Bully Beef, Turkey and a Signalman

Food is a journey and this is one I would love to share with you.

I heard this particular story a few times in my later life from a very special person, my father. Most of his stories were told at the kitchen table over a cup of tea.

My father was the backbone of my family. He supported us in every decision we made, whether it was right or wrong, he knew it would be a learning curve for us. If we fell, he was always there to help us back on our feet and move forward.

He has passed now and I feel it fitting to share one of his stories with you.

It was World War 2 and most men in Australia had joined the armed services to fight and protect our country. 

My father was average height, with dark slightly curly hair and solid build. He joined the Australian Army and became a Signalman. His job as signalman was to lay the lines for communications.

The story began when he was in an Australian Army camp in Borneo. He did not tell me how long they had been there, my guess is it wasn't very long. 

Borneo is a island to the north of Australia.

One morning, the Sargent in charge told him he would have to lay a cable to a camp not far away. I never asked how far it was because I never wanted to interrupt him. He did say he packed enough rations in his kit for a couple of days.

He set out with his rifle, kit, the line to lay and map. The weather was hot and humid. As he made his way, he did not go through the jungle but followed the clearing along side it.

At times he heard noises and wondered if it was Japanese soldiers. He kept moving and made his way to the destination unscathed.

His destination was an American Camp. The officer in charge told him that they were grateful to have the communication line laid. My father intended to head back to his camp, but the American officer wouldn't have it. "You must be tired, sit down and I will have lunch brought to us."

The officer outranked my father, but he wanted to have lunch and this was overlooked.

Never one to turn down a meal, my father took him up on the offer and had lunch. It was turkey with trimmings. Not sure what the trimmings were!

While eating, my father commented how nice it was to have something other than bully beef. The officer could not believe what he was hearing, "Did you say beef?"  The description of bully beef is it came in a can like spam, but they say it was like a salted- beef cured product more like corned beef.

I am not sure if it was the first trade negotiations my father made, but one was made! 
The Americans were tired of turkey and the Australians tired of bully beef. An agreement was settled and somehow a couple of cartons of bully beef was swapped for a couple cartons of turkey.

On his return to the Australian camp he visited the the cooks tent and told them of his wonderful news. Yes, the cook was happy to swap.

They Australian's ate the turkey and loved it.......Never heard how the Americans liked the  bully beef!

I always told him to write his stories for people to read. Sadly, my father never did. I wish he had, there were so many to tell.

I will share another with you soon.

This is not beef or turkey, but a delicious lamb dish.

Braised lamb with red wine and prunes

Ingredients

1 Kilo or 2.2lbs of lamb shoulder
Half a cup of plain flour
1 cup of pitted prunes
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 chopped onion
A quarter of a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of minced ginger
1 and half cups of red wine
Half a cup of beef stock
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

Cut lamb into cubes and coat with flour. In a large fry pan on low heat put in half olive oil and cubed lamb. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stirring until meat browns. Remove from stove, take out lamb and put to one side.

Return fry pan to stove and put in remaining olive oil, onions, garlic, prunes, ginger and cinnamon. Stir until well combined for a few minutes. Add wine, stock, lamb and simmer on a low heat for about 2 hours until tender. You can add water if the gravy starts to dry out.

I like to serve with mashed potato and steamed green beans.

Enjoy!