1970's recipes - Retro Food For Modern Times

Category: 1970’s recipes

31
Jan
2021

Savarin Au Rhum – Dining With The Dame 8

categories: A-Zof Cooking, Books, Dining With The Dame, Poirot

Hello crime readers and food lovers! Today we are boarding a luxury train (No, not the Orient Express…but we will get to that one eventually) for murder, robbery and other hijinks. Luckily Poirot is on hand to bring justice to all. And, even better, while we read we can munch on some cake. Tbook is The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, first published in 1928 and it features a Savarin Au Rhum.

The Mystery Of The Blue Train – The Plot

Heiress Ruth Kettering is taking the luxury “Train Bleu” from Paris to Nice. Also on the train is Katherine Grey, a young girl who is on her first trip out of England after inheriting a large amount of money. When they meet in the dining car Ruth tells Katherine that she is unhappily married and that she is on the train to go to meet her lover.

The next morning Ruth is found dead, strangled in her sleeper compartment and the gorgeous and very expensive “Heart of Fire” ruby which had been given to her by her father is missing. Moreover, not only has she been strangled but her entire face has been bashed in.

Luckily for all, Hercule Poirot is also travelling on the same train and is engaged by Ruth’s father to find the murderer and the missing ruby.

On top of murders and missing jewels we have

About to be ex-husbands with money issues
Ruth’s somewhat shady lover
Ex-lovers with axes to grind,
An infamous international jewel thief known as The Marquis
Shonky secretaries
Male impersonators

Ooh la la…Poirot’s little grey cells have to go into overdrive on this one!

The Covers

Many of the covers feature versions of trains, murdered women etc. I particularly like the skulls and bones level crossing! Then there are the covers that take a less obvious route. These are of course my favourites!

The Recipe – Savarin Au Rhum

For the recipe for Savarin au Rhum, I turned back to one of the vintage cookbooks I looked at a few years back, The A-Z of Cooking. The Savarin is a French cake which is why I chose it. Who knows, a Savarin of Rhum may well have featured on The Blue Train’s menu back in the day!.

The Savarin would be a great recipe to serve guests who claim not to like cake (although why are you friends with people like that?) as it is not overly sweet. The recipe says it is meant for 6-8 people. We are 2 people but the Savarin did keep nicely in the fridge for close to a week. Once it got a teeny bit stale, it made a lovely scone substitute if you toasted a slice or two and added some jam and a dollop of cream! So, even even if you have fewer than the required number of people, it will not go to waste.

The Comte de la Roche had just finished dejeuner, consisting of an omelette fines herbes, an entrecote Bearnaise and a Savarin au Rhum. Wiping his black moustache delicately with his table napkin, the Comte rose from the table. He passed through the salon of the villa . noting with appreciation the few objet’s d’art which were carelessly scattered about.

Agatha Christie, The Mystery of the Blue Train

Other Food Mentioned in The Mystery of The Blue Train’

This book mentions so much food it was hard to decide what to choose!

Brown Bread (for supper)
The above mentioned Omelette fines herbes and entrecote Bearnaise
Little bits of quail
Chicken en casserole
Apple tart and a jug of cream
Filet of sole a la Jeanette
Steak with grilled tomatoes
Porterhouse steak
Steak and kidney pudding
Stilton and sparkling Moselle
A small pot of chocolate
Mint Humbugs

Have a wonderful week!

Next book in the list, if you want to read along, is The Seven Dials Mystery.

31
Jan
2021

REPOST – The Margaret Fulton Cookbook – Pork

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Margaret Fulton Cookbook

I’m not a pork eater….although I have been known to steal a bit of crackling off his plate if he orders it when we go out.

On the basis of crackling alone, both of these look pretty good. The apples in Maragaret’s 1977 port look weird and not very nice. But the modern version could do with one of the two bowls of applesauce from the vintage version.

PicMonkey Collage - Pork — Roast Pork – Then & Now

I’m really not fit to judge on this though. So, pork eaters, which of these appeals to you you more?

And whislt they are not chops, these pictures did remind me of one of my favourite bits from the Brady Bunch …

Have a great week!

Signature 1

07
Jan
2021

Barbecued Chicken with Spiced Ketchup

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Asia, Chicken, Chicken & Poultry, World Cooking

Hello friends! Today I am sharing a recipe for Barbecued Chicken with Spiced Ketchup which comes from the Malaya, Siam and Indonesia chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). From the name, I thought this recipe was going to be for chicken in a spicy tomato sauce. Which would have been fine. This, however, was so much better! This. is ketchup, Jim but not as we know it!

This “ketchup” is made out of garlic, onions, sambal oelek (a chilli paste) soy sauce and lemon. Not a tomato in sight! Which lead me down a rabbit hole into the origins of ketchup. Turns out this may be closer to the original than what we commonly recognise today as ketchup or as we in Australia call it, tomato sauce. The tomato version has been around for a long time – just look at this ad from 1933!

And just to show that Heinz can patronise men as well as women, how about this ad for He-Ketchup.

The History of Ketchup

Fascinating as these ads are, let’s head even further back into the past to look at the history of ketchup. There are a few theories but ketchup most likely originated in Asia. The word either derives from the Hokkien word ke-tsiap or from the Malay word kecap. Kecap Manis is a Malysian sweet soy sauce which could be a distant relation to the original which was a fermented fish sauce. Possibly like the one still used in Vietnamese cooking.

