The Retro Cookbook ~ ACP Books

'Ahh, retro cooking, that's a bit of a throwback' I can hear you thinking, 'full of ghastly dishes that should have been left in the seventies'. In answer to your question (yes, I know you thought you were making a statement, but we all know that you really wanted to find out if that statement is true), the answer is both yes and no. Yes, there is the odd recipe here and there that you may have hoped would never again see the light of day, a la Devilled eggs, but no, that's not really the essence of the book and I think you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.
What this book is about is renewing and revitalising the classics, the kinds of dishes our mothers and grandmothers made, with a fresh take or sometimes just a fresh feel to them. There is a reason that dishes like Eggs Benedict and Caesar Salad have stood the test of time, that Pork loin with apple sauce will always see the plate licked clean, and that the good old Classic Trifle still features at every family christmas. Retro isn't about old and dated, it's about taking the best forward with us. This is simple food, cooked well, and cooked with heart.

The book is delightfully kitsch, its pages peppered with just the right mix of modern takes on the traditional, reproductions of pages from older cookbooks, and some funky 1950's advertisements. It is divided into themed chapters such as 'The milk bar' and 'Dinner with the Joneses', and most delightfully 'Here comes Santa', though the recipes stand alone and are suitable for a myriad of purposes. Breakfast in bed for that someone special, how about the Raspberry hotcakes with honeycomb butter. The girls are coming by for lunch - how about the Chicken burger with avocado and bacon, and for the vegetarians the Chilli and mint eggplant burgers with some Quince and Rhubarb pie for everyone to finish with. The recipes are well constructed, straightforward and accessible, and most of all generally very tasty.
This review resulted from a phone call from the lovely April, so I have been thinking about which recipe most suits her, if I had to pick a single recipe from the book that reflects how I see her, which would it be? Now this is something that I have been mulling over for some time now, how do you find a recipe that reflects a person? I was tempted by the Coffee creme caramels, very tempted in fact, however they are just too smooth, too simple and lack both depth and substance. The Limoncello meringue pies are close, so very close, but ultimately too cloying and sweet. No, for April I have chosen the Lemon Creme Brulee Tarts. Robust, complex, sweet but with a sharp tangy edge, textured and layered and protected by a crust of golden toffee. That is the recipe that best reflects April.
This is a cookbook for everyone, and by everyone I mean everyone who enjoys cooking and having a bit of fun at the same time. Possibly not one for the reluctant retiring BBQ manly type of bloke, but girls go for your life. Recommended for lovely ladies who get off on dressing up in frocks and for the odd psychologist or two.

- Kath

Practical Cookery ~ Victor Ceserani, Ronald Kinton and David Foskett

This book has had a home in my bookcase for many years and is indeed as practical as the title suggests. It was my bible while studying cookery way back in the mid 90's, the standard text which all aspiring chefs lugged around from class to class, and it served me well in the kitchens at East Sydney Tafe. Whilst I never went on to continue the professional journey as a cook, I have held onto this gem and courted its' pages periodically since then, with a fondness that comes from our shared passion for cookery.
Perhaps passion isn't the word that would automatically spring to mind when you start flicking through the 700 plus pages of recipes, indeed there are no seductive menu suggestions, no tantalising double page photographic spreads of delicious treats. What this book gives you instead are recipes for consommé, for Gnocchi romaine, for chicken vol-au-vent. "Passion my arse," I can hear you think. But passion is what this book is all about. It is about helping those with a love of cooking develop their skills, learn the very fundamentals of the craft, and begin at the beginning. It is about making accessible very simply the traditions of the profession. It is about food and about cookery and about the people who choose to make this their life's work, and it doesn't get much more passionate than that.

So with recipes so basic (so very fundamental), what practical purpose does a book like this hold for the more experienced cook? I'm glad you asked ~ it is a treasure trove, it holds little keys to the wider world of cookery, and while you may want to let your creativity flow and impress the world with your deft combination of flavours and textures, you cannot go past this book for the basic starting blocks. You can work with the basic bavarois and give it a little tweak, you can make your own puff pastry for creating something decadent, or you can simply make a fresh egg pasta dough to accompany with something fresh and delicious. More simply though, this book is a resource, it is comprehensive in covering the basics of cookery methods, it is well structured and simple to follow, and best of all has a fantastic index. It is not pretty, nor does it pretend to be, but it is practical and hidden within its' pages is passion.
Recommended for apprentice chefs and for those who studied cookery and look back at it fondly as one of their happiest times.

- Kath

Grandma Davies Boiled Fruit Cake ~ Sarah Jane Davies (nee Dawson)

Christmas is fast approaching, so getting into the spirit of the season I decided to bake one of my very favourite christmas treats - a moist, delicious boiled fruit cake. For such a long time I wasn't a fan of fruitcake - it can be dry and just not really that nice, but this recipe is moist and flavoursome and just good. It also holds special meaning, as it is my great-grandmother's recipe that she would make each year, and which she gave to me about twenty years ago. My great grandmother passed away earlier this year, just a few months shy of turning 100 in August, and making the cake today made me happy, the smell reminded me of her little kitchen, and all the treats we'd get when we'd visit. Wherever you are Grandma, we miss you, and we think of you.

Here's her recipe;

1/2 cup sherry
1lb (500g) mixed dried fruit*
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
4oz (125g) butter
1 cup cold, mashed cooked pumpkin
1tbs golden syrup
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1 cup beer
1tsp bi-carb soda
1/4tsp salt

Place the fruit, sugar, butter, golden syrup, salt and beer in a saucepan. Boil the mixture for 20 minutes and then allow it to cool thoroughly. *After the fruit is cooked you can add a few chopped dates to the mixture while it's still hot.
Add the lightly beaten eggs, pumpkin, bi-carb and sifted flours to the cooled fruit mixture and mix well.
Bake for 1 3/4 hours in a moderate oven. Pour the sherry over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.

