Free Is There a Nutmeg in the House? by Elizabeth David, Jill Norman

spatula, and drop into the pan 30 g (1 oz) or so of butter, then a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Cover the pan, and leave the courgettes over a low heat to soften.
    While the courgettes are cooking prepare the tomatoes. Pour boiling water over them, skin them, chop them roughly. Peel and chop the onion. Heat a very little butter or olive oil in an earthenware poêlon or whatever utensil you habitually use for making a tomato fondue or sauce. First melt the chopped onion without letting it brown. Then put in the tomatoes, season them, add the peeled and crushed garlic. Cook, uncovered, over low heat until a good deal of the moisture is evaporated. Now add the tinned tomatoes. These, and their juices, give colour, body and the necessary sweetness to the sauce. Sprinkle in the herb of your choice, let the tomato mixture cook until it is beginning to reduce and thicken.
    Now amalgamate the courgettes and the tomato mixture. Turn them into a buttered or oiled earthenware gratin dish. For the quantities given, use one of approximately 18 cm (7 in) diameter and 5 cm (2 in) depth.
    Put the gratin dish, covered with a plate if it has no lid of its own, in a moderate oven (170°C/325°F/gas mark 3) for about half an hour, until the courgettes are quite tender.
    To finish the tian , beat the eggs very well with the cheese, addplenty of seasonings (don’t forget the nutmeg) and the coarsely chopped parsley.
    Amalgamate the eggs and the vegetable mixture, increase the heat of the oven to 180–190°C/350–375°F/gas mark 4 or 5, and leave the tian to cook until the eggs are set, risen in the dish, and beginning to turn golden on the top. The time varies between 15 and 25 minutes depending on various factors such as the depth of the dish, the comparative density of the vegetable mixture, the freshness of the eggs and so on.
    When the tian is to be eaten cold, leave it to cool in its dish before inverting it on to a serving dish or plate. It should turn out into a very beautiful looking cake, well-risen and moist. For serving cut it in wedges. Inside, there will be a mosaic of pale green and creamy yellow, flecked with the darker green of the parsley and the red-gold of the tomatoes.
    To transport a tian on a picnic, it can be left in its cooking dish, or turned out on to a serving plate. Whichever way you choose, cover the tian with greaseproof paper and another plate, then tie the whole arrangement in a clean white cloth, knotted Dick Whittington fashion.
    FRENCH BEAN SALAD
    Fine French beans, bootlace thin, which need only topping and tailing, not stringing, make the most exquisite salad, and one which contrasts well with the courgettes in a mixed salad as described above.
    Allow 125 g (4 oz) beans per person. Cook them for not more than 7 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain them, and while still warm, mix them in a bowl with olive oil, lemon juice and more salt if necessary. Do not be tempted to add anything else. It is the simplicity of the seasoning and the fresh flavour of the beans which make the dish.
    This salad is at its best made immediately before the meal. It does not keep well.
    SWEET GREEN PEPPER SALAD
    The first time I tasted a sweet pepper salad made in the way described below was in an hotel at Orange, on the road south to Provence.
    The spread of crudités brought to the table on an hors d’oeuvre tray looked, even in a part of the country where the hors d’oeuvres are always fresh and shining, especially appetising. There were the usual salads, tomato, cucumber, grated raw carrots, olives green and black, anchovies, and this salad of green peppers cut so finely that when we first saw them we thought they were shredded French beans. There is nothing in the least complicated about preparing it, but if it’s to be made in any quantity it does take a little time.
    For part of a mixed hors d’oeuvre for 3 or 4 people you need one large green sweet pepper, weighing about 200–250 g (7–8 oz), plus a small quantity