Retro Food For Modern Times

22
Sep
2024

Caliph of Baghdad

categories: Celebrity Cookbooks, Celebrity Recipes, Drinks, Rum

Hello friends! Today, I’m sharing a “twofer” post. First up, a cocktail called the Caliph of Baghdad. This recipe is from a 1933 book, Del Monte – Cocktail Recipes Mixed by Famous People for a Famous Hotel. I chose it because of its connection to this month’s Dining with The Dame book, They Came To Baghdad. This book was originally published in 1933 for the Del Monte Hotel but has been brought back into circulation by my old pal, Jenny of Silver Screen Suppers and Dinner and A Movie.

The Book

The book was inspired in 1933 around the same time as the the repeal of Prohibition.

“John Caitlin, the eccentric Mayor of Carmel-By-The-Sea in California, established the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking and invited the great and good of the stage, screen and typewriter to submit their concoctions for consideration”

Submissions were evaluated at the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey in December 1933, leading to the creation of the book.

Ernest Hemingway, Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields, and the Marx Brothers were but a few of the great and the good to submit recipes. I will definitely be featuring the Marlene Dietrich cocktail down the track, it sounds amazing!

The Hotel

The Hotel Del Monte still exists and it looks beautiful!!!! And, the rates are not exorbitant. I have never been to America, but my best friend lives in California so it is high on my list of places to go! I wonder if we could have a night or two in the Del Monte when I am there so we can pay homage to the Association for the Advancement of the Fine Art of Drinking!

The Caliph of Baghdad – The Drink

There is a warning that this drink packs a punch. And it certainly does! This is one that you want to sip slowly all night and / or add a lot of ice! Having said that, savouring one of these over a evening is quite pleasant because the sweet / sour of the brown sugar and the lime combined with the rum is delicious!

I can absolutely recommend the Del Monte Cocktail book! There are many delicious sounding cocktails from so many famous names! It is truly a little piece of history!

Have a great week!

15
Sep
2024

They Came To Baghdad – Cabbage Rolls

categories: Dining With The Dame, Middle Eastern, Stand Alone

Hello, crime readers and food lovers! In today’s Dining With The Dame, we are heading to Iraq. They Came to Baghdad is a standalone thriller from 1951. I am not a fan of Christie’s adventure novels, I far prefer the mystery puzzles and, honestly, I didn’t love They Came To Baghdad. However, this is offset by the menu item. I LOVE Middle Eastern Food and today’s recipe for Cabbage Rolls with Merguez Sausage is no exception.

They Came To Baghdad – The Plot

“The belief in a superstratum of human beings – in Supermen to rule the rest of the decadent world – that Victoria is the most evil of all beliefs. For when you say, “I am not as other men” – you have list the two most valuable qualities we have ever tried to attain: humilty and brotherhood”

Agatha Christie – They Came to Baghdad

Our heroine, Victoria Jones meets the handsome Edward Goring in a park in London where she is eating a lettuce and tomato sandwich. He invites her to the pub for a sausage lunch. I swear, I disliked both of these just based on their eating choices. Who eats a lettuce and tomato sandwich? And “Hey love, want a sausage? is no kind of chat up line – now, in 1951 or ever.

Victoria who is later described as “An amiable nitwit with a lot of common sense” decides that she is in love with Edward. (So maybe the “Hey love, fancy a sausage?” line is not as bad as we initally thought. Who knew?) Only thing is…He’s off to Baghdad on the morrow. Undaunted Victoria decides to travel to Baghdad to find Edward and true love.

Unfortunately, she finds a lot more. We have:

A world wide summit of superpowers about to occur in Baghdad
A secret organisation trying to destroy the political status quo
A mysterious blonde called Anna Scheele
An explorer found dead in the Nile
A nearly dead spy in Victoria’s bed whose last words are ” Lucifer…Basra…Lefarge”
Victoria being chloroformed, kidnapped and waking up with platinum blonde hair

This is not anywhere near the best Christie novel I have read. BUT…it travels along at an abolsutely rollicking pace so even while recognising some of the silliness, you are also kinda, sorta gripped by the story. And the saving grace is Christie’s absolutely vivid scene descriptions which put you EXACTLY into the time and place:

Outside in Bank Street it was sunny and full of dust and the noises were terrific and varied. There was the persistent honking of motor horns and the cries of vendors of various wares. There were hot disputes between small groups of people who seemed ready to murder each other but were really fast friends; men boys and children were selling every type of tree, sweetmeats, oranges and bananas, bath towels, combs, razorblades and other types of merchandise carried rapidly through the streets on trays. There was also a perpetual and ever renewed sound of throat clearing and spitting, and above it, the thin, melancholy wail of men conducting donkeys and horses amongth the stream of motors and pedestrians”

They Came To Baghdad – Agatha Christie

They Came To Baghdad – The Covers

Sadly no Arabic covers but these are all brilliant! I really can’t pick a favourite!

