OLD FASHIONED ?

I read the other day that English Heritage is concerned that traditional English dishes will soon not be cooked anymore, and as such have issued a new cookbook ( which I have ordered out of curiosity) , but also found that the Germans have also published such a book “GERMAN HERITAGE BAKING”.

Looking at my own book shelves I find that I have many really old recipe books some dating back to 1868! This particular one has such delights as Ox Head soup and boiled Turkey. Not sure I am about to cook either of these! However, items such as Ginger Snaps, Trifle, Meringues, Spotted Dick and Rock Cakes, the recipes are there, so maybe they will be included in the new cook book from English Heritage.

One of the books I have is a hand written notebook, complete with newspaper cuttings from 1923. It also included advice on hair brushing ( a cause of dandruff?) how to deal with snake bites, make ginger cake and even better FAGGOTS! If you have never heard of them, don’t worry, they are a bit like meat balls!

Back in London, my English Heritage cookbook arrived, well the first one went walkabout but dear Amazon sent an instant replacement. It is a nice enough little book, but I found some errors! Firstly though this not an error, there no temperatures given for Fan Ovens, which I personally would prefer and also temperatures not in Fahrenheit, which many people do still use. So that is me being picky! However two recipes which are not part of the English Heritage, firstly Brownies. Brownies were invented in the USA, in the late 19th century with the first recipe for Chocolate Brownies appearing in the Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking School cook book!

The next issue is Clafoutis, this again is not English ( Limousin France mid 19th Century) the first time I heard of Clafoutis was when our Belgian au pair gave me her family cookbook, in which there was a recipe for Clafoutis, which is my Go To recipe even today. Traditionally it is made with unpitted Black cherries ( I always use pitted cherries, otherwise watch out for your teeth). It can of course be made with other fruits, but then it should be called Flaugnard.

Next up is Tiffin, Tiffin according to Hobson-Jobson the definite glossary of British India, Tiffin, was in Hindustani India, a verb meaning to take luncheon. Apparently the shorter form Tiff could mean a small drink. Hence, on page 90 of the English Heritage book, it is written that it became a No bake chocolate snack. Maybe so, I can not find a reference to this but the mistake in this recipe is that it says “ Preparation time 15 minutes, Cooking time 2 hours” you can be forgiven for misunderstanding, it should have said “ Refrigeration time 2 Hours “!

Looking through the book again, I can see that the following are included, Rock Cakes, Spotted Dick, Trifle ( though made with jelly/ jello, that is a No No in my book!) Ginger Drops ( not Ginger Snaps). So if you really want to bake some traditional recipes, it is worth a look, though I think it is much more fun to find some really old recipe books! I even have found one from my college days ! Another couple of other inclusions, which were regulars of our Sunday afternoon teas, were Butterfly cakes and Battenberg cake! Don’t know what they are?

So enough, is enough and onwards and upwards! A simple recipe that I have forgotten about, is Rice Pudding ! It was once a staple of family meals, not a savoury rice as we tend to eat today ( not sure that my mother knew about stir fried rice and such). My Mother in law certainly would have made this in large quantities for her 5 sons! And whenever it is in the menu at a restaurant ( rarely) he will have it! The last time was in Windermere, where we were for his birthday last year!

Rice pudding in the old fashioned way is Oh So easy, not labour intensive at all, simply follow a few steps, throw it in the oven and leave for 1/12- 2 Hours! Can be served with a fruit compote if you want to jazz it up, or with even more cream poured over !

• 150 grms Pudding Rice
• 100 grams sugar
• 125 grms butter
• 1 litre full fat milk
• 150 mls thick cream
• Grated nutmeg

Heat the oven to 120C ( fan)/140C or Gas #1.

Melt the butter, add the rice and sugar, stir until the rice swells a little. Add the milk, stir and then the cream, stir until a bit sticky. Pour into a baking dish and grate nutmeg over the top. Bake and EAT ( warm is best)!