It seems that everyone, even ageing rock stars, wants to talk food these days. Keith Richards devotes four pages - four pages! - to cooking in his autobiography Life, including a philosophical take on shepherds pie - Nobody touches the shepherds pie until I've been there. Don't bust my crust, baby - and an odd but oh-so-Keef story, related by über rock chick Kate Moss, about how he chased a man from his house with two swords for making off with his spring onions one evening.
Not a man to take things lightly in the kitchen, clearly.
Now. When I was 15, I wore a locket around my neck with a tiny, tiny heart-shaped cut out of Keith inside, a photo taken from the poster inside my copy of Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) being, as I was, obsessed with the 1960's (how else was I gonna ride out the 1980's?). So yes, I have a soft spot for Keith and the bio, well, it's horrifying and hilarious by turn. Highly recommended.
Had to share this little gem on a sunny Friday. Happy weekend.
keith richards' bangers and mash recipe
- First off, find a butcher who makes his sausages fresh. [the italics are Keith's, not mine]
- Fry up a mixture of onions and bacon and seasoning.
- Get the spuds on the boil with a dash of vinegar, some chopped onions and salt (seasoning to taste). Chuck in some peas with the spuds. (Throw in some chopped carrots too, if you like.) Now we're talking.
- Now, you have a choice of grilling or broiling your bangers or frying. Throw them on a low heat with the simmering bacon and onions (or in the cold pan, as the TV lady said, and add the onions and bacon in a bit) and let the fuckers rock gently, turning every few minutes.
- Mash yer spuds and whatever.
- Bangers are now fat free (as possible!).
- Gravy if desired.
- HP sauce, every man to his own.
(Cannot agree at all with Keith's instruction to add peas to mash, and I really do wish I knew who the lady on the telly is/was, but it's kinda genius, right? Right? The instruction in point #4 to "let the fuckers rock gently" made me laugh so loudly that I woke the dog last night. Farking hilarious.)