As the colder nights draw in, I’m craving elevated classics that remind me of childhood. It’s all about fish fingers, pies, sausages and eggs – and chips with everything
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Last weekend, my family congregated at a restaurant in Edinburgh to celebrate my parents’ diamond wedding anniversary. Good though the meal was, the farewell lunch my mum prepared the next day sparked more in the way of fond reminiscence. With her retro feast of chicken kiev, oven chips and peas, we could almost have been back around our kitchen table 30 years ago (in those days, though, my mum would never have allowed the younger generation to add ketchup).
It’s also the kind of meal that feels apt for the change of season, for the first weeks back at school or work, when everyone’s finding their feet and wants something easy and familiar. Thomasina Miers’ fish fingers and mushy peas fit the bill, too, as does Rowley Leigh’s fish pie and Tim Hayward’s nan’s corned beef, with yet more chips and peas. If all that’s too much of a good thing, my own corned beef hash might appeal instead? For a more specifically Scottish take on that combination, I love Colman Andrews’ idea of adding black pudding to classic mince and tatties (Rachel Roddy’s hearty cheese and chip omelette, meanwhile, would have been brilliant if we’d actually had any chips left over – time may move on, but teenagers don’t change).