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April 29, 2007
Edmonds Cookery Book
It being Anzac Day this week - and no, I still haven't got around to making Anzac Biscuits, due to the local shops all selling out of desiccated coconut on the day in question - I was delighted to hear from Slow Food in Christchurch that the 1914 edition of the essential Kiwi cookbook, the Edmonds Cookery Book, is now available online.
Like the Stork margarine-sponsored McDonnell's Good Food Cook Books in Ireland, the Edmonds Cookery Book was designed to promote a product - Edmonds "Sure to Rise" Baking Powder. Although I love and use them regularly, the McDonnell's Cook Books are now very dated; the Edmonds Cookery Book has gone from strength to strength since its 50-page beginning in 1907 and is still being published. I have my own vintage copy, I think from the 1950s, courtesy of the Boyfriend's aunt who has an eye for the perfect classic cooking present (I also have a family of tin jelly moulds - two sizes of rabbit and a tortoise - and a satisfyingly heavy earthenware one courtesy of the same lady). Even though this edition is over 90 years old, the Edmonds Cookery Book has recipes for classics like Raspberry Buns, Bread and Butter Pudding and Cornish Pasties although, alas, none for Anzac Biscuits - perhaps it was too early in the First World War for them to have been invented?
Read more about it below.
Iconic New Zealand Cookbook now online.
New Zealanders can get a taste of the past, with the third (1914) edition of the iconic Edmonds Cookery Book now in cyberspace, thanks to Victoria University. The University's New Zealand Electronic Text Centre has converted the book, lent by publishers of the modern text, Goodman Fielder, into a digital format. It is now freely accessible to the world via the New Zealand Electronic Text collection.
Alison Stevenson, Director of the Centre, says the project has been very exciting. "There aren't many families in New Zealand who have grown up without a copy of the Edmonds Cookery Book, so it's been great to see what it was like almost at the beginning."
The Edmonds Cookery Book started life in 1907 as a 50-page pamphlet of recipes promoting Thomas John Edmonds' baking powder and jellies. The marketing ploy proved so successful that the second edition, in 1910, had a print run of 150,000. It is not known if any first editions survive, however some second editions do. Today, more than three million copies of the book have been sold.
The Centre has scanned and digitised all 50 pages, including advertisements and testimonials for the baking powder from happy housewives, for example Mrs AT Phillips of Taranaki, who wrote: "I use 1½ tins a month, and always refuse any other offered to me."
Recipes include more typical treats such as rock cakes, Christmas cake, and the Kiwi favourite, pikelets. More peculiar are Marmalade Cheese Cakes (which don't in fact contain cheese) and several recipes without eggs, including Egg Drink (without eggs).
The Centre, which is part of the University Library, hosts an ever-expanding free internet archive of New Zealand and Pacific Island texts and materials at www.nzetc.org. In addition to its own digitisation of important New Zealand history and literature, the NZETC provides digitisation and consultancy services to other cultural heritage institutions in New Zealand.
The Edmonds Cookery Book can be accessed here.
Posted by Caroline at 3:04 PM | Comments (2)
April 26, 2007
Lavender Spelt Shortbread
Inspired by my perusal of Heidi Swanson's superb cookbook Super Natural Cooking, I've been motivated to start baking with more esoteric - to me, at least - grains and foods. I'm all stocked up on my favourite quinoa to try out some of her recipes (you'll find plenty more online at 101 Cookbooks), millet, amaranth, linseed and - in the move - rediscovered some Letheringsett Watermill Organic Spelt Flour from our trip to Norfolk. Subtitled "Five Delicious Ways to Incorporate Whole and Natural Ingredients into your Cooking", it's a perfect read if you're interested in cooking with whole foods and wanting to learn more about what is available and what can be done with it. And, unlike the educational but boring-looking Fresh and Wild Cookbook, it looks amazing.
One of the things I really like about Super Natural Cooking is the way that Heidi encourages you to substitute whole grains for what you would use normally. Quinoa instead of orzo, pearl barley for risotto rice, tef flour in a quiche crust instead of wheat flour. Little steps to help you integrate all these new foods in your diet without feeling like you're having to completely change your recipes and ways of cooking. In that spirit, while making some Shortbread to fill the tins, I decided to finally use some of my spelt flour. This was encouraged by the bag almost falling out of my baking cupboard as I reached for the sugar. When your ingredients start to fight back it is definitely a sign that you need to actually use them!
