Oz history in food: Australian Family Recipes 1868 to 1950

I love a bit of food history.  Food history is not only quaint and historic recipes.  Possum Pie, Beetroot Beer and Lamingtons: Australian Family Recipes from 1868 to 1950 by Victoria Heywood is a social history of lives gone by.  As of the first of this month, a wonderful contribution to Australian food history has hit the bookstands.  

Click to enlarge

Victoria came across many weird, supposedly edible, things in 17 years travelling the world as a journalist, but none so strange as some of the dishes she encountered back home in Australia when researching Possum Pie, Beetroot Beer and Lamingtons. In a writing career spanning 20-odd years, Victoria has written extensively about food, sex, health and travel for magazines and newspapers both here and abroad, and is the author of numerous other books.  One that would be of interest to Oz Tucker lovers is:

More about this book here

Bring the family down for a FREE sausage sizzle and 

some other tasty treats from original Australian cookbooks 

and hear Victoria Heywood chat about her new book:

• Where - Westgarth Books, 77 High Street, Northcote
• When - 12-1 pm, Saturday, October 15, 2011
• Phone - 9482 7117

Touring the suburbs of my life

Whew! I've made it back. Began to wonder. Where does the time go? How life does intervene in the life of a blogger? There was a UFO to be finished. There was crafting to be done. There were shops to be visited. Housework to be done. You see my sister, The Director, was visiting - although briefly - from Brisbane. Then of course the visiting itself. Fitted in quite a bit in 24 hours. For the crucial eating bits, I forgot to bring the camera. How could I have done that? Miss Eagle forgetting her camera? Well it happened.

We commenced at Brown's Bakery in lovely Maling Road as a preliminary to a window-shopping stroll which turned into a bit of expenditure on the part of The Director. Along with my hot chocolate and her latte, we had cupcakes. Brown's will have to keep trying. They are not up to Crabapple Cupcake standard. The violent electric blue of the cupcake decor is not very appealing. So the verdict is nice - but keep trying.

Then it was off for the stroll. We detoured ever so slightly into that beautiful by-way, Theatre Place. Now I can't recall the name of this establishment but if, on entering Theatre Place, dear Reader, you steer to the right and go down to the end you will come to a little shop which is part eatery, part homewares. This is where The Director purchased these for me:

These are oven mitts which will withstand temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius. I look forward to a burn free future and being able to withdraw hot, heavy baking dishes with much greater dexterity and confidence than previously. Thank you, dear Director.

Then there was the charming Ring of Roses where The Director found some lovely gifts to take back to Brisbane.

This was followed by dinner at Box Hill. On the corner of Station Street and Whitehorse Road stands an amazing edifice. It has large red double doors. And above the large red doors is a huge poster portrait of Chiang Kai-shek. For quite a while, Miss Eagle has wondered what it all meant. Was this a beachhead for Taiwan in downtown Box Hill? Is factional politics alive and well among the Chinese community of the eastern suburbs of Melbourne? And what on earth did Chiang Kai-shek have to do with Chinese cuisine? And was the food any good?

On Friday night, we walked through the red doors under the portrait of Chiang and had the last two questions answered for us. The restaurant is devoted to Chiang and there are large images and explanations around the restaurant. Miss E is familiar with this history. The part she has always been fascinated with has been the history of Madame Chiang. You see, dear Reader, Madame Chiang (Soong May-Ling) is one of the three legendary Soong Sisters. It is said that one married money (Ai-Ling), one married power (May-Ling), and one married China (Ching-Ling). The residence of Sun Yat Sen and Ching-Ling in Shanghai is said to be the most harmonious house in terms of Feng Shui.

