Hello, and welcome to the fifth and final post of the Food that starts with Z mini-series…We’re heading to Switzerland for some Zurich Mushroom Tartlets.  And I have a new book to cook from!  Pack your passports friends, we are taking a trip around the world via Good Housekeeping’s World Cookery from 1972.

The book promises

• 222 illustrations, 48 in  full colour
• 672 pages
• 2316 recipes from all over the world

The World in 1972

So what was this world of 1972 that we are about to enter into? What was the zeitgeist that spawned this tome?

www.thepeoplehistory.com tells us that

1972 This year is marked as a black year in history due to the use of terrorism entering sport with the massacre of 11 Israel Athletes by Arab Gunman. Also this is the beginning of the biggest political scandal in modern times and the start of the Watergate Scandal. On the other side of the Atlantic a worsening of the problems between the IRA and the British government see wrongs from both sides and innocent lives are lost. 

Hmm…cheerful.

But who knew years were colour-coded?  Who has that job?  And can I have it when you’re done?

On a happier note, in 1972 you could buy these awesome shoes for just $9.97.

And this wig was a bargain at $20. The resting bitch face is possibly a sign of the troubled times…

Or maybe she was just worried about getting her wig wet.  Problem solved by this umbrella for a mere fiver. Look how much happier this woman is now she doesn’t have to worry about wet hair.

Switzerland 1972

So in the midst of all this trial and trib, what was going on in the notoriously neutral country of Switzerland?  Well, hold onto your hats because while chaos and panic were overtaking the rest of the world?  The Swiss were creating an International Convention on Safe Containers.

The Swiss are an orderly, well-mannered, and meticulous people.  This is why you could probably take your safe container and join a group of Swiss people mushroom foraging around Zurich without fear of dying from some fungi-induced poisoning.

Which brings us back to do…oh…oh..oh  (If ANY of you thought we were going to get through a post on Switzerland WITHOUT a Sound Of Music reference, then you don’t know me at all do you?).

ZURICH MUSHROOM TARTLETS

Let’s start with the recipe. It’s a very good place to start…(Refer paragraph above re The Sound of Music) And let’s hope that it isn’t an omen of things to come…

Hmmmm….make the pastry it says  Without actually telling you how to do that.  So, If they’re not going to tell you?

I will.  Here’s what you do.

Put your flour back in the cupboard, your egg and butter back in the fridge and tip your salted water down the sink.  Then you get in your car and drive to the nearest supermarket and by some ready-made pastry shells.

Because if they can’t be bothered, why should you?

I used a mix of mushrooms for my tartlets and added some herbs from the garden into the mix.

I  pan-fried the small fancy mushrooms in so they could be artfully strewn over the top of the tarts whilst I cooked the regular ones as per the recipe.

IWhile the mushrooms were cooking, I warmed the shells in the oven, then tipped the filling into them.

A sprinkle of parsley and some smoked paprika and these were good to go!

And they were delicious!  Creamy and earthy with a lovely crisp and light pastry.

Despite the initial setback with the pastry, the Zurich Mushroom Tartlets were a good start to this book.  Easy to make, quick, and tasty!  Best eaten in front of the telly watching The Sound of Music,  Or wearing your best curtains.  Or both.

Have a great week!