My last Christmas book

"sunshine food"

Robert Carrier

My son gave me a Christmas bonanza of old Robert Carrier cookbooks missing from my collection for Christmas. I have talked about three of them. This is the last.

It was published back in 1999 around the time of his Great New Dishes of the World and has a very similar design, so I am guessing it was put together by the same team. He took the photographs himself and there is a certain kind of style to those. Mostly the dishes are photographed in extreme close-up - so close that a couple of them fail it seems to me because the whole picture becomes blurry, not just the background. Mostly they are like the one on the cover though, with a section of the dish in sharp focus and the rest blurry. On the whole I like them I have to say. And there are pictures of the locals and a tiny bit of scenery but mostly it's the food which is very definitely the focus of the book. I bet somebody professional Photoshopped them too.

There are his usual exuberant introductions to every chapter - some of it informative. He is particularly interested in the history of food I think and more or less every recipe has a little introduction too. They are not all illustrated which is good I think. And not all of the chapters are what you would expect - there is a whole chapter dedicated to salt cod for example and another on olive oil. I'm not sure what else I can say about it other than saying that although it is now almost twenty years old it is still very relevant to the way we eat today. I mean - tapas ... And it doesn't look dated either.

"Spain with its colourful, laid-back lifestyle and healthy informal cuisine - so right for today." Robert Carrier

Somewhere he says that it is very Californian - although of course it is really the other way around. Californian food is very Spanish.

I don't think I can say very much more other than a huge thank you to my son and the determination to cook something from it once I have decided what. In the meantime here are a couple of 'tasters' picked at random. Both very simple but deliciously different.

SARDINAS A LA PLANCHA (Grilled sardines)

"Grill super-fresh sardines as the Spanish do: on a preheated sheet of flat metal over a charcoal fire, or, failing that, in a barbecue over charcoal or even under a preheated grill). Wash and gut the sardines before cooking but leave on the scales."

12-16 fresh sardines, cleaned and gutted

olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

crushed dried chillies

Garnish

lemons, halved or quartered

Pat the sardines dry with kitchen paper. Brush with olive oil and season generously with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and pinch of crushed dried chillies.

Grill the sardines a la plancha, over a barbecue, or under a hot grill, for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, sprinkling with a little more oil as they cook. Serve straight from the fire, with lemons. Serves 4

I think it was the photograph that got me on that one - but the touch of chilli really did the trick. We had some barbecued sardines in France last summer - without the chilli - but they were super delicious. Amazingly so considering how little there is done to them.

ENSALADA AL GAZPACHO (Gazpacho salad)

"I was inspired by the traditional garnish for gazpacho to create this special salad one day when I was preparing outdoor lunch for friends at a finca just outside Ronda. The layered salad was served in a tall top-hat shaped glass salad bowl and looked wonderful.

Now I am not suggesting that you have such a bowl in your kitchen cupboard, but I have served it since in this country in large-scale brandy snipers - one to each guest - the colourful layers of sliced tomatoes, white onion, unpeeled cucumber and crisp-dried breadcrumbs showing to splendid advantage through the fragile glass containers."

1 1/2 large white onions

Iced water

1 1/2 cucumbers

12 ripe firm red tomatoes

6-8 tablespoons oven-toasted breadcrumbs (made from good country bread)

Vinagreta

150ml/1/4 pint extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons sherry vinegar

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3-4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

fresh lime juice

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

pinch of crushed dried chillies

Peel and slice the white onions thinly and soak for 20 minutes in iced water (to remove the onion's too pungent flavour). Drain well, and pat dry with kitchen paper. Wrap in clingfilm and chill. Slice the cucumbers thinly, but do not peel or seed. Wrap in clingfilm and chill. Slice the tomatoes. Wrap in clingfilm and chill. To prepare the vinagreta, combine the olive oil, sherry vinegar, garlic and parsley in a small bowl and flavour to taste with lime juice, sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a hint of crushed dried chillies. Chill.

When ready to serve, arrange the thinly sliced cucumber, tomato and onion, and the breadcrumbs in alternate thin layers in the glass salad bowl of your choice. Pour over the well flavoured vinagreta.

Now this one sounds perfect as a starter on a very hot Melbourne summer day. Maybe my next lunch party.

And incidentally in his old age he seems to have fallen a little in love with a pinch of chilli here and there. Me too.