The Post-Chiang restaurant celebrates the cuisine of Zhejiang Province in mainlaind China. Chiang was a native of Zhejiang and maintained a preference for the cuisine. We were three: The Director, Miss Eagle, and herself. And I think it safe to say that we, too, now have a preference for the cuisine of Zhejiang. We had prawns in a stir-fry and Beijing duck (they wrap the duck in pancakes at the table for you). Be-yoot-i-ful. Best Beijing duck ever. The restaurant is licensed so no need for BYO. The tablecloths are crisp and white, the waiting staff are subtle and constant. The decor is great. The prices are reasonable. If you want cheap Chinese chow, this is not for you. But, for a dash of Chinese elegance and excellent, well-served and presented food and value for money, then the Post-Chiang fills the bill. I'm dreaming of Yum-Cha now. Anyone else want to come?

The salt of the earth

Mural: Salt Harvest - Bowen

Some people like to tell us that salt is a white poison. They tell us of its effect on blood pressure. They tell us of the advantages of eliminating salt from our diet. But Miss Eagle has not parted with her salt cellar yet. It contains iodised salt, of course. Tess over at Anchors and Masts brought much to mind when she did this beautiful post on salt. You see, dear Reader, Miss Eagle grew up in Bowen at the northern end of the beautiful Whitsundays where Baz Luhrmann has been filming his latest movie, Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. When Miss E left school at the ripe old age of 15, her first job was as a clerk-typist at the Bowen Salt Co., the reference for the mural above. The Bowen Salt Works is one of the first sights that tourists see when they enter Bowen. Great paddocks of sea water baking in the sun evaporating slowly into salt. In the Christian tradition, disciples are referred to by Jesus as the salt of the earth. He said that if the salt loses its taste, it very saltiness, how can it ever be restored and how shall food be salted. In a speedily changing world, Miss E wonders if a lot of saltiness has been lost, leaving us with parts of modern life which are completely vapid, tasteless.

Apple Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb is around and Miss Eagle decided to indulge in a memory from childhood of my mother's friend, Delia Brazil, and her rhubarb and apple pie. Miss E used Flaky Pastry for the pie case, made from scratch. Miss E is fussy. She doesn't object to store-bought Filo or Puff Pastry. These really are time consuming, take practice to get right easily, and - in these days of small kitchens - space could be an issue. For Miss E, you need a good excuse to purchase frozen Shortcrust Pastry. In these days of dough hooks for the mixer and the wonders of food processors, there really is little excuse for not making your own. Now Miss Eagle wishes to advise that between shortcrust and puff pastry there is another category: that of Flaky Pastry, sometimes known as Rough Puff Pastry. Now you would not dash home from work and rustle up this pastry for the evening meal as you could with shortcrust. However, you can make it ahead of time and keep it in the frig for later use. And certainly, it is a pastry worth making for special occasions and special guests. The recipe and instructions here are from our beloved Miss Schauer - she of The Schauer Australian Cookery Book. First, we will look at Miss S's instructions.

• PUFF, FLAKY OR ROUGH PASTES are folded and rolled repeatedly to increase the amount of cold air held between the layers. Puff paste must be rolled in short forward rolls, never backwards and forwards. The rolling pin must be lifted between rolls. Puff pastry must never be rolled over the edge as this may force out some of the cold air. The ends and edges must be secured by being turned over a little and pressed heavily with a rolling pin.
• Puff pastry is allowed to stand between rollings, in an ice-chest, refrigerator, or cold place, covered with a buttered paper to prevent crust forming. [Miss E doesn't use buttered paper. She puts it in the frig in a plastic bag.] This is done in order that the butter may harden and thus keep layers of paste and butter separate.
• In warm weather, puff pastry, when rolling should be placed on a marble or cold slab cooled by ice or very cold water, i.e. wash over and dry before using.