To complement the nutty taste of the spelt, I added a quarter-teaspoonful of dried lavender flowers, bought in a Moroccan supermarket last year. Be very careful while you measure these out - too much and your Lavender Spelt Shortbread can easily taste like the scrapings from little-old-lady dressing table.
Lavender Spelt Shortbread
Butter - 250g, cubed
Unbleached flour - 250g
Organic spelt flour - 125g
Light Muscovado sugar - 125g
Dried lavender flowers - ¼ teaspoon
Caster sugar - 3 tablespoons
Preheat oven to 150°C. Butter a 25cm x 38cm x 4cm baking tin and leave to one side.
Rub the butter and flours together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Rub in the sugar until the mixture starts to come together. Press evenly into the prepared baking tin and prick with a fork.
Cook for 50 minutes until pale golden. Remove from oven, sprinkle immediately with the caster sugar and let cool on a wire rack for five minutes. Wsing a sharp knife, score the shortbread into approximately 7 x 2.5 cm fingers.
Makes approximately 50 pieces.
Posted by Caroline at 7:32 PM | Comments (6)
April 23, 2007
Peter Gordon Webchat
The first time I heard of Peter Gordon - the New Zealand-born, London-based chef of the Providores and Tapa Room - was when the whole Antipodean fusion cookery style was being written about in English newspapers like The Sunday Times during the early 1990s (my newspaper of choice through college although, after discovering Nigel Slater's food section in The Observer, I've never looked back!). While I lived in New Zealand in 2005, he opened a restaurant in Auckland - dine by Peter Gordon - and as a result was all over the NZ newspapers and food magazines. That's how I came across his fantastic and much-made (it's especially good as a Christmas pressie) Tomato and Chilli Jam recipe.
Peter is also a consultant for Air New Zealand, Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Lamb. Unique Interactive recently got in contact to let me know that, wearing his lamb ambassador hat, Peter will be online for a webchat at www.uniqueinteractive.co.uk/chat on Wednesday 25th April from 2pm to 4pm. Darina Allen is also a fan - he was a guest at the Ballymaloe Cookery School last year.
Posted by Caroline at 4:46 PM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2007
Slow Food Ireland: The Future of Irish Food
If you're interested in sustainable food production, all three Slow Food Dublin Convivia are hosting a film screening and debate at The Sugar Club in Dublin on Tuesday 8 May. The films that will be shown are: Fowl, an Irish documentary by Andrew Legge, which examines modern day chicken farming and western people's relationship with food; and The Power of Community - How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, a film about how a country can successfully traverse the reduction and loss of finite fossil fuel resources.
Andrew Legge, director of Fowl, will be in attendance on the night and Davie Philip, Education Manager of Cultivate, the sustainable living and learning centre in Temple Bar, will introduce The Power of Community and lead a discussion afterwards.
The Future of Irish Food: A Film Screening and Debate event will take place at The Sugar Club on Tuesday 8 May 2007 at 7.30pm. Cost: €12 (members) and €15 (non-members). See you there!
Posted by Caroline at 6:02 PM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2007
Chocolate Sesame Flapjacks
Being a big fan of porridge - especially good with Muscovado sugar and natural yoghurt on a cold morning in the cottage - I always have a bag of oats in the house and they often find their way into my baking. I regularly make batches of Anzac Biscuits and Oaty Apricot Biscuits to keep the tins filled. I've also been known to make my own Granola, using Tessa Kiros' recipe in Apples for Jam as a starting point, throw a few handfuls into Brown Soda Bread, and have been experimenting with variations of Bill Granger's Muesli Bars. But, of all the oaty dishes that I make, this one for Chocolate Flapjacks is a true favourite. It originally came from Green and Black's decadent book of chocolate recipes but has gone through a few changes since with the addition of coconut, dates and seeds. Although there's lots of butter in it (not to mention the golden syrup and sugar!), it's still a slightly healthy snack and has been known to get me though many an evening's post-work yoga class.
Chocolate Sesame Flapjacks
Butter - 350g
Golden syrup - 3 tablespoons
Muscovado sugar - 350g
Rolled or porridge oats - 450g
Cocoa - 6 tablespoons
Desiccated coconut - 50g
Dried dates - 75g, chopped
Sesame seeds - 2 tablespoons
Sunflower seeds - 1 tablespoon
Preheat the oven to 140°C and butter a 17 x 28cm baking tray or roasting tin.
Melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a large heavy-based saucepan over a low heat but do NOT allow the mixture to come to the boil. Add the oats, cocoa, coconut, dates and seeds to the pan and mix well. Press into the tin and cook for 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire tray for about 20 minutes before slicing. Allow to cool completely and remove from the tray.
Makes about 24, depending on the size that you cut them! I can get 32 small but solid pieces.
Adapted from Unwrapped: Green and Black's Chocolate Recipes edited by Caroline Jeremy
Posted by Caroline at 7:19 AM | Comments (2)
April 10, 2007
Housekeeping: Food reports and Irish blogs
There were two interesting food pieces on RTÉ news programmes over the weekend - Jennie O'Sullivan reported on a Slow Food Ireland promotion at a farmers' market in Kinsale on the Six One News and there was also a feature on Morning Ireland about the new farmers' market in Ballymun.
Also, here are a few more new Irish food blogs...
Eat Drink Live: I missed Limerick-based Laura's blog last time round but fortunately Val pointed her out. She is currently running a monthly muffin recipe on the site (check out the fabulous Paddy's Day ones here) and - as a result of her blog - has just started supplying Italian deli La Cucina with muffins, cookies and other assorted sweet stuff.
Italian Foodies: speaking of La Cucina, owners Lorraine and Bru have their own blog at Italian Foodies. Lots of simple Italian recipes, information on Italian foodstuffs and lessons on how to eat like an Italian.
Eat Me Drink Me: Abulafia's inspired experiments with Homecured Bacon and Pork Rillette are well worth reading. Plus she's also a fan of one of my favourite seasonal cookbooks, The Cook and The Gardener by Amanda Hesser.
Quirky Blog: Quirky Kitchen.ie has its own wee blog on the go, with a few recipes - just beware of straying on to the rest of the site which has lots of lovely bakeware, my favourite cast iron pots, all kinds of useful gadgets - and they deliver free in Dublin for orders over €100.
Posted by Caroline at 7:57 PM | Comments (5)
April 6, 2007
Restaurant Review: The Old Convent - Part II
Continued from Restaurant Review: The Old Convent - Part I.
The fifth course - a palate-cleansing Organic Lemon and Ginger Sorbet - caused arguments. The Cousins, who are identical twins, thought that the ginger was more pronounced. The rest of us were definitely on the lemon side - as the wine kept flowing, we wondered if the world is divided into lemon-tasters and ginger-tasters.
Revived by the sorbet - and the discussion - we proceeded to another substantial course of Roast Loin of Veal, served with White Bean and Potato Gratin, Roasted Beets and Squash and Limonocello Butter. I'm not a big fan of veal, finding it to be a rather anonymous meat, and, for me, this was the most pedestrian course. Having said that, it was still a good dish and didn't go a-wasting on anyone's plate. I was suffering from near-satiety at that stage, and there were still two more courses to go.
We were just about to get on to the sweet courses when the waitress asked if any of us would be interested in a cheese plate (at an extra €10) to round off the meal. The Ex-Planner Partner wanted one - but refused to share! - so we ordered two, one for him and one for the rest of us. And then we proceeded to wade through a sweet Mango, White Chocolate and Tahitian Vanilla Mousse (the martini glasses made a reappearance here) and the grand finale, which truly lived up to its name. A pair of dark and very sinful chocolate fondues, suspended above flames to keep molten, arrived at our table, surrounded by chunks of banana, strawberries, little almond pyramids, petite chocolate brownies, coconut choc chip cookies and raspberry tartlets. That's when we started to wonder why we had ordered TWO cheese platters.
My attention and appetite were both fading at this stage, my scribblings completed, when Christine arrived at our table and started to tell us that her husband, chef Dermot, was relaxing online after finishing work when he came across a website that mentioned going out for dinner that very night at The Old Convent. Was there a table of six in the dining room? And was there a New Zealander at the table? We were rumbled! The fact that I had been taking (I thought) unobtrusive notes during the meal and photographing the menu may also have been a slight give away.
