Hello friends and welcome to our final voyage to the South Sea Islands aboard the SS Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. Today, we’re crafting a delightful Pineapple Snow Pudding bursting with tropical flavours of pineapple and coconut. As Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery doesn’t include many visuals, sometimes you need to use your imagination to envision the final product.
And sometimes my imagination runs a bit wild. I pictured the coconut settling at the bottom, so when I inverted it, the Pineapple Snow Pudding would resemble a miniature Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, reality didn’t quite align with my vision. I’m not even sure why I had a Japanese vision for my South Sea Island dish…maybe it was because the previous recipe from this chapter, Mainland Teriyaki, was Japanese-inspired?
No surprises but it didn’t look anything like that…
The Pineapple Snow Pudding may not have looked like how I imagined, but nor did it taste that way. It is almost impossible to describe how light and airy this is. It is almost as if you are just getting pure flavour from air! Absolutely delicious!
I loved the Pineapple Snow Pudding!!!!
It’s light and airy, fruity and tropical. Never mind Mount Fuji, this dessert tasted, if not exactly like summer, then more like the promise of summer. And with the coconut, pineapple and strawberry garnish, it also smelled of summer.
This ends our trip to the South Seas and also technically ends Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery. However, those of you with a wanderlust for World Travel and 1970’s versions of classic dishes needn’t worry. For some reason, lost to time, I started cooking from this book with Swizterland which starts at page 400. So, from next month, we are heading to the start of the book to check out the best of pages 1-399!
Hello friends and welcome. Today I am featuring another recipe with a wonderfully evocative name – Passionfruit Flummery. The name flummery makes me think of something that is light and fluttery, like a gorgeous butterfly. And also something summery and maybe even a little bit shimmery! Now, I can’t promise fluttery or shimmery but this is a delicious summery dessert! This recipe for Passionfruit Flummery comes from 250 Quick and Easy Recipes which also contained the recipe for the wonderful Savoury Upside Down Pie.
So what exactly is a flummery. Very simply it is a whipped jelly confection. The whipping makes it feather-light and it almost melts in your mouth! The one odd, I thought ingredient was that you needed to add some flour to the jelly mix. I am not sure why – it did turn the jelly mix opaque rather than the normal clear colour but I can’t figure out if it serves another purpose as well. If we have any flummery experts out there, please let me know!
The other nice thing about this dessert is…you know those people who don’t like desserts that are too sweet? I personally am not one of them. I love a sweet dessert, however my flavour profile also runs to sweet / sour as being right in my wheelhouse. This is definitely a dessert for those people who do not like desserts that are overly sweet. The passionfruit and the citrus juices keep it fresh, zesty and light!
Passionfruit Flummery – The Recipe
The flummery will keep in the fridge for about a week – if you can make it last that long! It is very more-ish! I went in for a spoonful and ended up making a dent this big! I really could not stop!
Flummery Fun “Facts”
I found some facts about flummeries when I was researching this post. Now some of these seem to be more “ïnternet” facts than factual facts but let’s see how we go…
Flummerries started out as a sour porridge-like dish in 17th Century England
The name comes from the Welsh word “llymru” meaning sour oatmeal jelly boiled with the husks
The name was also spelt thlummery and flamery
In Australia and New Zealand, the name flummery was given to a mousse like dessert that used gelatine instead of cream which was more expensive
So far so good. However, I’m less convinced about this:
Flummery was a fall-back dessert in the New South Wales Town of Forbes in the 1950s.
Huh…weirdly specific. When I was in school we had to learn a song called The Streets of Forbes which is about the death of the bushranger Ben Hall. And that is pretty much all I know about Forbes. So maybe, there and nowhere else, people were scoffing down flummery like there was no tomorrow in the 1950’s. But I’m dubious.
I’m even more dubious about this one:
In the Queensland town of Longreach, it was staple food in the 1970s
Yep, right up there with flour, rice and corn…flummery!
