Chef on customer expectations needing to change, the best sirloin steak dupe and her cheap weeknight recipe
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Every Thursday, our Money blog team interviews chefs from around the UK, hearing about their cheap food hacks and more. This week we chat to Emily Cuddeford from the Twelve Triangles bakery in Edinburgh. My go-to cheap eat at home is...daal. Into a blender I add a handful of cherry tomatoes, a thumb of ginger, two garlic cloves, one onion, a tin of coconut milk, 2 tbsp curry powder, 1 tsp fennel seeds, one bulb of roughly chopped fennel, one roughly chopped carrot, one red chilli and 2 tsp salt.
Blend this until smooth. In a pan place one cup of washed red lentils, then pour over your curry base. Cook until the lentils are soft and the liquid is absorbed. Check for seasoning and add a squeeze of lime, serve with yoghurt or a fried egg. Read all the latest Money news here.
The biggest mistake I see in kitchens is… Having a big menu. When you go somewhere with endless menu choices spanning many different cuisines, you can generally tell that the ingredients and food aren't going to be fresh. One of the most important things when running a kitchen is making the most of your ingredients, using every part. If an ingredient appears in multiple dishes the chance that it is fresh and understood by the chef is far higher.
I'm endlessly surprised by... the amount of people who don't understand the job that salt does. The purpose of salt is not for things to taste salty, when used correctly it makes each ingredient taste like the best version of itself. Best cheap places to eat in Birmingham - by the city's top chef Aktar Islam.
