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Gnocchi, pasta, polenta and risotto would have come under the unpromising title of ‘farinaceous’, in old-fashioned, catering college cookery books, denoting the inclusion of starch in a dish, usually in the form of flour. But this term is about as unappealing as other woeful, industry nomenclature such as ‘catering’; ‘beverage’; ‘cruet’; and ‘garnish’. In short, there would have been little to motivate the reader to rush to the farinaceous section, other than to discover some floury, blanket-like white sauce in which to suffocate overcooked vegetables.

However, these dishes often set excellent cooks aside from merely averagely good ones. They require a certain level of technique and understanding and, as such, should by no means be looked down upon. Gnocchi, risottos, pasta dishes (and spaetzli) all feature regularly on our menus at Chez Bruce and long may this continue. I also like taking a starch that might ordinarily be seen as merely an accompaniment to other protein and turning it into a dish in its own right. Generally, I favour the carb itself to be prepared simply and for it to be sensitively partnered with something appropriate. Therefore, I can see that potato gnocchi might be quite delicious with squid ink sauce, for instance, but I can see no point in flavouring the gnocchi itself with the squid ink simply in order to arrive at arrestingly black gnocchi. Ditto the rather silly practice of flavouring pasta dough with herbs. Isn’t pasta served with butter or olive oil and lots of fresh herbs a better idea?