Great British Food Christmas 2024

J UDY JOO , author and chef NOKX MA JOZ I , head pie maker, The Pie Room, Rosewood London V I VEK S I NGH , chef, restaurateur and author When I was growing up, food was the language of love. My mumwas always making what we call jjigaes, a kind of stew. It really is the sort of food that warms you from the inside. One of my favourites was soondubu – a silken tofu stewwith seafood. It came with a hot, steaming bowl of rice on the side and I loved to eat that. It’s one of the first comfort foods I reach for when I’m back in Korea. And also Korean rice cakes – tteok. My dad used to make them, so they remindme of him. They’re quite toothsome and chewy. You can fry them up as a snack to eat while watching TV! I’ve got lots of versions of the soups and stews I remember inmy books, and a favourite today is my chicken ginseng soup. It’s a Korean version of chicken soup, using a whole chicken or poussin, stuffed with ginseng or ginger. It’s warming and sweet and tastes quite medicinal. It’s just the best thing on a cold winter’s day and is especially good with rice and a side of kimchi. Another go-to comfort food for me is that I love to make instant ramen noodle soup, but I pimp it up by adding vegetables or dumplings or prawns from the freezer... or whatever’s in the fridge. It becomes a meal in no time. I grew up in South Africa and the ultimate comfort was my grandma’s dumpling soup. Maybe you’d have it with boiledmeat, or steamedmeat. She’d do that quite often. It was very simple, just seasoned with salt and pepper, but absolutely delicious. Another thing I love fromback home is malva pudding, which is similar to sticky toffee pudding but we don’t put dates in it, we use apricots. I used to love the sauce. Ohmy God! It’s just one of those things you cannot forget. There were also pies, but in South Africa we enjoy them a bit differently. They’re the kind of thing you have on the road on the go. Eating themwhen I was growing upmade me happy, and when I make them in the Pie Room it brings back all those warmmemories, because pies are a homely thing, and a family thing as well. Often, I’ll be making pies using combinations that remindme of home. Most recently a very popular one that got a lot of attention was the burger pie. It made me so happy. It made our customers happy. But the funny thing is, we used to eat burger pies all the time when I was at home. You can get them at the petrol station. It’s got everything inside – homemade tomato sauce, the burger patties, cheese. I put some chutney and gherkins in. So good. I think what people later on in life go on to recognise as comfort food is usually things they have eaten or experienced as a child. Things their parents or grandparents or extended family used to cook at home or at celebrations. If I really go back in time, the food that says ‘comfort’ to me is puris – deep fried wheat dough. This is something my mother would cook every time someone turned up unannounced. She’d make quite a few of them at very short notice and we would have themwith tomato chutney. They feature inmy restaurants from time to time and when I eat them they almost instantly transport me back to a different time. Another food I grew up with is what the English call kedgeree. In India it has rice, lentils and vegetables but not fish. That would be made every Saturday lunchtime. I think of it as a hug in a bowl. It’s very simple to cook, and light on the digestive system. I don’t remember my mum cooking it any other day of the week, and that repetition, I think, gives it a sense of comfort and nostalgia. The dish, at the moment, I would eat if I wanted to feel good is Hyderabadi lamb biryani. I love cooking this. We don’t make it very often (maybe four times a year). I cooked it for my mother a few years ago and later on, when I asked what was her favourite thing she has ever eaten in her life, she thought very carefully about it and came back and said, "that biryani youmade". Since then, I make it every time she’s here. It’s become almost a ritual. greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com 32 FEATURE | COMFORT FOOD