‘Giffords Circus Cookbook’: Stories and recipes from a magical circus restaurant

Bored of ‘normal’ recipes? Walk the tightrope to culinary excellence with delicious dishes straight from the circus

A colourful cacophony of roast cod and squid (David Loftus)

Roast cod with squid smoked hock and charred sweetcorn

I think these four things go really well together: meaty cod, smoky and tender ham hock, crisp fried squid and sweet charred corn. This is a ‘surf and turf’ of distinction, a moreish, comforting dish, which you can serve with either red or white wine. It’s also a dish that requires you to visit the fishmonger, butcher and greengrocer… what a way to spend a morning!

Serves 6

2 smoked ham hocks
1 onion, roughly chopped
5 cloves
2 star anise 
6 x 150g cod fillets
olive oil, for frying
150g plain flour
a few knobs of butter
squeeze of lemon juice
2 tsp pink peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika
2-3 squid, cleaned, with tentacles
fresh kernels from 3 corn cobs
head of red chicory, leaves separated
sea salt and black pepper

Put your ham hocks into a stockpot or large saucepan with the onion, cloves and star anise. Pour in enough water to cover, then bring to the boil before turning down to a simmer. Braise for 3-3½ hours, until the meat starts to fall away from the bone. Remove from the heat and, when the meat is cool enough to handle, pull it off the bones in large flakes.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Season the cod well with salt and pepper. In a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil, place the fish skin-side down and let it cook undisturbed over high heat until the edges of the skin start to go golden. Turn down the heat slightly then whack in a knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice, basting the fish with melted butter for 4-5 minutes. Flip over and baste for a further 2-3 minutes. Remove the cod from the pan, leave to rest on a rack and pour the pan juices over the top.

In a shallow bowl, mix together the flour, pink peppercorns, paprika and a little salt and pepper. Slice open the squid hoods and score the inside with a sharp knife, then cut into triangles. Dust all the squid, including the tentacles, in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. In a heavy-based saucepan, fry the squid over very high heat with a decent amount of oil for 1-2 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Cook the corn kernels in a dry frying pan over high heat with a little sea salt until it pops and chars. Add a knob of butter to finish.

Serve the cod, squid, corn and ham with the chicory leaves. Accompany with leftover new potatoes, if you have them.

(Giffords Circus Cookbook - Nick Gifford & Ols Halas)

Cauliflower, romanesco, raisin and almond salad

This is a lovely recipe. The raisin dressing adds a wonderful sweetness and cuts through the bitterness of the chicory and the almonds ever so well. Make it!

Serves 4

1 cauliflower 
1 head romanesco broccoli 
olive oil, for drizzling 
2 heads chicory, leaves separated 
1 shallot, thinly sliced into rings 
50g flaked almonds, toasted 
sea salt and black pepper 

For the purée

knob of butter
100ml double cream

For the dressing

75g raisins 
1 tsp dijon mustard 
1 tbsp dark brown sugar 
50ml rapeseed oil 
1 tbsp cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 180C. Begin by breaking the cauliflower and romanesco into florets: you want different-sized florets to keep the salad interesting. Save any stalks for the purée. Cook half of the florets in salted boiling water for 4-5 minutes, then drain well. Toss the rest of the florets on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and roast in the oven for about 10 minutes, until a dark golden colour.

Slice the cauliflower stalks thinly with a sharp knife and sweat down in a saucepan with a knob of butter, and some salt and pepper. Pour in the cream, bring to the boil and blitz in a food processor to a smooth purée. Leave to the side until needed.

For the dressing, soak the raisins in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and put into a mixing bowl with the mustard, sugar, rapeseed oil and cider vinegar. Mix well.

Toss the chicory, shallot, cauliflower and romanesco together in a mixing bowl and season with a little salt and pepper. Smear the purée onto a serving plate and top with the salad. Drizzle over the dressing and finish with a scattering of toasted almonds.

(Giffords Circus Cookbook - Nick Gifford & Ols Halas)

Beetroot rösti with hot-smoked trout

A lavish breakfast, it has to be said… We’ll make this when there’s a circus birthday – before reminding everyone there’s work to do!

Serves 2-4

2 Maris Piper potatoes
1 beetroot
glug of white wine vinegar 
knob of butter
2 x 100g fillets hot-smoked trout
2 handfuls of baby spinach, washed
4 large, very fresh eggs
rapeseed oil, for frying
sea salt and black pepper 
hollandaise sauce and chervil sprigs, to serve

Preheat the oven to 160C and line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Peel the potatoes and beetroot, then grate them into a bowl with a decent amount of salt and pepper. Mix well then make 4 equal-sized nests, about 3cm deep, on the baking tray. Bake the röstis in the oven for 10 minutes until cooked through, then remove and leave to cool. (You can keep these in the fridge until needed, for up to 3 days.)

Put a saucepan of water on to boil and add the white wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. In a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat, fry the röstis in a drizzle of oil until golden brown and crisp. Add the smoked trout to one side of the pan, with a knob of butter, and let it warm through for a minute or two, then lift out the röstis and trout and drain on kitchen paper.

Add the spinach to the same frying pan, together with a turn of salt and pepper, and cook until wilted.

(Giffords Circus Cookbook)

Meanwhile, turn the boiling water down to a simmer and crack the eggs into it, holding them as close to the water as possible. Poach for 2 minutes, then drain on kitchen paper. To serve, place 1-2 crisp röstis, a mound of wilted spinach, some flaked trout and 1-2 perfect poached eggs on each plate.

Finish with a spoonful of hollandaise sauce and some mellow chervil sprigs.

Extracted from ‘Giffords Circus Cookbook: Recipes and stories from a magical circus restaurant’ by Nell Gifford & Ols Halas (Quadrille, Hardback and EBook) Photos by David Loftus