Observations About Wales:

first published in   May 2002

Welsh Cookery Expert Margaret Rees Launching Book At Garden's Birthday Party

Margaret Rees says her book is about "real food that has roots in our past." An award-winning restaurateur, television cook and radio contributor, Ms. Rees, who hails from Tumble, is launching her first cookbook Discovering Celtic Cuisines during an event at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales on May 24 and 25. The event marks the Garden's second birthday. The celebration includes a Welsh food fair with cooking demonstrations, and food and wine tastings. For information, please call: 011 44 1269 843307. 

Visitors to the event will see that Ms. Rees book is concise, and so appears appealing and user friendly. Yet, it includes a collection of recipes and cooking history exploring the cuisines of Scotland, Cornwall and Brittany, as well as Wales and other countries. "The book compares like for like," says Ms. Rees, " Celtic pancakes, Irish boxty pancakes, Welsh piklets, Cornish and Scottish pancakes, the crepes of Brittany, palatshinken of Austria and so on and the various ways that these traditional dishes found their way into our way daily menus at home. I also cover traditional soups, fish and cured meats. It is only a small book." 

This small book is based on Ms. Rees' sound philosophy about preparing recipes derived from ancient Celtic cooking today: "To recreate a recipe is rather like translating poetry; it can be done, but never exactly. It needs restraint and great imagination to avoid artless authenticity." Put prosaically, she does not require an actual cauldron, once the only piece of cooking equipment used by the ancient Celts, for her recipes to be successful. Ms. Rees' cauldron is the modern stove. That said, she also speaks lyrically about making a balanced meal over a campfire using whole flour, eggs and milk for a basic pancake and filling it with whatever is at hand, sweet or savory, organic preferred, whilst the aroma of the fire adds an irresistible smoky flavor.

The concept for Discovering Celtic Cuisines is rooted in Ms. Rees' experiences earned while living in Austria and operating Ski Gourmet Holidays for a decade of winters. "I realized the influence of the ancient Celts in Europe and how aware the Austrians are of this heritage. There are new discoveries archeologist are making every week in the area close to Salzburg on the Durnstein the site of the Celtic salt mine at Hallein."

The earliest examples of Celtic culinary history covered in Discovering Celtic Cuisines come from Austria, from Hallstadt the cradle of the Celts. And the celebrated ingredient is salt. "Salt was the white gold of the Celts as essential to their lives as it is to ours. Preservation in primitive or in modern day could not take place without this vital ingredient." Other Celtic contributions included "the vines in Austria that were planted by the Celts, expressing their love of wine and feasting."

Both a history book and a cookbook, Discovering Celtic Cuisines, includes a weights and measures conversion chart for American kitchens. To purchase, please go to www.gomer.co.uk, or telephone: 011 44 1559 362371. 

A Recipe from Discovering Celtic Cuisines

"Lady Llanover's Welsh Salt Duck"

Ingredients:
* One large, free-range, organic duck.
* Three to four tablespoons of rock or sea salt, preferably Anglesey salt, or saltpeter. 
* Sprigs of fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, marjoram, fennel and one large onion.

Method for the Duck:
* Wipe the duck inside and out with kitchen paper. Place in a large bowl and rub all over with the salt. Leave for two to three days in the refrigerator, turning the duck daily. Rinse well with cold water before cooking. The salting does not affect the taste. It imparts the preservation element and the pink color. 
* Place into a large cooking pot and cover with cold water, add the herbs and bring to boil. Cover and simmer for two hours.
* Strain and save the stock and fat. Joint and slice the bird. It will be a deep pink color.

Method for the Onion Sauce:
Gently fry a finely chopped onion in a little of the fat until translucent. Season to taste and liquidize.

To Serve:
Serve with joints with the onion sauce, freshly boiled vegetables and potatoes roasted in the duck fat and sprinkled with a dried or fresh rosemary leaves.