“Throw the rulebook out the window, I’m here to hold your hand”
Nadiya Hussain is dedicated to getting you cooking fresh and flavoursome food that is fast to make, proving you don’t need a special occasion to try bold, exciting tastes. No flavour combinations are off the table in her new series, Nadiya’s Fast Flavours on BBC Two Thursdays at 8.30pm. Although straying from convention could be daunting for the less confident cook, “if you’re afraid to throw the rulebook out the window, I’m here to hold your hand,” says Nadiya. Get confident, then experiment “I love experimenting in the kitchen,” says Nadiya. "You know how much I like to break the rules," she adds. But before trying out new twists on recipes and grand ideas, it’s a good plan to become confident at a handful of meals and bakes first. Nadiya recommends learning how to make a few of your favourites really well, such as mac and cheese, shortbread or simple cakes and “then you can start adding other flavours you like”. From there, "It's about stepping back and saying, 'What do I like? What do I enjoy? What's missing? And what is going to make this the best dish ever?'" Nadiya says she breaks every single one of the "rules" to make her version of mac and cheese she says is the "best one you are going to try". For an instant flavour hit, she includes evaporated milk, yeast extract (or, as Nadiya calls it, "nectar"), tangy Worcestershire sauce and… cheese puffs. "They add that extreme cheesy flavour," says Nadiya, adding that "It's about experimenting, it's not about the rules." Nadiya says she’s pretty good at just knowing what will work after years of practice, but she didn’t always have a sixth sense about cooking. Her secret to success? When something goes wrong, she wants to know why and will keep going until she gets it right. It took 11 attempts for her to master macarons! “Just like in real life, things go wrong,” says Nadiya, “but trust me, someone will eat it and you will learn something.” Flavour your food with memories Using flavours from your life makes food “a part of who you are,” says Nadiya. "I used to get really nervous about combining flavours that I grew up with, with flavours that felt very classically British, […] and then I realised the whole point of writing recipes and being a part of two different worlds is to throw that rule book away." She incorporates sweet and warming fennel seeds that remind her of childhood with chocolate biscuits in her delicious blueberry ice cream cake. "Curry is in my blood, it's in my DNA,” she says. “My Dad made vindaloo in [his] restaurant and it was so spicy… But it doesn’t have to be like that,” she adds. Using the nostalgic memory of her Dad’s dish, she makes a slightly less spicy version in her new programme, as there is “no point” in making something if you don’t like it. "Just one mouthful brings me the reassuring comfort of family," she says. Layering flavours is the key to a great curry sauce, says Nadiya. The base of her vindaloo starts with whole spices, such as cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods and bay leaves, "as they need the longest time to cook and get the best out of them," she says. Cashews bring a creamy, cooling element and a good pinch of fennel seeds brings a citrusy aroma and sweetness. Garlic and ginger paste bring a mellow warmth, and caramelising onions brings sweetness and a rich flavour that will “blow your mind,” says Nadiya. Alongside the ground spices Nadiya uses dried whole chillies, as "you get heat, but they're not explosive.” “Comfort food for me is always curry, those spices, those smells, for me that’s home,” says Nadiya, adding that when her kids fly the nest, "this is the reason why they're going to come home.” Taste v flavour Taste is the sensation reported by our tongue; sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. “Sometimes when you taste a food and it’s like something is missing,” she says, and that can be down to taste. Nadiya puts different taste pairings together to bring the wow-factor to her food. It’s not complicated either as more doesn’t always equal better. Many of her winning formulas balance two core tastes, such as her new salty-sweet pretzel brûlée tart and old favourite crisp and chocolate tart, as salt can enhance sweetness and reduce bitterness. Try pairing foods with different taste profiles together to see which combinations you like. This can be as simple as a pinch of salt or bitter cocoa nibs to a chocolate mousse or as wild as salty blue cheese and chocolate pasta. As much as 80% of what we call taste is actually aroma, so always taste and smell food as you’re making it. Nadiya says herbs and spices are key for adding essential aroma to dishes and adds cinnamon to her cherry cake, mint to her chocolate roll, lemon and basil to shortbread, fennel to ice cream cake. “I love gardening and grow lots of herbs; you name it I’ve got it,” says Nadiya. This has led to a wave of experimentation in her bakes, as she says just because herbs are savoury doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be added to sweet things. Trust your instincts “I often throw the rulebook away in the kitchen,” says Nadiya, as “I use foods people think of as snacks as ingredients, such as Bombay mix, pretzels, chocolate mini rolls, cheese puffs and crisps.” A chocolate tart with a base made out of crisps is “one of my family’s favourite recipes,” says Nadiya, “even though the kids said it would never work”. She never would have discovered it without trusting her instincts and thinking outside the box a little, and you can too. Nadiya's Fast Flavours starts on BBC Two 8.30pm on the 11th of November or catch up on iPlayer. Get the recipes on BBC Food after each episode.