Impressed with his weight loss on Atkins but appalled by the recipes,a gourmetchef has created his own:
Henry Harris is a conundrum. On the one hand he is the chef who hasbrought ataste of award-winning French cuisine to West London. On the other,he has justwritten a diet cookbook. And, even worse, it’s not any diet, it’sAtkins. Henryis a gourmet who has gone low- carb. It’s almost the stuff ofconfessions.Or so it seems before we meet. I am to interview him about the bookbut, in thename of research, I go along to his restaurant, Racine, first. It isexactlylike a proper French restaurant should be, all dark banquettes,seamless serviceand fresh food dressed in delicate sauces. At first it seems theopposite oflow-carb living. But as I salivate over my asparagus and lamb, Irealise this islow carb, it is just low carb with glamour.
This is quite a revelation. The Atkins diet, as outlined in thefamous orangebook, may work but it has its drawbacks. I have been on it for a yearandalthough none of the horror stories is true - after the first fewweeks you caneat quite a lot of carbs - the food is as drab as a faded housedress.I am tiredof hamburger patties and cottage cheese, not to mention “snack”avocados.
What I had not realised, until I met Harris, was that there is analternative.He too went on the diet a year ago. He lost 2st (16kg) and has keptit off. Buthe was not content to survive on my kind of dull fare. Nor was hewilling tosacrifice his sense of taste in terms of finding substitutes forcarbs or sugar.”The recipes at the back of the Atkins book were terrible,” hesaid. “I triedthe chocolate mousse with artificial sugar and had a taste of it andit tastedlike artificial sugar.” He didn’t make it again.
Harris believes in real food and that is what he likes to cook, andeat, forhimself and his family. He stresses that Racine is not an Atkinsrestaurant (thebreadbasket on every table backs this up). But, as I had discovered,it isrelatively easy to order a low-carb meal in a French restaurant.Harris notesthat this is not the case if you are eating Italian (because ofpasta) or Indianand Chinese (because of rice).
He had written for various newspapers over the years and, as hisweight lossbecame dramatic, was asked to devise his own low-carb recipes. Thoughscepticalat first, he found the list kept growing and, more importantly, thathe wasproud of it. The result is the cookbook A Passion for Protein. Thename may notbe so delectable (I suspect it was a marketing decision) but therecipes areintriguing, not least because they involve no cottage cheese. I neverthoughtthat rabbit with mustard sauce and bacon would be low-carb or, forthat matter,baked crab with tomato and tarragon hollandaise. But they are.
For those of us who have come to think that a boiled egg is verytasty indeed,this is exciting. Harris also has devised interesting ways to replacethe carbelement in foods. Some are obvious, such as using crumbled cookedbacon or porkscratchings instead of croutons, but others include using finelyshreddedceleriac or courgette in place of pasta, and replacing burger bunswith cookedlarge flat mushrooms.
I suspect that chefs and diets do not go together and, as theinterviewcontinues, this becomes a bit of a theme. We talk in the morning atRacine.Harris, who is 40, is wearing his chef whites and it is clear thatwhat he ispassionate about is food, not diets. In fact, he is downrightsuspicious ofthem. “I think that people on diets, whether it’s something reallyextreme likethe cabbage soup diet or WeightWatchers, are very, very constrainedby therules. They put themselves on a diet, say WeightWatchers, mess up andthen theysay, oh f it and binge. It is like an alcoholic; when they falloff thewagon, they have to descend to new depths.”
The way round this, he believes, lies in the attitude. “I avoid theword diet. Iuse the word regime.” And, for him, the biggest regime change hasbeen rice. “Iused to eat risotto two or three times a week.” This was not the casefor pastaand bread. A great pasta dish is a joy, he says, but they are few andfarbetween, and the same goes for bread. The last piece of “epic bakery”heexperienced was a crusty bread roll at Merchant House in Ludlow. Hedescribesthis in sumptuous detail but adds, with what may be relief, that itis a rarity.
We turn to the vexed subject of puddings. Harris announces that hesees sugar asnapalm. Cream on its own is harmless but, when you add sugar,somethingexplosively bad for you happens. He refuses to use sugar substitutes,and so thebook has only three puddings: pineapple with rum and crme fraiche,raspberriesand Jersey cream, and vodka and lemon tonic jelly. He compensates forthissomewhat by including some killer cocktails including a classicMartini.
Harris believes that, if you don’t say that something is low carb,then no onewill know. He had a dinner party at the weekend at which he servedasparagus andthen steak au poivre. Other vegetables included button mushrooms,french beansand a salad of watercress and shallots. He also offered, though didnot eathimself, new potatoes cooked with whole garlic. Then there was cheeseand,finally, squares of delicious dark bitter chocolate. I’m not surethat anyonecould describe that as deprivation.
A Passion for Protein, by Henry Harris, is published by Quadrille,14.99
TASTE THIS!
JAMBON DE BAYONNE WITH CELERIAC REMOULADEServes 8
I large head of celeriac (or 2 smaller ones)16 slices of Bayonne ham3 tbsp capers
For the remoulade sauce:4 egg yolks6 canned anchovy fillets, drained3 tbsp Dijon mustardSplash of red wine vinegar 350ml vegetable oilTiny splash of hot water
First make the remoulade sauce: place the egg yolks, anchovy fillets,mustardand red wine vinegar in a food processor. Blitz to a smooth state andthen addthe oil, initially drop by drop, building up to a more confidentstream as themayonnaise forms. When all the oil is incorporated, add the hotwater. Season totaste, and perhaps add more mustard if needed.
Peel the celeriac and cut into very fine strips. Place the celeriacin a bowland mix in the mustard mayonnaise. Hands work best here. Cover andrefrigerateuntil needed.
To serve, place a pile of the celeriac in the middle of each plate.Arrange 2slices of ham around the edge, then sprinkle over a few capers.
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