On the Side More Than 100 Recipes for the Sides, Salads and Condiments That Make the Meal

A Few Words on the Side Sides make the meal. Most of the color, taste, and variety of a meal come from their presence. It's impossible to imagine the Thanksgiving turkey without the trimmings of candied sweet potatoes, creamed onions, cranberry sauce, and the individual additions that each family brings. A New England clambake without the corn and potatoes is simply clams and lobster. Even a humble hamburger reverts to a slab of chopped meat without the coleslaw, lettuce, tomato, and pickle (not to mention the mustard, ketchup, and relish!).In restaurants, it often seems that tiny elfin hands have labored until each plate looks like an Arcimboldo still life and there are few separate side dishes. In the home kitchen, things are different. Sides rule! They transform the mundane into the magnificent and round out the meal.In my twenty-five years of writing about food and my fifty-six-plus years of eating it, I must confess that while I am a confirmed carnivore and adore fish and poultry, what really keeps me going is an overwhelming desire to eat the food to the side of the protein. This book is the result of that love. It is also the result of decades of collecting interesting and innovative side dishes from around the world that are simple and flavorful. These are honest dishes that may be as simple as a new twist on string beans that I picked up in a Paris kitchen, or a North African way with tomatoes, or a Brazilian hot sauce that adds extra zest to sauteed greens. Some recipes are from my family and friends, others are variations on international classics which I developed during my nightly adventures in the kitchen, and still others come from my travels around the world researching culinary history. They all are simple to prepare and they add zest and color to the plate, vibrancy to the meal, and most important, flavor to the table.Vegetable side dishes in the European tradition, though, are not always a part of other culinary traditions. Side dishes may come to the diner as snacks, as road food, or even as a meatless main dish. I've taken the liberty here of using the European format of service and calling the seasonal selection of vegetable dishes sides.Salads range from the simple green salad to a pull-out-all-of-the-stops potato salad complete with olives and dill pickles. Again, salads are not always served as a separate course in other cultures, if they come to the table at all. They can appear at virtually any place in the meal from beginning to end.There's no such problem with condiments. Here, world dining traditions offer a range of relishes and pickles, salsas and chutneys, hot sauces, mustards, ketchups, and more.Each of the book's five chapters begins with its own presentation of the sides discussed, so read straight through or flip and skip. When you are finally ready to cook, turn to "A Few Notes on Ingredients" on page 5, as well as to "Mail-Order Sources" on page 201, for advice on choosing and finding ingredients. Whether you're a partisan of the tastefully mild or delight in the astonishingly piquant, you're sure to find something that will allow you to have just a little bit more on the side.New York, New Orleans, and Oak Bluffs,August 2003 Copyright 2004 by Jessica B. Harris Guyanese Curried Cabbage and Potatoes Serves 4 to 6If it's in Guyana and it's a vegetable, it will probably end up being curried at one time or another. This is a simple yet delicious way to prepare the winter cabbage instead of the usual braising and boiling. It also brings home a bit of the tropics on a dreary winter day. Let the vegetables cook down a bit so that you can get some of the edges of the cabbage caramelized.1 tablespooon Madras curry powder1 teaspoon cider vinegar1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 small cabbage (approximately 1 pound), shredded2 cups peeleHarris, Jessica B. is the author of 'On the Side More Than 100 Recipes for the Sides, Salads and Condiments That Make the Meal', published 2004 under ISBN 9780743249171 and ISBN 0743249178.