Rachel Roddy's copy of the River Cafe Cookbook is silver, having lost its original blue sleeve some years ago. Naked, the hardback cover is completely plain, so it is her handwriting of 'River Cafe blue' along the metallic spine, even though there is little chance of mixing it up with the yellow softback River Cafe Cookbook Two or the emerald cover of River Cafe Cookbook Green.
A Classic Recipe Revisited
Blue was first published in 1996, a sobering fact, because that is the same year Roddy enrolled at the Drama Centre London, as well as the year when Pierce Brosnan took on rogue agent Alec Trevelyan (played by Sean Bean) in GoldenEye. That was Brosnan's debut as James Bond and Dame Judi Dench's first appearance as M. Brosnan trained at Drama Centre between 1973 and 1976, which is why, when Roddy bought the blue book in 1996, she had good reason to imagine her future career as looking a little like that of Pierce, or Judi, or both.
She had been taken to the River Cafe for lunch, which is why, in an attempt to relive even a fraction of the experience, she bought herself a copy of that book. Like the bold lines and delicate wriggling menu of the restaurant itself, the book, with its bold print, panels of colour and moving photographs, felt shocking. As did the recipes, which seemed both near and completely out of reach. Some remained out of reach, while others completely changed the way she cooks, and remain favourites to this day.
Adapting the Recipe
One of the first things Roddy made was linguine with crab, although not as the book suggests by boiling two large male crabs, but with ready-prepared crab from a fishmonger on Camden High Street. She then got into the habit of making her adapted version with tinned white crab meat and two anchovy fillets, which is arguably another recipe altogether, although her version very much depends on the genius River Cafe way of making an electric sauce of olive oil, minced red chilli and parsley, garlic and lemon, which sends shock waves through the crab and helps it cling to the strands of pasta. The book suggests using linguine, but Roddy likes spaghetti here, too; alternatively, fresh tagliolini, which cooks in a fraction of the time.
A key aspect of this recipe is reducing the garlic to a paste by using the flat side of a large knife and a little salt for grip, then adding this paste gradually, to gauge both the strength of the garlic and the right amount to use. The following recipe makes enough for two.
Warm bowls are also important for this dish. Once you have divided the pasta between two bowls, make sure you share the juices, too, and maybe use a spatula to scrape off any parsley that is stuck to the sides of the bowl. Finish each bowl with a little extra-virgin olive oil.
Spaghetti with Crab, Chilli, Herbs and Lemon
Serves 2
- 1 small red chilli
- 1 small bunch of parsley
- 1 small garlic clove, peeled
- Salt
- 6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for serving
- Finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon, plus 1-3 tsp juice
- 120-150g white and brown crab meat, fresh or tinned
- 1-2 anchovies (if you don't have brown crab meat), finely minced
- 220g spaghetti, linguine or tagliolini
Bring a large pan of water to a boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, mince the red chilli and parsley. Sprinkle the peeled garlic clove with a pinch of salt, then use the flat side of a large knife to squash it to a paste.
Ladle a bit of the boiling water into a big bowl, swish it so it warms the bowl, then discard the water. Put the chilli, parsley, half the garlic, the olive oil, and the lemon zest and juice into the bowl and mix.
Add salt to the boiling water, stir, then add the pasta and cook according to the packet instructions until al dente.
Meanwhile, add the white and brown crab meat (plus the minced anchovies, if using) to the bowl and mix. Leave it to sit for a minute, then taste and add more salt and the rest of the garlic, if you think it needs it.
Once the pasta is cooked, drain into a colander then tip into the crab bowl (or use a slotted spoon or spider to lift the pasta directly into the sauce). Mix vigorously, then serve with a little extra olive oil.
