Friday, April 25, 2008

Anzac Day.

April 25 ...

Today is Anzac Day in Australia, the day that we pay homage to the brave men who fought and died at Gallipoli. It is a public holiday, so there will be many picnics and BBQ’s later in the day.

Anzac biscuits are the food most associated with the day, and we have looked at their history on a previous Anzac Day (see the links below), so today I give you a couple of recipes with Aussie names, just for fun. They are proof of the idea that each nation re-names the classics in its own honour – the following could just as easily be Irish Stew and Fruit Bread.

They are from an undated version of The Coronation Cookery Book, compiled by the Country Women’s Association of NSW.

Drovers Dream.
Flour and season 6 thick shoulder chops, place in a casserole. Fry 1 medium sliced onion in butter, place in the casserole with the chops, add 12 small sliced turnips with sufficient water to cover. Bake in a moderate oven until chops are tender – about 1 hour. Remove cover the last 15 minutes. Serve with small new potatoes sprinkled with chopped parsley and melted butter.

Bushmens’ Brownie.
Use 4 cups of flour, 1 cup each of sugar, dripping, currants, and raisins, 1 teaspoon each of baking soda, cream of tartar, spice, and cinnamon, and sufficient milk to mix. Rub the dripping into the flour in which the soda, cream of tartar, spice, and cinnamon have been mixed and sifted. Add the sugar, currants, and raisins, and mix with milk to make a dough slightly stiffer than that of fruit cake. Place in a greased meat dish and bake for one hour.

Previous Aussie Food Stories.

Last Year’s Anzac Day Story:
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/04/aussie-war-cake.html

From Hardtack to Anzacs – on Companion site (about ANZAC BISCUITS).
http://companiontotheoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/04/from-hardtack-to-anzacs.html

Lamingtons: the first recipe (so far).
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2006/01/barons-hat-and-other-mysteries.html

The Pavlova: Aussie or Kiwi? The debate.
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/01/pavlova-story.html

Tinned Meats, Australian.
http://companiontotheoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/01/tinned-meats-australian.html

Australian Meat, English Pie.
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/01/australian-meat-english-pie.html

Damper
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2008/03/unconspicuous-consumption.html

and Damper 2.
http://theoldfoodie.blogspot.com/2008/03/yesterdays-promised-post-is-postponed.html

Monday’s Story …

Bread and Mutiny.

Quotation for the Day …

Always eat grapes downward -- that is eat the best grapes first; in this way there will be none better left on the bunch, and each grape will seem good down to the last. If you eat the other way, you will not have a good grape in the lot. Samuel Butler (1835-1902)

3 comments:

Lidian said...

I wonder why it was called Bushmen's Brownie and not Bushmen's Fruit Cake or Spice Cake?

The Old Foodie said...

I wondered that too. 'Brownie' is an American term, so perhaps it was 'trendy' at the time.

istanbul tours said...

To find the grave of my grandfather at Hill 60 at Gallipoli was the object of a weekend visit from Istanbul.We had booked through a tour operator there but a few days from departure from Sydney,I contacted them top confirm they would take us to Hill 60 and they said they do not go to that part of the peninsular on their tours.I cancelled right away and, luckily,in that weekend's newspaper's travel section was a letter from a person who had booked with directly in Istanbul so I emailed them and was told http://www.privatetoursinistanbul.com they could take us to Hill 60 at no extra cost.A coffee break half way after 2 1/2 hours allowed us to stretch our legs. On the final part of the 5 hour journey,a tape was played outlining the history of the Dardenelles-Gallipoli campaign in 1915. Upon arrival at the Maydos waterside restaurant we were given lunch on the terrace wirth a wonderful view across the Dardenelles then we were off to the Brighton Beach site (one beach south of Anzac Cove and we were shown large maps of the area nd our guide explained the topography and battles shown on the map and the sites we would be visiting that afternoon.After the rather complete and highly interesting afternoon tour which included a visit to the local museum, we were taken back to restaurant and boarded a cruiser for the short crossing of the Dardenelles to Cannakale.. This in itself was a bonus as one could view the Gallipoli peninsular and grasp the view which eluded so many in rthe 1915 campaign when only a few Australian soldiers reached the peaks and saw the Dardenelles which we were now crossing,only to be beaten back by the Turks under the leadership of Attaturk later reforming President of Turkey.Included in the tour was a Sunday morning tour of Troy- that most elusive and explored city which Homer wrote about some 1200 years BC with Helen, the beauty being kidnapped by Paris and the resulting Trojan War which saw Troy VI destroyed only to be rebuilt at least 5 more times! There is a wooden horse there now but the original is said to have been a seige engine. driver and a guide to go north to Hill 60 to find my grandfather's grave. Through some wheat fields and onto a low knoll and here we were- the first persons to ever visit his grave, front row extreme right hand end.Only 44 graves, some 930 all buried in common grave, the action was made up of left-overs from various regiments,Aussies,New Zealanders ,British in this, the last main battle of the campaign.They were all wiped out in 2 days. An Australian flag, some gum leaves and a red poppy we left on the grave stone- it is a lonely place,sad and gut wrenching when one sees the absolute wastage in human lives-Back to Istanbul on the coach with memories and a feeling that we had, at least fulfilled one of life's ambitions!