Introduction

I’m a huge fan of the salad. While I prefer cooking for friends at home, more than in any other cooking situation, I have to admit that I don’t do it nearly as much as I wish I could. Almost all of the food I cook and prepare is created at our restaurant, served to customers. In a restaurant situation, apart from simple side salads, a salad has to be as exciting as any other dish on the menu. Our guests at The Providores and Tapa Room restaurants always expect to be served a flavourful and exciting meal. Guests often order our starter salads for their main course and it’s this fact that made me realise that there is a whole world of possibilities for this menu item to be served as a main course. Jane O’Shea from Quadrille and my editor Lewis Esson also had the same thoughts, hence this book.