Then to Miss Schauer's recipe:

FLAKY PASTRY

Sift 1/2lb plain flour with 1/4 teaspoon salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in centre, pour in a full teaspoon of lemon juice, add 1/2 cup of very cold water. Mix with a cold knife. Turn on to a floured board, knead lightly into an elastic dough. Divide 6oz of firm butter or lard into 3 equal portions. Roll pastry into a large oblong piece. Put one third of firm fat all over surface in small pieces. Fold into 3 by bringing top of pastry into centre, the bottom end of pastry right up to the top. Turn so that open ends are top and bottom. Run floured hands up each side of pastry to keep quite even. Secure edges by pressing heavily with a rolling pin to shut cold air in. Press fat in a straightforward light roll from within edge to within edge, never over. Fold into 3. Make one finger mark to show rolled once. Put away to get cold 30 minutes. Fold and roll twice more in exactly same way with 30 minutes to cool between. Fold and roll the fourth time without fat to size required ready to use.

~~~~~~

ASSEMBLING THE PIE

by Miss Eagle

• Divide the pastry into two parts: one piece 1/3 in size (top); the second piece 2/3 in size (bottom) and line pie dish. [Please note: Miss E's pie dish measures 25.5cm in diameter and 5cm deep. To ensure sufficient pastry, Ms E used 10z flour with other ingredients modified accordingly.]
• Peel, quarter and slice 3 Granny Smith apples and spread one of these apples neatly on the pastry around the base of the pie dish. Top and tail rhubarb and chop stems into pieces about an inch long. Place these on top of the apples. Then spread remaining two applies sliced on top of the rhubarb.
• Sprinkle the fruit thoroughly with brown sugar.
• Sprinkle with lemon juice - use sufficient to flavour fruit not to soak the pastry base.
• Place 6 cloves evenly around the pie.
• Cover with pastry lid.
• Trim pastry and use left overs for pastry decoration
• Glaze. Miss E uses milk.
• Bake in a very moderate oven - approximately 175 degrees Celsius. The pie should take 30 to 40mins to bake to ensure the fruit is cooked through.
• Cool and served with custard. Miss E's was made with No Egg according to the recipe on the packet.
• Miss Eagle used PureHarvest Organic Nature's Soy as an alternative to milk. Miss E buys this by the slab at Friends of the Earth in Fitzroy; Woolworths Naytura Soya Margarine Spread; and Orgran Gluten Free No Egg Natural Egg Replacer from Maxi.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scrumptious and satisfying served warm on a cold, rainy evening.

Teacake Australis: #2

When Miss Eagle discussed teacakes here, Val sent me her recipe which she, in turn, got from the lovely Kali. Miss E can highly commend it. It is a little different in that one separates the white of the egg from the yolk and whips the white. The sagacious Miss Schauer has only one tea came in which yolk and white is separated. She calls it a Special Teacake. Miss E will give recipes for both. Miss E baked the cake in a 20cm(8") springform pan. The pan specified for Val and Kali's recipe was smaller - 18cm (7"). There was one deviation from the recipe. Miss E had in the pantry a blend from the McCormick range of Orange, Cardamom and Vanilla so she sprinkled this over the cinnamon/nutmeg teacake. It was lovely - providing a lovely contrast to the cinnamon and nutmeg in the cake.

CINNAMON TEACAKE

Ingredients

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• vanilla essence (about a capful)
• 1 ½ tablespoons butter, melted
• extra melted butter
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Method

Sift the flour with the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and the nutmeg. Beat the egg white until stiff. Add the egg yolk and mix in. Gradually beat in the 1/2 cup of sugar. Slowly stir in the milk and vanilla essence. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients, with the melted butter.

Spoon into a greased 18cm (7 in) round sandwich tin and bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes. While still hot, brush the top with extra melted butter and sprinkle with the teaspoon of cinnamon mixed with the tablespoon of sugar. Serve warm or cold, with butter.

MISS SCHAUER'S SPECIAL TEACAKE