Longreach
Of course then, I had to Google Longreach to see if there was any reason why it might be the whipped jelly capital of Australia. And I swear this is true…the very first question that pops up is:
Which is intriguing…what is the smell in Longreach? Is it something to do with the overconsumption of flummery?
According to this article the lanes of Longreach “were always foul with the rank and unpleasant smell of goats’ faeces and urine”.
.And based on that we can whip through the rest of the questions pretty quickly:
2) Zero is the number of days you need in Longreach. Unless you have no sense of smell. Then, stay as long as you like.
3) Longreach is famous for the stench of goats.
4) Whenever the wind is blowing those goaty fumes away.
Well, this post took a turn…we started with pretty butterflies and ended with dead bushrangers and stinky goats!
Have a great week, I hope it doesn’t end up with stinky goats!
OMG. I was downloading some photos from my camera of the Ice Iced Vovo when I found all the photos I had taken of the Orange and Chicken Surprise Salad. I had totally forgotten about it. How, I do not know. I’m sure I didn’t drink THAT much over the holiday period. I’m equally sure you will agree that the Orange Chicken Surprise Salad should be unforgettable (in every way).
Given that I have named January the month of crazy, it seemed fitting to post it here. I totally had something else in mind to close out the month and we may yet get there. But this had to get a mention.
It looks quite pretty. Like a lovely orange jello dessert. But wait! A surprise lurks within.
Surprise Orange and Chicken Salad
Not much of a surprise as the name pretty much gives it away….(There must be some sort of term for that….is it a paradox? A tautology? Someone smarter than me please tell me….) But hiding under that innocent orange jello exterior is a chicken salad. A rather tasty chicken salad to boot.
Surprise Orange and Chicken Salad2
The idea of mixing sweet jello and savoury items kind of freaks me out. It should not work. It freaks me out even more when, like this, the result is actually pretty tasty. Mind you, I loaded the jello with lemon juice so it was not as sweet as the original recipe dictated which may have helped make it a bit more palateable to my taste. The original recipe is below:
The hardest thing about this recipe is getting the layer of jelly on the top the right thickness. My cup sank way too deep the first few times, requiring some melting and resetting of the jelly. It was still a little bit thin in this version and it kind of fell into a heap when I cut into it.
Orange and Chicken Surprise Salad
But all up, this was a success. The jelly actually added a light tangy touch to the salad which was refreshing both on a hot day and after the heavy meals of Christmas.
My version, which includes cranberries and tarragon is below.
I’ll be spending this week working on my post to celebrate Australia Day….I’m venturing into the best left alone arena of “things people eat when drunk” and, believe me, whether I love it or hate it, it’s going to be a doozy!!!
Combine the jello, fruit juices and boiling water, stirring until the jello melts. Place in fridge to set.
When about half set place a small bowl into the jello and weigh it down (baking beans are ideal if you have them, otherwise use rice or beans or anything else you have to hand).
Chill for several hours until very firm.
Meanwhile combine all the salad ingredients and season to taste.
When the jelly is set, take a sharp knife and dip it in hot water. Dry the knife then ease all around the small bowl. You may need to dip it in the water a couple of times.
Once the bowl is removed pack the chicken salad into the cavity. Put foil or a plate over it and chill until firm.
When ready to serve, place the mould in hot water to loosen the jelly, it only needs to be in there a short time. Then turn it out and garnish with the orange segments, cranberries and mint leaves.
Notes
If your cup sinks too low in your jelly mould like mine did, place the bottom of the mould in hot water. The jelly will melt. Keep the mould in the water until you get the level of jelly you desire then place back in the fridge to reset.
Shortly after you start reading vintage recipe books, you start becoming attuned to certain words as being signifiers of something truly awful.
Any recipe with the word “Surprise” in it usually falls slam bang into this description. Believe me, nine times out of ten, the surprise isn’t one of the happy, happy, joy, joy variety.