Our group - my companions highly amused that I had been unmasked - relaxed over the (at-that-stage unnecessary) cheese, served with thin crackers, caramelised pecans, fresh fruit and some preserves from the Trass Farm at Moorstown in Cahir (makers of our favourite Karmine Apple Juice). We made valiant attempts but just weren't up to it. Nine courses in and we had flagged, understandably enough! After we had settled our bill there was just time to check out the Goddess powder room, an attractive hideaway for a bit of nose powdering or lipstick refreshing, and to poke our heads into the cosy drawing room before our taxi arrived on the doorstep to take us back to Clonmel.
The Old Convent was the perfect place for a relaxed evening with friends and family - no rushing, racing or trying to speed people along so that a second sitting can be accommodated - and the six of us thoroughly enjoyed our experience of fine dining, Tipperary-style. If you don't want to run the risk of your taxi driver being too relaxed about getting there, it is also possible to stay at one of the seven recently renovated rooms upstairs. The Gannons cater for tailor-made romantic weekends and breakfasts, according to reviews, are well up to the standard of the meal that we enjoyed. A long walk in the nearby Knockmealdown Mountains may be the only antidote to this superb style of cosseting.
The Old Convent, Clogheen, Co Tipperary, 052 65565. www.theoldconvent.ie
Posted by Caroline at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)
April 4, 2007
Restaurant Review: The Old Convent - Part I
When you're going out for an eagerly anticipated eight-course meal at a restaurant in the middle of the Tipperary countryside it would be nice to turn up a little early, take some time to appreciate the setting and relax while perusing the wine list. In an ideal world. As it happened, ten minutes after we were supposed to arrive, the Boyfriend and I - plus my Clonmel-based and Dublin-based Cousins, accompanied by the Chilli-Intolerant Husband and the Ex-Planner Partner - were still chugging along in a Clonmel taxi that seemed to be in no hurry to get us to our destination. As we pulled up outside the imposing frontage of The Old Convent, just outside Clogheen, there was a mad scramble to pay, figure out when we should be collected and get out of the taxi but, as soon as we set foot on the black and white tiled floor of the elegant hallway, all stress was over. Calmly greeted and smoothly ushered to our table by proprietor Christine Gannon, we settled into an evening of superb food, wonderful wine and great service.
The Old Convent, a true gourmet hideaway, offers a deceptively simple service: an eight course tasting meal for just €50. As we settled into our seats in the candle-lit dining room, complete with stained glass windows from its former incarnation, we were presented with the wine list and our attention was directed to a framed menu on the table. Christine's husband, Dermot Gannon, is the chef and he places a decided emphasis on well-sourced ingredients - Ballybrado Organic Pork, Blakes Organic Chocolate, Ardsallagh, Crozier Blue and Gubbeen Chorizo all featured on the menu.
As we wondered how we were going to be able to eat our way from Ardsallagh Mac 'n Cheese with Gubbeen Chorizo, all the way to an Old Convent signature dish - a fondue made with Blakes's organic and fairtrade chocolate - the first course arrived on the table. Beautifully presented in martini glasses, a little scoop of macaroni cheese, made with diminutive pasta shapes, was topped with thin slices of Fingal Ferguson's savoury chorizo. Elegant and satisfying, the portion size also reassured us that we might yet manage to make it to the eighth course.
We continued with a Ballybrado Organic Pork Salad, the meat tender to the touch of a fork, accompanied by salad leaves, Crozier Blue cheese, poached pears, caramelised pecans and a dark, sweetly spiced dressing. This was a substantial portion but a slight breather, in the form of an espresso cup of creamy and delicious Vanilla Pea Velouté with Mint Oil followed. The fish course was next - layers of Steamed Salmon and Hake, sitting on a Pistachio and Saffron Risotto with a Dublin Bay Prawn Bisque. The notes I was scribbling start to get shorter and less detailed from this stage of the meal as I put my full attention to the dishes and the wine in front of me.
We had ordered bottles of Aotea Sauvignon Blanc 2006, purely because of its Nelson connection, and, on Christine's recommendation, Esencia Valdemar Rioja 2005. Neither bottle disappointed. Although I have been annoyed in the past by over-enthusiastic refilling of my wine glass, the well-trained staff at The Old Convent got the balance right between being attentive and merely trying to sell an extra bottle. In fact, two tiny incidents aside, the service was exemplary throughout, something that has become increasingly rare in my experience of restaurants in Ireland.
To be continued....
The Old Convent, Clogheen, Co Tipperary, 052 65565. www.theoldconvent.ie
Posted by Caroline at 7:02 PM | Comments (4)
