Soffrito

The yardstick most often trotted out to assess cooking abilities is 'how to boil an egg'. Actually, boiling an egg is not that straightforward, and the news media usually manage to come up with the wrong answer anyway. A much better test would be soffrito.

Soffrito comes from the Italian 'to fry gently' but the technique has wide applications in cookery and forms the basis of many well known dishes - yes, even spag bol. Indeed, its origins can be traced back to a mediaeval Catalan manuscript, the Libre de Sent Sovi and the method has its counterpart in the Catalan sofregit and Castillian sofrito. Whatever the origin, some aromatic vegetables are gently fried in oil until soft. Sounds easy enough, but some common sense and attention to detail makes all the difference. Here are a few tips:

The pan
Any pan will do but a heavy bottomed skillet, saute or frying pan is best. The idea is to cook it slowly and a heavy pan will diffuse the heat better. Don't use a lid -- you don't want it to steam.

Oil
Depending on what the soffrito is a base for, you can use butter, oil or a mixture of the two. A good quality olive oil is best in most instances. Use enough to coat the ingredients properly but not so much that they swim in it!

Ingredients
The traditional Italian soffrito is a mixture of onion, carrot and celery, finely chopped. The proportions are a matter of taste and availability, but one medium onion, one medium carrot and a stick of celery is typical and sufficient for a dish for four people. You can include green, red or yellow pepper (capiscum), pancetta (bacon), chorizo or anything else that strikes your fancy, in any permutation. Garlic is usually a must, but is best added towards the end of cooking to avoid scorching.

Soffrito can be seasoned with black pepper, fresh parsley, bay leaf, rosemary or other herbs to taste, depending on the final dish. However it is best to avoid salt -- it can be added later -- as this tends to draw out moisture so that the ingredients stew rather than fry.

Cooking
Start with a fairly hot pan but turn down the heat as low as possible as soon as the ingredients begin to sizzle. Cook very slowly, stirring occasionally: don't let it burn! Depending on the quantity, it may take 20-40 mins. The result should be perfectly soft without a hint of bite, and lightly golden.

Tolerating the intolerable

Lance Knobel writes "I've written a lot about anti-Americanism being an acceptable prejudice in Europe. Antisemitism attracts more criticism, but remarks like Dalyell's are accepted to a degree that would not be tolerated in the US" in response to Jonathan Freedland's Guardian article on Tam Dayell's recent racist slur. Both are off the mark.

There is no question this this was a racist slur: it was out of order and unacceptable. We all know that, and Tam Dayell (who is a spent force anyway) is further diminished by it. But it certainly does not warrant a public display of righteous indignation.

One should not take absence of condemnation as acceptance; tolerance is surely a virtue to which we should aspire; 'America's advanced intolerance' is not.

Woops!

My demo version of Brent Simmons's excellent NetNewsWire just expired, so over to Kagi for one of my happier on line payments.

NHS: Fatal Distraction?

As Iraq fades into ancient history our beloved media have had to cast around for something else to fill the column inches over the Bank Holiday weekend, and once again the spotlight has fallen on the good old NHS.

This time it is the plan to turn some of the better behaved hospital Trusts into Foundation Hospitals, in theory more autonomous and less under 'direct' Whitehall control. This is sparking a Labour backbench revolt, led by the antediluvian Frank Dobson who did so much to wreck the NHS and demoralize staff when he was at the helm. The irony is that the Tories, who invented 'self-governing' hospital Trusts in the first place, look set to vote against them this time round. That's just plain silly - but what we have come to expect from Irritable Dowel Syndrome and his cronies.

It may have taken a while, but Alan Milburn has at last recognised that "You can't run the National Health Service as if it's the Chinese Red Army, from an office in Whitehall." Devolving power and responsibility is a sound management principle for a vast, monolithic organization: Margaret Thatcher new that. The main problem with the current plan is that, to start with, only selected hospitals will earn Foundation status. This is the real divisive issue. Alan and Tony should take courage and go the whole hog: make us all Foundation Hospitals at a stroke. That should disarm the critics.

Play another song for me

American record companies are reportedly financing the development of new computer software that would sabotage Internet connections of people downloading pirated music. The new tactic is the most aggressive yet by the record industry in combating the copying of songs over the Internet

Never mind its dubious legality, this strategy smacks of desperation. My intial reaction was to recall the George Santayana saying Fanaticism consists in redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim. I fear, however, that the recording industry is very clear about its aim: to make money no matter who they trample on in the process.

Well, we could vote with our money - or rather keep it in our pockets. The trouble is, music is addictive and the recording industry is the dealer. What goes against the modern grain is its total inability to provide what users want, (though if they did, there would be no addiction to feed).

Think different
Apple's new music store might just be able to undo this particular bind by addressing two of the most frequently expressed needs: ability to aquire digital music on line easily, and ablilty to 'mix and match', that is to buy a selection of tracks from different albums rather than whole albums. The news that a million tracks have been sold in the first week is invigorating: that more than half of the songs were purchased as whole albums goes a long way to counter fears that selling music by the track would reduce album sales. Together, these show that consumer choice has been increased substantially. More importantly, they shows that we are not all pirates at heart! Not bad for a week's work. 

There are some questions lurking: what exactly is the deal the Apple has struck with the industry, and where will it go from here? Are the obvious benefits to users sustainable? The industry's actions against bootleg downloads has worrisome Luddite charactersitics that do not augur well. Let's hope that the indiustry has at least a few doves.