Change is timeless. A good restaurant is alive. It lives, it grows and so do its recipes. In the twenty-two years since we wrote our first cookbook or "the blue book," as it has become known, much has changed--the way we eat, the way we shop and the way we cook. There has been an explosion in the availability of ingredients. Vegetables arrive daily from the Milan market, mozzarella is flown in from Naples, people grow herbs in their window boxes and salad leaves in their gardens. Everyone is a chef. Our first book, The River Cafe Cookbook, was written originally to be a manual for our own chefs to follow. But, as chefs, we have grown as well. We have traveled all over Italy, from Piemonte to Sicily, discovering new ingredients, new methods and, most of all, new people to expand our knowledge of the food we love. So, in thirty years, our book has changed. To celebrate our thirtieth birthday, we returned to our first recipes in the blue book. Here we share our knowledge and experience of how we have refined those classic dishes. Mixed in with the revisited classics are more than thirty new recipes created through our work and travels together: Mezze Paccheri, Black Pepper and Langoustine, an eccentric combination of langoustines with Pecorino; White Asparagus with Bottarga Butter, a variation on the classic anchovy sauce; and Crab and Raw Artichoke Salad. The design of The Essential River Cafe , by Anthony Michael and Stephanie Nash, is inspired by the bold art, architecture and bright colors of the restaurant--the pink wood oven, the yellow pass, the blue carpet. The Joseph Albers font, throughout the book, reflects these qualities. Matthew Donaldson photographed the food on sunny days in our garden. Jean Pigozzi, who took the dynamic black-and-white photographs of the restaurant in action for our first book, returned to capture the customers, chefs and waiters who are the River Cafe family. The Essential River Cafe is the story of a restaurant that began with two unknown chefs and a space large enough for nine tables. We have grown. We have a new vision, but the same conclusion: with good ingredients and a strong tradition, change and recipes can be timeless. Spaghetti with Lemon Serves 6 ½ pound (225g) spaghetti juice of 3-4 lemons, preferably Amalfi lemons ⅔ cup (150ml) olive oil 5 ounces (140g) Parmesan, freshly grated 2 handfuls of fresh basil, leaves picked and finely chopped finely grated lemon zest (optional) Lemons, olive oil, basil . . . the only other ingredient needed is sun. Cook the spaghetti in a generous amount of boiling salted water, then drain thoroughly and return to the pot. Meanwhile, whisk the lemon juice with the olive oil, then stir in the Parmesan--it will melt into the mixture, making it thick and creamy. Season with kosher salt and black pepper and add more lemon juice to taste. Add the sauce to the spaghetti and shake the pot so that each strand of pasta is coated with the cheese. Finally, stir in the chopped basil and, ideally, some grated lemon zest. Pork Braised with Vinegar Serves 6 one 5½-pound (2.5kg) boned shoulder of pork, rind and most of the fat removed 2 tablespoons olive oil ⅔ cup (150ml) red wine vinegar ⅔ cup (150ml) Chianti Classico 1 tablespoon black peppercorns 12 fresh bay leaves Generously season the pork with kosher salt. In a saucepan with a lid, heat the olive oil over a medium-high heat and brown the meat on all sides. Remove the meat and put to one side. Pour the red wine vinegar into the pan. Bring to the boil and reduce the liquid by half. Add the wine, ½ cup (120ml) water, the peppercorns and bay leaves and lower the heat to a simmer. Return the pork to the pan and turn to coat it in the juices. Put the lid on but slightly askew. Simmer very gently for 2 hours, turning the meat two or three times during cooking. If the juices seem to be drying up, add a little more wine or water. When the meat is cooked (soft when prodded), remove the pan from the heat and let the pork relax for 5 minutes. Slice and serve with the juices and the bay leaves. Chocolate Nemesis Serves 18 10 eggs 2½ cups (575g) granulated sugar 24 ounces (675g) best-quality bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into small pieces 1 pound (450g) unsalted butter, softened Still the best chocolate cake ever. Preheat the oven to 250°F (130°C). Grease a 12-inch (30cm) round cake pan that is 3 inches (7.5cm) deep, then line the base with parchment paper. Whisk the eggs with a third of the sugar with an electric mixer until the volume quadruples--this will take at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (the water should not touch the base of the bowl). Remove from the heat. Heat the remaining sugar with 250ml water in a small pan until the sugar has completely dissolved to a syrup, stirring occasionally. Gently pour the syrup into the melted chocolate, stirring. Reduce the speed of the mixer and slowly add the warm chocolate and syrup mixture to the eggs. Increase the speed and continue beating until completely combined. The mixture will lose volume. Pour into the prepared cake pan. Put the pan into a deep baking pan on top of a dish towel to prevent the cake pan from moving. Fill the baking pan with hot water so that it comes at least two-thirds up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 1½-2 hours or until set--test by placing the flat of your hand gently on the surface of the cake. Remove the cake pan from the water. Leave the cake in the pan to completely cool before turning out (don't refrigerate it). Serve with crème fraîche. Excerpted from River Cafe London: Thirty Years of Recipes and the Story of a Much-Loved Restaurant by Ruth Rogers, Sian Wyn Owen, Joseph Trivelli, Rose Gray All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