What I haven't told you yet, one of the very best things about this cake, is that you can give the flavour lovely subtle variations through a few different means. Over the years I've used boiled and roasted pumpkin, I try different types of beer (imagine the difference between the Corona and the Guinness versions), and I've used a gorgeous imported sherry which blew the other cakes I'd made right out of the water. I hope you have fun with it, enjoy it, and think about someone important to you as you make it. That's what christmas is all about really - the people important to you.

- Kath

Kafka's Soup, A complete history of world literature in 14 recipes ~ Mark Crick

This book brings together two of my great passions in a simple yet amusing and very, very clever way. Kafka's soup subtly blends together the writing styles of 14 of the world's great literary figures to deliver an extraordinarily readable cookbook, as much at home amongst the classical literature as it is in the kitchen, if not perhaps more so.

The recipes selected are both appropriate to the voice they are delivered in, and are highly edible, if you are able to move beyond enjoying the book for it's literary and humourous values and actually cook from it. Although I've not read literature by each author Crick represents, I have read enough of them to thoroughly revel in the work, and can imagine that the recipes indeed comes directly from his or her kitchen.

The recipes run the gamut including Tarragon eggs a la Jane Austen where we hear Jane's literary voice explain that "The eggs of Oakley Farm had only recently been settled in at the kitchen at Somercote, but already Mrs B___ was planning a meal that would introduce them to the neighbourhood with what she hoped would be universal acceptance". Crick builds a story around the recipe, preceding the actual food preparation with three pages establishing the motive and decision behind the choice of Tarragon to accompany the eggs before moving onto what is essentially a very simple scrambled egg with tarragon.

The Fenkata a la Homer explores both a decidedly appetising rabbit dish, as well as the tension between Achilles and Agamemnon over who gains the better portion, drawing the reader back into the world of the Illiad, and the very sensual Boned Stuffed Poussins a la Marquis de Sade also draw the reader back to the works of the literary great they are imitating. All the recipes are extremely readable, from the Onion Tart a la Geoffrey Chaucer to the Clafoutis Grandmere a la Virginia Woolf, and I even enjoyed the Coq au vin a la Gabriel Garcia Marquez (possibly because it didn't take 100 pages for anything to happen), but my favourite recipe is definately the Rich Chocolate Cake a la Irvine Welsh.

This cookbook is a joy to read, especially if you're into literature. Recommended for literary types, and those who like a giggle.

- Kath

Fondue & Table Top Cookbook ~ Marina Wilson

Who doesn't like a good fondue? It's a great social occasion sharing a glass of wine or two as you hover around the pot with your guests trying desperately not to drop the cube of bread off your fork. As a true child of the 1970's with a mother who, at least when I was young, entertained in the true spirit of the times, I grew to love fondue parties, as they were the highlight of the social calendar. It's a fondness that has stayed with me, though I can't say I've hosted a fondue party, so when I mentioned a few days ago that I am partial I was pleasantly surprised by the response of my friends (who I believe are also true 1970's children). What better to do then than to pull out a true 1970's fondue cookbook with a view to a fabulous 1970's style fondue party sometime in the not too distant future? And they don't come much more authentic than this gem, published in 1974, another originally from my mother's collection.

The book is in two parts, that specifically dealing with fondue's (and a chapter on sauces), and that for tabletop cooking. The latter features appetizers and dips such as the somewhat interesting sounding Gherkin dip, a selection of even more interesting sounding mains like the Elmhouse chicken livers and Kidneys flambes, some less than interesting salads as well as desserts and beverages. Some of the latter two sections sound decidedly tasty, and I'm certain I would have no difficulty getting through the Apples a la Brandy, the Jamaican mango or the Cherries flambes washed down with an Orange and Cognac supreme or a strong Irish coffee.

The true strength of course of the book though is the chapters of fondues in all their kitsch glory. The opening chapter does what all opening chapters should, and draws you in with the hook of the cheese fondues. 36 cheese fondues to be precise, ranging from Affluent fondue which has both kirsch and riesling, and is served with tinned champignons (yes I think affluent may have meant something different in 1974), to Port and cheddar fondue (very strong - I recall making this when I was in my teens), Rheinlander fondue and Queensland fondue, because we all know that Queenslanders are different to the rest of us. Following up this are the meat fondues, where the meat is cooked in the pot of flavoured stock or oil, and then the seafood fondues. Again there is quite a variety to cater for all tastes, ranging from Rabbit fondue and Meatball fondue through to Mussel fondue. I can honestly say I am unlikely to cook too many of these, but it warms my heart to know that the recipes are out there. There are a small selection of sauces on offer, but as we all know, the fondue wins out when it comes time to open the chapter on dessert fondues.

Oh the desserts! Okay, honestly, I'm never going to cook the Peanut butter and honey fondue, but the Sweet fondue of cream, Tia Maria and brown sugar, the Chocolate Rum fondue or the Brandied coffee fondue - not a problem at all - Yum!

Simple, easy to follow recipes the whole way through the book, and very difficult to fail at achieving a most authentic 1970's feel if you follow the recipes religiously. Use your nous and modify them a smidgen and you might even convert a few non fondue aficionados to the cause.

Recommended for 1970's children, their reminiscing mothers and fondue lovers everywhere.

- Kath