“I think my food is best described as magpie cuisine – I’ll steal an idea from anywhere, combining an Asian curry with Jamaican rice and peas. I always try to let the availability of ingredients influence the menus: strawberry soups in summer, Italian bean and Parmesan-roasted parsnips in winter, crisp radish and watercress salads in May”, that’s according to Simon Rimmer on the publication of his new book entitled The Seasoned Vegetarian.
The co-presenter of BBC Two’s Sunday morning show, Something For the Weekend and BBC Two’s Recipes For Success, Simon Rimmer returns with another helping of innovative, mouth-watering and flavour packed vegetarian food which builds on the success of The Accidental Vegetarian
When meat-lover Simon Rimmer decided to buy a veggie café called Greens, he had two cookery books, a bank loan and no idea how to cook! Simon had decided along with his business partner to buy their own restaurant and be the ‘hosts’ whilst someone else slaved away in the kitchen.
It was only when they realised the huge costs of both the bank loan and having someone else cook that they decided to do the cooking themselves! This was an accident that would change Simon’s life forever – he had become a meat-eater running a vegetarian restaurant, he had become The Accidental Vegetarian.
Now Simon is back to tickle our taste buds with The Seasoned Vegetarian – A Second Serving which is based on the menu at his now award-winning vegetarian restaurant Greens.
Although Simon still considers himself a carnivore, he found out cooking non-meaty meals a real pleasure. He researched cultures that had great vegetarian dishes – Asian, Mediterranean, African – and incorporated French and Italian techniques alongside them.
Simon taught himself how to break out from the traditions using all sorts of ingredients in new and imaginative combinations – creating a brand new approach to vegetarian cooking which takes its inspiration from all over the world. Simon imaginatively combines ingredients to create a unique cooking style that he describes as ‘magpie cuisine’.
