Photo by Andrew Hayes-Watkins
Fashion has a tendency to go in cycles, and this is no less true in the kitchen. In the late 90s, or possibly early 2000s, a new generation of pressure cookers seemed suddenly to be available, and when I rhapsodised about them to my late mother-in-law, she was amused at their comeback, telling me of her pressure cooking years in the distant past and the particular glory of her pressure cooker crème caramels. (Mindblowingly, the pressure cooker was actually invented well before that, at the end of the 17th century!) Then, for quite a while, they seemed to disappear again, only to resurface in grand style with the Instant Pot. Of course, there’s good reason for pressure cookers to be popular now: they radically cut down both cooking time and energy consumption. I think we can say they’re definitely here to stay now, and who better as a guide to using them, whether stovetop or electric models, than the Queen of pressure cooking over here, Catherine Phipps. As someone who is in the wasteful habit of using mine just for pulses and stock, I’m inordinately grateful to her.
As any pressure-cooker enthusiast — or perhaps, post-Instant Pot, I should say pressure-cooker evangelist — will tell you, there is almost nothing you can’t cook in one, and very often, not merely faster than by using traditional methods, but with better results, too. Catherine Phipps is an altogether calmer exponent: “This book”, she states in her introduction, “is aimed at people who want to cook. I feel it is important to say this right from the start; a pressure cooker isn’t a replacement for the hands-on mechanics of cooking; it just speeds up part of the process.”
True, I was lured by the one-step Buttery Tomato Soup (10 mins under pressure) and the promise of 1-Minute Green Soup, but more importantly I am resolved to overcome my childishness in feeling desolately left out of the process of cooking once the lid is sealed on, and immerse myself in recipes that give me a little to do, too, and in the process gain experience and ease. After all, whatever way you cook, repetition (which leads to relaxed familiarity) is the greatest teacher.
To that end, I have a list. On it are the Pot-Roast Brisket; the Carnitas; Char Sui; Poached Chicken with Summer Vegetables and New Potatoes; Kedgeree; Crispy Aromatic Duck; Squid with White Beans and ‘Nduja; Simple Beef Pho; Red Cabbage with Caraway Dill; Chocolate and Vanilla Cheesecake (yes, really!); Marmalade (even if I now have to wait till next January); and, of course, in memory of my late mother-in-law, Crème Caramels.
This is a big ol’ book, and I really have only just scratched the surface of the recipes in it. Though there is one more to mention: the Korean-Style Braised Pork Ribs, which I am very happy to be sharing with you today!
Credit: Modern Pressure Cooking by Catherine Phipps (Quadrille, £26).
Photography by Andrew Hayes Watkins.