For instance, my mum used to make something we used to call tuna surprise. I found this recipe for something very similar in an old magazine.
It is sans the potato chip topping which was always the best bit of mum’s tuna surprise but I guess I can forgive that when the Shaun referred to was none other than my main man Shaun Micallef.
What?
I’ve been doing this a couple of years now and I’ve never spoken about my huge girly love crush on this man? For those of you who do haven’t had the pleasure, imagine the wit of John Stewart combined with the silver foxiness of George Clooney and you’re in the ball park…
Anyway, enough about my obsessions…ok, no, just one more. It’s my blog, I guess I can do what I want….
Ok, so before this turns into the gushy, girly Shaun Micallef hour…lets talk about Melon Surprise.
Melon Surprise
But before we go there can we just stop for a moment and look at my ever so cute pins? Bought at Daiso…how adorable are they?
Melon Surprise2
So the melon had pins in it because…surprise….this ain’t no normal melon!!!!
Because when you cut it open….look what’s inside!
Melon Surprise 3
Grapes in Jello folks, grapes in jello!
Hands up who was expecting something really disgusting? Wait a few minutes….it’s coming.
But in a real surprise, the Melon Surprise turned out to be pretty damn super. To my taste, more of a dessert than a salad but still pretty damn good all the same.
Melon Surprise 4
Ok…so by the way, both of these recipes come from the “Elegant First Courses” section of Salads For All Seasons in which Rosemary Mayne-Wilson tells us that
“The recipes in this section are designed to excite the eye, delight the palate and stimulate the appetite”
And sure, the Melon Surprise does all of these things. As you can see I tool some liberties with the flavour of jelly and the colour of the grapes.
Time did not permit me to peel the grapes. There is not enough time in the universe to induce me to do that.
Next up, we have Surfer’s Paradise Melon.
Let’s take the ingredients for this individually shall we?
Rockmelons – sure.
Celery – why not?
Grapes…worked in the Melon Surprise.
Apples – I’m getting a bit excited, this is looking Waldorfy…
Mayo…yep, its a Waldorf with Melons. That sounds great!
But wait…there’s more?
Oh yeah, Walnuts right? Waldorf with Melons. Awesome.
What? What do you mean the final ingredient isn’t walnuts? How can we have Waldorf with Melons without Walnuts?
Oh, I see the quirky bit, the RMW spin is that it’s not walnuts. So what is it? Almonds? Cashews? Pistachios?
It’s what?
Yeah…that’s what I thought you said…..
Ok…look, I just want to doublecheck.
You said tuna right?
Like in the fish?
Oh for the love of God….why?
Incidentally, the tuna and fruit combo must be vibing in some retro space because recently the lovely Erica from Retro Recipe Attempts was guesting on Mid Century Menu and made some Tuna Apple Sandwiches.
In the blurb for this salad RMW says:
“When Australians are overseas, few requests are made for them to contribute to food stalls and fairs…it is assumed that our cuisine is either too dull to be considered or just an offshoot of English cooking…However, if there is a request for an Australian dish, one friend always serves this grand melon appetizer”
I suspect she’s confusing cause and effect…
If anyone turned up to my food stall or fair with a mix of canned tuna and rockmelon, I’d probably ban their whole nation too.
However, here it is….
Surfer’s Paradise Melon Salad
It looks pretty good doesn’t it?
And truth be told, it was not disgusting. It had a nice crunch and it was…palatable. I might have actually liked it without the rockmelon…
Surfer’s Paradise Melon Salad2
One thing? If you ever plan on making this, when you mix the rockmelon and tuna together, it looks huge. There is a mountain of Surfer’s Paradise Melon Salad such that you think you’ll never be able to eat it all.