Separate yolks from whites of 2 eggs. Beat egg whites stiffly, add a pinch of salt, beat in the egg yolks, beating for about 5 minutes. Then slowly add 1/2 cup sugar and beat till dissolved. Add slowly 1/2 cup of milk. Sieve in a cup of self-raising flour. Add 1 tablespoon of melted margarine. Pour into a greased 8 in. sandwich tin. Bake in a moderate oven 25 to 30 minutes. While hot, spread with a little butter sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Teacake Australis: #1

Teacakes are a genre all their own with many subspecies. In fact, someone has even decided to make it the topic of debate. The quote below indicates a particularly British perspective: The Teacake is a flat, roughly circular item with a diameter of about 15cm made out of bread, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside. If the item contains currants then it is a Currant Teacake. When sliced roughly in half and filled with chips (french fries for our American friends) then it becomes a Chip Buttie.

Miss Eagle is discussing here Teacake Australis - the variety that has traditionally graced morning and afternoon tea tables for generations of Australians. These days they are not seen too often. There are few morning and afternoon teas with visitors or workers' smokoes as in years gone by. Restaurants serve luxury cakes with tea or coffee but the humble and satisfying teacake is seldom seen.

Teacake Australis is a plain but sweet cake. It usually involves a topping of cinnamon and sugar and frequently includes apples. It can be served plain but is often buttered. Of course, if one wanted to live dangerously one could always pour over some cream - but that requires a spoon and moves the cake away from its plain, sweet, and utilitarian purpose. Teacake Australis is also, as a rule, a small cake. This again is an oddity in this age of supersizing everything. But this refers to its use for morning teas - quick to make, best eaten straightaway and warm with butter melting on it, and preferrably none left afterwards.

Miss Eagle's Apple & Orange Teacake has its origin in an oversight and is based on the traditional Madeira Mixture. The oversight? Miss Eagle had run out of Pure Vanilla Extract and forgotten to replace it. So in came the orange juice. Miss Eagle used a 6oz basic measurement (usually there is a 2oz basic measurement) because she didn't have a small tin. She used a 22cm springform pan.

APPLE & ORANGE TEACAKE

Ingredients:

• 180 grams/6oz butter
• 180 grams/6oz sugar
• 2 eggs
• Juice and grated rind of 1 orange
• 1 tablespoon of powdered milk
• 180 grams/6oz self-raising flower
• 2 Granny Smith apples: peeled, quartered and sliced
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• Cinnamon
• Brown sugar

Method

• Cream butter and sugar
• Add eggs
• Add juice and rind
• Add powdered milk
• Fold in flour
• Place mixture evenly in a greased and floured 22 cm springform pan
• Place apple slices decoratively across the top of the mixture so that the top is entirely covered with apple.
• Brush the apple slices with melted butter.
• Sprinkle brown sugar over the apple slices.
• Sprinkle cinnamon over the brown sugar
• Bake in a very moderate oven about 180 degrees Celsius for approximately 40 minutes.

Allow to cool slightly but not completely. Serve plain but bring out the butter too for those who prefer this option. Enjoy!

The electronic Mrs Beeton: drama and text

It was shown in February in the UK and the USA gets to see it on Sunday night next. Let's hope the ABC bought it and it won't take too long to hit Aussie TVs. The Foodie of them all, Mrs Beeton, author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (available as an e-book here), has been the subject of a BBC drama. And a Melbourne Food Blogger, Cook (almost) Anything, has a link on the BBC site.

Ice Cream Mousse

This is a luscious dessert whether you take the ice cream option or choose to turn it into a mousse. This recipe has been tucked away in Miss E's recipe collection for nigh on forty years. Miss Eagle has a small collection of Carnation Milk recipes. These are in three fold brochures and are practical, tasty and scrumptious. This recipe can also be made the 'green' way. Don't bother with an electric beater. Now Miss Eagle has no great empathy with the whisk.

Miss Eagle prefers to use one of these: a rotary beater. So, if you don't own one, add it to your arsenal of must-have kitchen utensils by popping down to your nearest opp shop and beginning your search for one. Rotary beaters can be purchased at your local grocery chain but the quality is not as good as that found in these old stagers. Don't buy a beater with the handle on the side. Buy a completely upright model.

To the recipe:

FRUIT SALAD ICE-CREAM