The Recipe: Cabbage Rolls

Fermented Chilli Sauce Recipe

I love the funkiness that a fermented chilli sauce brings to this recipe but you may choose to use a regular chilli sauce or, leave it out altogther. If you are making your own, please bear in mind that it you need to let it ferment for around a month. This recipe which comes from Eat California by Vivian Lui is absolutely deicious at any time and defintely worth the effort (and the wait) to make it! And, as an added bonus you also get one of my notes to self about the recipe!

Victoria started by drinking a large glass of water and then fell to the rice, the bread and the cabbage leaves which were full of a rather peculiar tasting chopped meat. When she had finished everything on the tray she felt a good deal better”

They Came To Baghdad – Agatha Christie

Links to the Christieverse

Nothing that I found. Please let me know if you found anything.

Other Food & Drinks Mentioned in They Came To Baghdad

Oranges x2
Bananas
Oats
Cheese sandwiches
Lettuce and tomato sandwich
Sausage
Coffee x 6
Beer
Chewing gum
Barley Sugar
Double Whisky
Gin
Cocktail
Whiskey Soda
Martini
Olives x 2
Pistachios
Sidecar
Potato chips
Baby chickens x2
Foie Gras
Caviar
Fish with sauce and mushrooms
Turkey stuffed with spice and raisins x2
Steak x2
Scrambled eggs
Milk and Water
Honey
Lemonade
Almonds
Apricots
Sandwich
Rice

October’s read will be A Murder is Announced.

Have a great week!

08
Sep
2024

Nourishing Soup

categories: Cookbooks, Europe, Kindred, Soup

Recently, while enjoying a delicious bowl of German Lentil and Ham Hock Soup, I remembered a quote from Crooked House

” Josephine and Magda got out of the car. Josephine had a bandage around her head but otherwise looked remarkably well. She said at once: “I want to see my goldfish,” and started towards us and the pond. “Darling, ” ciried Magda, “You’ better some in first and lie down a little, and perhaps have a little nourishing soup.” “Don’t fuss mother, ” said Josephine. “I’m quite all right, and I hate nourishing soup”

Crooked House – Agatha Christie

***Please note, this post contains spoilers for Crooked House. If you have not read it and intend to, you might want to set this post aside until you are done!***

Also, the Dining with The Dame Book for September will now be They Came to Baghdad. A Murder is Announced will be October’s book.

Now, back to the soup.

Unlike Josephine, I love nourishing soup. And I am perfectly happy to be unlike Josephine as she was a murderous little psychopath. Possibly because she didn’t eat enough nourishing soup which is something I always find soul soothing. We’re almost done with a long, cold winter. And I was feeling a little poorly. Having a big pot of German Lentil and Ham Hock Soup helped on days when I didn’t have the energy to cook.

The soup was very hearty so was really a meal itself. It did not really need some grilled cheese on the side. But, IMHO, grilled cheese makes everything better!

Kindred: The Cokbook

The recipe comes from a cookbook called Kindred: Recipes, spices and rituals to nourish your kin by Maria and Eva Konecsny. These ladies also founded a Melbourne institution called Gewürzhaus. This is a “spice house” that sells a huge range of spices, spice blends, tea, cookware. It is a little foodie heaven and close enough to my work that I can pop in for a browse on the days when I am in the office!

I initially worried that the book was a vehicle to sell the spices and blends in the shop. However, these fears were misguided. For example, their recipe for Crunchy Chilli Oil, which is high on my agenda to make, lists all the ingredients if you want to make the oil from scratch. There is also the option to use the Gewurzhaus Crunchy Chilli Oil Blend if you do not wish to buy the individual ingredients.

Some of the other recipes I am keen to try from within the book are:

Chicken Schnitzel with Lavender Crumb*
Perfect Roast Potatoes*
Spiked Brown Cherry Cake
Sigrid’s Rhubarb Cake with Coconut Meringue Hood
Super Twix Bars*
Cherry and Thyme Liqueur
German Curry Ketchup*

Kindred is a lovely book with great photgraphy, thoughtful shortcuts and also a great success story for Maria and Eva Konecsny. I am looking forward to cooking many more recipes from it!

Nourishing Soup The Recipe

Have a great week! I hope you are also being nourished body and soul!

