Floyd’s Tabbouleh

When I read that Julia and James were holding a food event in honour of the late Keith Floyd, I knew I wanted to join in.  News of his death last month sincerely saddened me as his cooking style and recipes and joie de vivre always inspired me and made me smile.  Have you read the epilogue in Floyd on France?  It’s a short chapter describing a day of eating and socialising in a small French town – possibly Provence, don’t have the book to hand – and it’s one of most uplifting pieces I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.  Really.  Seek it out.

It was his TV programmes Floyd was perhaps most famous for.  I have to admit, I’m generally not into food shows.  Don’t have anything against them at all and I do have my favourite celebrity chefs (Jamie!) but watching demonstations of cooking and listening to hints and tips just doesn’t suit my learning style at all.  I get bored.  Just give me a cookbook and let me start experimenting!  That said, Floyd’s programmes were the exception.  Perhaps it was the interesting variety of places he cooked in or the variety of people he introduced us too or the alcohol fuelled tantrums or the wry enthusiasm he exuded, I’m not sure.  All I know is that half an hour of Floyd flew by in a haze of giggles and scribbled notes.

Back to the blogging event…

It took me a long time to decide what dish to make and post about.  Looking through Floyd’s books there were lots of things I hadn’t tried and was intrigued by and more that I had made and enjoyed.  Plenty of options then.  In the end I settled on a simple tabbouleh not only because there are still plenty of good tomatoes around but also as it was the first Floyd recipe I ever made.    I remember hurriedly jotting down the recipe in a Finnish library at a time when I was just, just starting to get interested in cooking.  It was successes that came from recipes like this that encourged me to keep cooking and eventually created the food obsessed monster that writer to you all now.

P.S. Must admit, this is no longer the only version of tabbouleh I make. The Ottolenghi version that was in The Guardian recently was really very good and much bolder than the version I’m used to.  Still think this is my favourite though.

Tabbouleh (which book this came from and how much it resembles the original recipe I’m not sure!  It’s been tweaked from some hastily written, fairly indecipherable notes on the back of a library leaflet.)

(serves 4)

1 cup bulgar

5 perfect ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped finely

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/2 small red onion, chopped finely

1 spring onion, chopped finely

Big handful of parsley, chopped finely

Big handful of coriander, chopped finely

Small handful of mint, chopped finely

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

• In a small pot bring the bulgar and 1.5 mugs of water to a boil.  Put the lid on and simmer for a few minutes until water is almost absorbed.  Remove from heat but keep lid on for 10 mins.  Remove lid, fluff up bulgar and leave to cool.
• Mix the tomatoes together with garlic.
• One bulgar has cooled add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and toss well to combine.  Taste for seasoning or extra lemon juice or whatever else isn’t quite right.

We ate this last night with lamb and aubergine kebabs and tzatziki.  Very good it was too. 🙂

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