Ingredients:

• 1 level teaspoon gelatine
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 oz. butter
• 1 2/3 cups (14 1/2 oz. can) Carnation Evaporated Milk, chilled overnight
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 banana
• 1 passionfruit

Method:

• Set refrigerator control for freezing ice-cream. (Miss E has left this in for historic authenticity)
• Place the gelatine and water in a saucepan and allow to stand for 2-3 minutes.
• Stir over a low heat until dissolved.
• Add the butter and allow to melt.
• Cool
• Whipped the chilled Carnation Milk until thick.
• Add the sugar and whip until dissolved.
• Then add the juice of the orange and lemon and whip until thick.
• Beat in the cooked gelatine mixture.
• Stir in the mashed banana and passionfruit pulp.
• Pour into trays and freeze.
• Makes 2 trays. (These were the two ice-cream trays that came with the fridge.)

MOUSSE

To convert the above recipe into a yummy, yummy mousse multiply the gelatine, water and butter by three. The additional gelatine is because this dessert will not be frozen but only chilled in the fridge. The additional gelatine is used to set the mousse and to keep it light and fluffy and scrumptious.

Essaying into the kitchen: or Jekyll and fried?

The endpapers show a 1922 design by the painter George Sheringham called 'Clusters of stylised fruits, flowers and shell motifs', a domestic design with a hint both of the pastoral and the abstract.

As you understand, dear Reader, your Miss Eagle loves traditional food - traditional food done well. This is why she has to direct you to read to-day's article in The Age by Australia's wonderful and well-regarded, Stephanie Alexander.

Our Steph is talking about a book by Lady Jekyll, published in 1922, titled Kitchen Essays. Some of you will be familiar with the work of her sister-in-law, the great gardener Gertrude Jekyll. Agnes Jekyll's father, William Graham, was a patron of the Pre-Raphaelites of whom Miss Eagle is very fond. Stephanie has published for us some of the recipes. So, if you are looking for recipes for Orange Jumbles; Sand Cake; and Winter Cake please go here.

World's Best Curries - 1

Way back in ancient history when Miss Eagle, dear Reader, was a child bride and bringing up Herself, Himself the Elder, and Himself the Younger with her Dearly Beloved, she learned to cook and knit with the Australian Women's Weekly.

So for many, many years Miss E carted around the country, little recipe and pattern booklets from the AWW until - ten years ago when moving from Tennant Creek to Sydney - she had to make a hard decision to divest. Now the divestment was not total. Miss Eagle kept The World's Best Curries from our Leila Howard Test Kitchen. This rectangular booklet was an insert with the Australian Women's Weekly of 8 March, 1967. It is forty years old!

So this booklet is tattered. The paper now tears easily. Miss E doesn't know how much longer she can continue to use it. So she will have to begin to blog the recipes - even the carnivore ones.

One has to think of the history of food - particularly Asian food. In Miss E's family there were seldom fresh meat curries. Curries were made from left over roast beef and they were the specialty of Buster, Miss E's dad. And, of course, the spicing was simple - Keen's Curry Powder. In fact, the only herbs and spices in the cupboard that Miss E can recall (except those for cake and biscuit baking) were Keen's Curry Powder; Keen's Mustard; and Mixed Herbs. Please note the back cover of the curry booklet - an advertisement by Keen's of their curry powder.
 

This brings to mind a statement made by Stephanie Alexander at Writers at Como two years ago. In a discussion with Guy Grossi, she said that there was a period in the history of Australian food which was pre-broccoli and post-broccoli. This, if Miss E's memory, serves her well was approximately 1966 and marked the transition from the standard three veg of potato, one yellow (either pumpkin or carrot) veg and one green veg (peas, beans or cabbage) to exotic vegetables like broccoli.

To mark the book's fortieth birthday, Miss Eagle this week prepared the Ceylonese Fruit Curry. Even names have changed! Ceylon is now called Sri Lanka. We no longer say Ceylonese but Singhalese. But we will stick with the name: Fruit Curry - picture from "The World's Best Curries" - Australian Women's Weekly 8 March 1957

Miss Eagle's Fruit Curry

CEYLONESE FRUIT CURRY

Ingredients:

2 large onions

1/2 oz ghee or butter

