tsp chopped green chilli
½ tsp chopped red chilli
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 finely sliced spring onions
1tsp fresh finely chopped galangal or ginger
1tsp very finely chopped lemongrass
2 finely chopped kaffir lime leaves
4tbs Thai fish sauce
1tbs palm sugar
4tbs soya light
4tbs toasted sesame oil
Juice and grated peel of an organic lime
Method
Start with the dressing. Mix all the ingredients together and leave for a minimum of two hours.
Wash, slice and chop all the fruits and vegetables as shown in the picture. Grill the vegetables.
Place the ingredients in a large bowl and mix the salad and herbs thoroughly with the dressing.
Recipe from Paul Food by Paul Cunningham - see book review
Recommended Wine
You wouldn't want to wheel out your finest wines for this salad, as elements such as passion fruit, pomegranate, mango, lime, and fish sauce are all ready to give most wines a hard time, stripping them of fruit and jarring with any subtle nuances in the wine. A razor sharp sparkling wine should be able to cope, such as Clotilde Davenne's Cremant de Bourgogne, or a a good zero dosage like the grower Champagne Tarlant Brut Zero.
Zeren Wilson is a food writer and wine consultant, who runs restaurant review site www.bittenandwritten.com
