Kiwi Food.

Today, September 6^th …

In honour of my friend and fellow-blogger Barbara of winosandfoodies, today I give you a taste of New Zealand’s culinary history. The Edmonds Cookery Book was a marketing exercise on the part of the Edmonds company to promote their baking powder and jelly, and has somewhat iconic status in the country. It is now freely available online. The Director of the online project, Alison Stevenson, says that there are not many families in New Zealand who have grown up without a copy. The online version is the third edition, published in 1914, and like Australian cookbooks of the era, is more English than Antipodean. You wont find barbequed kiwi bird or silver fern salad within its pages.

Even if they cooked the same old things from ‘home’, early settlers often gave their dishes ‘local’ names. There is one single recipe with a local name in this little book. It is a scone, really.

New Zealand Buns.
1 breakfastcup flour
1 tablespoonful sugar
1 heaped teaspoon Edmonds' Baking Powder
1 egg
3 ozs. butter

Rub the butter into flour, sugar, and baking powder, then add the egg well beaten, and enough milk to make a stiff dough. Place in heaps on cold greased oven shelf. Bake quick oven 10 to 15 minutes.

I liked this one too – another scone recipe to add to our collection.

Preserved Ginger Scones.
½ lb. flour (one breakfast cup)
1 oz. butter
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Edmonds' Baking Powder
Preserved Ginger
Milk and water to mix

Sift baking powder and salt with flour, rub in butter, mix to a stiff dough, turn out on board, cut in two equal parts, roll out, spread one-half with thinly-cut ginger, place the other half on top, cut in squares, brush over the milk, and bake in quick oven.

Tomorrow’s Story …

Eating in Oxford.

Quotation for the Day …

“ Love in a ——— ”

“ Do you love me ? ” said the cup to the custard.
“ I'm just brimming up in you,” replied the custard.
“ You sweet thing,” answered the cup.
“ Delightful.”

A Golden Rule.—Hold fast to that which is good.

[From the cookbook featured today! I don’t quite know what to make of this.]