1 dessertspoon of curry powder

1 teaspoon of milk

1 slice of fresh or canned pineapple

1 small pawpaw (papaya to those in the U.S.)

2 bananas

1 tart apple

1/2 lime or lemon

1 dessertspoon of desiccated coconut (this is the finely shredded coconut)

1 tablespoon of coconut cream (not easily available in regional Oz in '67 so additional desiccated

coconut was soaked in water to imitate)

1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

1 teaspoon of sultanas

Pinch of pepper or chilli powder

Salt

1 teaspoon of currants

Method:

Slice onions thinly, heat butter in saucepan, cook onions until golden, stirring occasionally. Add curry powder and milk, cook quickly 5 minutes. Peel papaw, bananas, and apple. Cut all fruit into bite-sized pieces. Squeeze over lime or lemon juice. Add to saucepan with the onions, cook 10 minutes. Add coconut, coconut cream, ginger, sultanas, currants, pepper or chilli powder, and salt to taste; simmer very gently for 1 hour. Serve with boiled rice and border of pappadums.

Yummy in the tummy comfort food

Miss Eagle has had a difficult couple of weeks with illness. It has been the sort of time when one thinks of comfort food. So, at one stage last week, the comfort food light bulb went on in Miss E's head. Ahah! she thought. And she took this photograph to show you. This week, over at Photo Friday the topic is addiction.

Miss Eagle thought about this and decided that this comfort food would fit the bill. You see Mashed Potato and Pumpkin with Vegemite in it is a sort of latent addiction for the majority of Australians. You see, it goes back a long way in the psyche and the food memory bank. Before tinned baby food, this was what Australian babies were regularly fed.

Vegemite is an acquired taste - or should that be a not easily acquired taste - for those who have not been eating it since infancy or early childhood.

Vegemite features in other comfort food such as soldiers spread lavishly with butter and topped with vegemite.

And then there is Vegemite Soup for whatever ails you.

Wednesday 14 March 2007

Since publishing this post, Miss Eagle has discovered Kitchen Wench and her nostalgic food blogging event. So Miss E submits this post for Kitchen Wench's perusal and edification.

Jam or Sherry?

The Old Foodie and Miss Eagle have passed some correspondence on the topic of Saucer Cheese Cake. Miss Eagle's original reference is here. Then Jane from yarnstorm helped out and the reference is here. The Old Foodie says

saucer cheesecakes were simply cheesecakes baked on saucers - there are saucer pies and tarts too. In the old days people didnt have so many cooking pans as we have now, so they used whatever they had, and saucers were useful to use up small amounts of pastry. I am not sure if it is a particularly northern England expression.

and then she later replied with this:

I was just researching an article on puddings for a bakery magazine, and found this, in Cassell's Shilling Cookery (an English cookbook) from 1888

Saucer Pudding

(suitable for a child or invalid)

Mix a teaspoonful of flour to a smooth paste with a little cold milk,

and stir into this as much boiling milk

as will make up the quantity to a teacupful,

Let the liquor cool, then add a well-beaten egg

and a little sugar and flavourings.

Pour the preparation into a large buttered saucer,

and bake in a well-heated oven.

When done enough, turn the pudding upon a plate,

and serve with jam, or a little sherry if preferred.

Time to bake, twenty minutes. Sufficient for one person.

A Feast of Reason and a Flow of Soul.

Picture of Pot from The Old Foodie

Miss Eagle has come across two delightful food blogs from the same author. They are The Old Foodie and The Companion to the Old Foodie. These blogs are a rich tapestry of food history, anecdotes, quotes and the general all-round aesthetic of good food. As you will see if you delve into the origins of these blogs and the collection on which they are based, this is a passion which has turned into a collection which may turn into something else yet again. There is charm here and information and, because food is so integral to life, something that has deep appeal.

Saucer Cake

Thanks to Jane at yarnstorm my investigation into Saucer Cheese Cake has been taken a step further to Mrs Beeton's recipe for Saucer Cake.

Saucer Cheese Cake

Currently, I am reading South Riding by Winifred Holtby.

In the novel, she refers in passing to a saucer cheese cake.

Can anyone tell me what this is?

Is there a recipe?