I had for lunch at around 12:30. And, believe me, by 5:00pm I was ready to gnaw the leg off my chair. Because when you think about it, this is what it is:
Thanks company I am not going to name (but hint, their name is pretty clearly displayed in the photo) for only putting half a can of tuna into a can of tuna. I guess that’s why it’s called light….And the rest of it is just fruit and celery so I guess you know, from a weight loss perspective this is win-win. You won’t want to eat it but when you do, it probably has all of about 3 calories.
And just so I’m not deterring tourism to our lovely Gold Coast, I can almost guarantee that no one in Surfer’s Paradise is eating this…do not let this dissuade you from coming.
By the way, I just signed up for 100 Happy Days and will be regularly tweeting my happy snaps. You can follow my progress on Twitter or join up. To find out more, click the link:
http://100happydays.com/
I”m going to spending my week finding things that make me happy. Make yours fabulous whatever you do!
Remember way back when I made the Spaghetti Bolognese that had the chicken livers in it? You know, “the best Bolognese ever” that prompted me to implement the “Don’t ask, don’t tell rule?” into all future cooking ventures? Well, it happened again this week with the Almost Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad, and we’ll definitely go there but first….
Topaz and Ruby Fruit Salad
You might be looking at the above picture and wondering why the featured item is called an Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad. Because emeralds are green right? Any fool knows that. And, you might assume that, this is one of those quirks of vintage cookbooks that I would normally mock mercilessly.
Unfortunately, wrong and wrong.
Sometimes, the fault lies entirely with me. I’ll pause while you pick your jaws up off the floor. But just to prove a point, let’s count all the ways I failed to notice a fairly crucial part of Nancy Spain’s recipe for Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad.
1 The name. Emeraldand Ruby.
2 Nancy also very kindly provides a picture of said Emerald and Ruby fruit salad. And even more kindly, it is one of the pictures in the all colour cookbook that is in glorious technicolour. And yep, it’s green.
Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad
3 The recipe quite clearly states that layer 1 consists of lime jelly and strawberries.
4. Emeralds are green. Even failing all of the above. Logic would dictate that the Emerald layer of the Emerald Fruit Salad would be green.
So, given all that and that I trotted all the way to the shops and bought some lime jelly specifically to make my Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad, how on earth did I manage to use lemon i.e. yellow jelly in the first layer?
I know . I was astounded at my level of dumbfuckery too. Feel free to roll your eyes and face palm as much as you want. I deserve it. But once you’re done, let me introduce you to my…(erm..just hold on a moment whilst I google yellow gemstones….) highly delicious Topaz and Ruby Fruit Salad.
Topaz and Ruby Fruit Salad
It still looks pretty but…doofus mistake right? It also then really threw me for the second layer. I had lime jelly left. But, now the recipe called for lemon jelly. Dilemma – use the lime jelly and hope it turns out ok? Or head back down to the shops and buy some more lemon jelly? In the end, I bought more lemon jelly. I figured the avocado, mayo and salt combo was going to be enough of a sell even using the correct recipe. Who knew what would happen if I threw the lime into the mix?
Topaz and Ruby Fruit Salad
So, now to the next part of this saga.
I live with the fussiest eater in the world. And high on the lengthy list of foods he doesn’t eat are avocado and mayonnaise.
So, I was kind of surprised to get a phone call at work on Monday, after making this on Sunday.
“You know that jelly thing?”
“Uh huh”
“I saw you put the avocado in”
Fuck it. Now I”m going to have to eat the whole thing myself. I’m going to be eating jelly until Easter.
“But I took some to work to have for snack and…it’s surprisingly good. What else is in there?”
Oh…ermm…jelly. Lemon Jelly.
“Just lemon jelly and avocado?”
Yeah..pretty much…bit of lemon juice…
“Wow…who knew…it’s really good”
Good. I’m glad you like it.
I’m going to hell. I really am. But you know, it also kind of proves my point. Tonight if I served up a salad containing avocado and mayo, it would be left on the plate. And he would probably eat two slices of the Emerald and Ruby Fruit Salad for dessert to make up for it.