01
Sep
2024

Welsh Rarebit Crumpets

categories: Bread, Cheese, Grilled Cheese, United Kingdon

Hello, friends! Tuesday, September 3rd, is Welsh Rarebit Day. Welsh Rarebit is one of my favourite foods—breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper. You name it – I’ll happily eat a Welsh Rarebit at that time. And over here at Maison de la Retro Food, we will be celebrating with a Welsh Rarebit Crumpet.

I have previously written about the dubious origins of the name so I won’t repeat myself. But, for anyone not familiar with the dish, it is a fancy version of cheese on toast. My recipe comes from British chef Mark Hix from the book Midnight Feasts: An Anthology of Late Night Munchies by Charmain Ponnuthurai. He calls it a “Rabbit,” a term used in the 18th century. I’m using “rarebit” to be kind to vegetarians. And no bunnies were harmed in the making of this dish!

I chose this recipe because, whilst having eaten Welsh Rarebit many times, I have never combined it with the joy that is a crumpet before! And it really was a joy! I had these for a working at home lunch and not only did they hit the spot taste-wise, they are also quick to make and the ingredients are usually on hand in most kitchens. Well, you might have to buy crumpets. And if you are the type of person who always has crumpets on hand, well done! You are truly living your best life! You could also use toast for these but you would miss out on one of the delights of the Welsh Rarebit Crumpet.

Crumpets, as I am sure I don’t need to tell you are full of holes. Here is one of my crumpets pre Rarebit

Now, when you add Welsh Rarebit to your crumpets and heat them, something wonderful happens. Those holes fill up with lovely, lovely melted cheese! So, not only do you have cheese on top of your crumpet, you also have it in your crumpet as shown in the photo below.

Bloody brilliant!!!!! I take my hat off to you Mark Hix, you are a genius!

Welsh Rarebit Crumpets – Recipe

Here is the recipe including the adorable drawing that accompanies it:

And just cos that looks tiny, here is a close up of the actual recipe:

Variations on Welsh Rarebit

If crumpets or bread are not your bag, here are some other variations on Welsh Rarebit so you can still celebrate on Tuesday!

Welsh Lamb Rarebit Hotpot: This is going onto my list of things to cook!

Welsh Rarebit Potato Skins: Cheese and Potato is never wrong!

Here’s one with chicken: Yes please!

This Welsh Rarebit Tart is right up my alley

As is this Welsh Rarebit version of cauliflower cheese

Have a wonderful day however you decide to spend Welsh Rarebit Day!

25
Aug
2024

Fish In Lolo Sauce

categories: 1970's recipes, Good Housekeeping World Cookery, Vintage Cookbooks, Vintage Recipes, World Cooking

Bula friends! Which means hello in Fijian becaue today we are taking a trip to the South Sea Islands. Our guide is Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery (1972). We are starting our culinary journey to these tropical shores with a very yummy starter of Fish in Lolo Sauce.

What is Fish In Lolo Sauce?

For those of you who have read my post on Tiger’s Milk Ceviche, the concept of Fish in Lolo Sauce should be quite familiar. It is, at it’s most simple, raw fish in coconut cream.

Now technically you should grate your own coconut and make your own coconut cream. I’m 100% sure that a Fish in Lolo Sauce made with freshly coconut cream is an absolute joy and would be a perfect thing to eat at at a beachside restaurant in Fiji. Here maybe?

Doesn’t that look like paradise?

However, for a quick meal on a Tuesday night, I think we can skip the home grating and use a bought coconut cream. I loved this! You could virtually taste the tropics in every bite. It certainly brough a little bit of sun to a very dark and gloomy Melbourne winter day!

I served mine as a starter alongside some potato chips and on some scallop shells. I quite liked the saltiness and crunch of chips against the coconutty creaminess of the fish. If you wanted to serve this as a more substantial meal, I would suggest a simple bowl of boiled or steamed rice with maybe some steamed green Asian veg. My personal favourite is Chinese Broccoli but bok choy or pak choy or just plain old ordinary broccoli and beans would be great!

Fish in lolo sauce is also a fairly heatlhy recipe. Well…if you ditch the potato chips! 😊

Fish In Lolo Sauce – The Recipe

The recipe says to use white fish. I used salmon because whilst I love raw fish, I want to err on the side of caution and my local fishmonger sells a very reliable sashimi grade salmon. I’ve also included the recipe on how to make your lolo from scratch if you are so inclined! Please let me know if you do!

If you would like a virtual trip to Fiji, then Fish in Lolo Sauce might be the recipe for you! I’ve also got a main, and a dessert coming up if you would want to make an entire meal of it!

Have a great week!