And don’t let those ads from the 1930’s fool you. According to no less than history.com

The 18th century was a golden age for ketchup

Who knew? Anyway, the short version is the fermented fish sauce made its way to England. And the Brits went mad for all sorts of ketchups. Lemons, oysters, mushrooms, walnuts, fruit – you name it there was probably ketchup made out of it! And then in 1812 (somebody cue up that overture), James Mease from Philadelphia developed a recipe for tomato ketchup. And apart from a few artisan brands, all those other kinds of ketchup have gone the way of the dinosaur.

Barbecued Chicken with Spiced Ketchup – The Recipe

The Barbecued Chicken with Spiced Ketchup or to give it its non-English name Ajam Panggang Boemboe Ketjap was delicious and very easy to make! As you can see from the picture, I served it with plain boiled rice as the recipe suggested. If I was to add anything, I would have added a little tomato, red onion and coriander salad maybe with some fresh green chilli to add a fresh element but it was fine without. It would be very nice comfort food on a cold winter evening!

Also, I used chicken thighs for my recipe, not a whole chicken as suggested.

Have a wonderful week, friends, stay safe and look after yourselves and others!

22
Dec
2020

Salami on a Sushi Platter?

categories: 1970's food, 1970's recipes, Fish, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Japan, Rice, Salami, World Cooking

Kon’nichiwa friends! Today we are making Sushi but not any old sushi. Today, I am using the recipe for O’Sushi contained in the Japanese chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). It’s mostly sushi as we know it with one notable exception. Yes, that is salami in the middle of the plate!

For this recipe, I wanted to put myself into the shoes of a housewife from 1972 who had never tasted or seen sushi before. So, for the purposes of this post, this is me, using my new-fangled microwave to zip up some delightful treats for the kids.

And later tonight when they are in bed I am going to make some fancy pants Japanese food for date night with the hubby because we like walking on the wild side. Just look at the massive pocket on my denim overalls dress. If that doesn’t scream living on the edge, I don’t know what does. Except for maybe my cork platform sandals.

O-Sushi The Recipe.

Boil some rice in the usual fashion. Prepare a sauce of vinegar, sugar and salt whilst it is cooking, using 2 tsps sugar to 1 tbsp vinegar.

How much salt Good Housekeeping? And what do you mean boil rice in the usual fashion? I’ve never boiled rice in my life. Good lord, step one and already I need to phone a friend?

Sheila? I’m making the sushi…su….shi…It’s Japanese. Only I don’t know how to boil rice or how much salt to add to the sauce? What do you mean my hair, face, clothes and kitchen seem different? I’m not interested in continuity I’m interested in salt and getting laid tonight! This is date night sushi Sheila so quit with the comments and help me with the rice…oh…ok…thanks.

The rice should be dried and cooled quickly and the juice is shaken over it whilst it cools.

WTF? Where am I supposed to get juice from? Oh…the vinegar sauce is the juice? Why did they suddenly decide to call it juice? And how quickly does this rice need to be dried and cooled? Maybe I’ll just pop it in the fridge and shake the juice / sauce over it from there? Will that work?

Ok, next step.

Form the rice into small flat rolls or cakes and garnish with any of the following: Boiled prawns

Smoked Salmon

Raw Fish

Tinned fish; Anchovy fillets; ham or any other cold meat thinly sliced;

A thin omelette seasoned with salt and sugar, edible seaweed, or any salad vegetable

Place the garnish on top of or around the rice cakes. Alternatively, cylindrical cakes can be made with a filling in the centre and and thin layer of egg, seaweed, etc around the outside.

Well, mercy sakes alive, it looks like I’ve just made proper some Japanese O’Sushi….I really hope hubby likes it!

The Following Day – The Sushi Wrap Up

Hello Sheila? I”m just calling to fill you in on date night last night. Yes, it went very well. The food was all very tasty but we both agree. Raw fish will never really catch on here…it’s just too out there for most people! The salami sushi though? That was the bomb! I can see people lining up in the streets for some of that! …. The sex? No, nothing, I caught a cold from standing in front of the open fridge for and hours and shaking juice on the rice and had to go to bed early.

Have a great week!

PS – For a real insight into the art of making sushi, watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

17
Sep
2020

Chinese Pancake Rolls

categories: 1970's recipes, China, Good Housekeeping World Cookery

Today I am sharing another recipe from the China chapter of Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Pancake Rolls (aka Chun Guin) are a version of a Spring roll. Originally a pancake filled with fresh spring vegetables, Spring Rolls were a welcome change from the preserved foods that people had to eat during the long Chinese winter. Well, it is spring in Australia now so I thought why not celebrate the change of season with some traditional fare?

In retrospect, I should have celebrated by ordering some proper Spring rolls from The Imperial Garden because, to be honest, these weren’t great!

These were a lot of work – make the pancakes, make the filling, wrap and roll and then deep fry. It all took a good few hours and for not much payoff. I considered using spring roll wrappers for these but the recipe said pancakes, so I made pancakes. The problem was, the pancakes did not really crisp up enough during the frying process. And surely one of the delights of the spring / egg roll is that great crunch you get when you bite into that crispy pastry – just before the boiling hot contents ooze out into your mouth!

The filling was also disappointing. Something containing chicken*, crabmeat, mushrooms and leeks should be bursting with flavour. These really didn’t taste of much at all. *You will note the recipe calls for pork. I do not like the taste of pork so I subbed in some chicken. Maybe this accounts for the blandness?

Pancake Rolls – The Recipe

It’s here if you want it… but seriously there are better ways to spend your time! And that’s coming from someone living under one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns in the world. All I have is time and I wouldn’t spend it making these again.

All was not entirely lost though. Some members of the household really enjoyed the leftover Pancake Rolls!

One great recipe from this chapter and one meh….do I call it a draw or make one more as a decider?

Decisions, decisions!!!

Have a great week!