Cottages and Cuisine!!!!!!

Pensioner Guard Cottages   

   

Western Australia has many historical buildings. This is a story about some cottages with a difference.

The Pensioner Guards arrived with the first convicts and for the 18 years convicts were brought to Western Australia.

They were Freemen and called Pensioner Guards because they had been pensioned out of the British army and other military establishments. They weren't necessarily old, but had finished their tour of duty.  The men were encouraged to come out on convict ships and act as warders.

Upon arrival, their main duty was to act as a disciplined body of men who could be called by civil authorities to quell any disturbance.

In Western Australia, Pensioner Guards were placed on the fringes of towns with convict depots. The guards were offered packets of land, ranging from two to ten acres. The land came with a two room cottage costing 15 pounds to build. They were erected for the pensioner guards by convicts and ticket of leave labourers.

The cottages were leased to the guards provided they remained and worked for at least seven years. After seven years, the land and cottage became theirs. There were four cottages built in West Guildford, now known as Bassendean, of which Surrey Street is the only one remaining.

Number one Surrey Street was completed in 1857. Records show the first tenant was John Law Davis, his wife Amelia and children. Law Davis was a 30 year old Pensioner Guard, originally employed by the East India Company. Over the next few years, five more children were born .

John died in 1870.

Amelia married John Bates in 1873 and had two more children. Bates was not an enrolled Pensioner Guard and their two children were born in Guildford. It’s possible they too were born and raised in the cottage, which presumably passed to Amelia on the death of her first husband.  

Creamy Prawn and Pasta 

Ingredients

350 grams of fusilli or other short pasta
2 tablespoons of butter
2 whole medium sized leeks, washed and cleaned of any sand /grit halved and finely sliced 
salt and pepper to taste
Half a tablespoon of crushed garlic
500 grams of peeled and deveined prawns
One cup of heavy cream
Zest of one lemon
300 grams of baby spinach
Two tablespoons of olive oil
Half a cup of white wine
One whole corn on the cob (slice the kernels off the cob)
  
Method

Place the pasta in boiling water with about one tablespoon of olive oil and boil until cooked. Drain and set aside.

In a large fry pan place butter, one tablespoon of olive oil and when it has melted add the sliced leeks and corn kernels, stirring for about two minutes. Then place prawns, lemon zest  and white wine in and cook for about a further 3 minutes, or until prawns are done.

Lastly, add the cream, garlic, baby spinach, pasta, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until well combined and heated thoroughly.

Serve with fresh crusty bread.

 

Cooks Creations!!!!

Cookbooks, are they dying as we use the internet to look at food sites?

Department stores were different when I was a child, they always carried different  books, now they seem to be diminishing. Even book stores seem to be few and far between.

I still have my first cookbook purchased from a department store in Perth, Western Australia when I was only about 8 years old.  'The World Book of Meat Dishes' by Nina Froud. It was first published in 1965 in Great Britain and again in 1970. A medium sized book of about 140 pages, I spent all my pocket money on it!

There are many  books I have collected over the years and often refer to them.
The oldest book in my collection is 'The American Woman's Cook Book' edited by Ruth Berolzheimer published by Consolidated Book Publishers, Chicago in 1944. 

After some research, I found two interesting stories. 

One on an old book written 600 years ago by chefs employed by King Richard II. 
Experts from Manchester University's John Rylands Library, who discovered the manuscript, have translated a handful of its 150 recipes, which are written in Middle English and date back to 1390.

The recipes include frumenty, a porridge-type dish made of bulghar wheat. Saffron and payn puff as well as a dish of boiled fruits wrapped in pastry.

The unusual cookbook, called the 'Forme of Cury', is believed to have contained dishes to feed servants and the royal family alike. It gives a fascinating insight into the delicacies of the time, including dishes of swan and peacock. After translating the recipes, historians wanted to try the dishes themselves. However, with no ingredient quantities or instructions, making the dishes proved tricky. John Hodgson, who looks after the library's manuscripts and archives, said: "One of the difficulties was that a lot of the recipes were very vague."

Another book, 'Apicius' dates back to the 9th century and is owned by The New York Academy of Medicine. It is the only surviving Roman cookbook, a 9th century copy of the original 2nd century cookery manual. Only two copies of this cookbook, formally entitled 'De Re Coquinaria' are known to exist. The other 9th century copy is believed to reside in the Vatican library, which is older by a few years. 

The Apicius is regarded by culinary historians and those involved with cookery with an almost religious adoration. The name 'Apicius' had long been associated with excessively refined love of food, from the habits of an early bearer of the name, Marcus Gavius Apisius a Roman gourmet and lover of refined luxury who lived sometime in the first century AD, during the reign of Tiberius. 

This 57-leaf document is written in Latin and contains recipes used by the Romans.

The book had been rebound in the 18th century by a French book dealer in mottled calf with gilt edges. A book dealer had removed the 9th century binding to separate the Apicius from a text by Hippocrates, the two had been bound together. ("The Hippocrates" now resides in a collection in Geneva, Switzerland, and is bound in the same 18th century mottled calf as formerly on the Academy's Apicius manuscript). Some years ago, the worn 18th century binding was removed, and the 1,200-year-old manuscript needed to be rebound. The Academy hired Deborah Evetts, the now-retired Head of Rare Book Conservation at the Pierpont Morgan Library, to restore the Apicius using a generous donation from the Culinary Trust. That donation was underwritten by The Brown-Forman Corporation and Kitchen Aid. Evetts cleaned and repaired the 9th century manuscripts parchment leaves, added new vellum end sheets for protection, and hand-sewed through original sewing holes. 

They say the cookbook is a fascinating document that offers a glimpse of life in ancient Rome. It contains many recipes and uses the secrets of ancient Roman and classical Greek cuisine. They ate the same green vegetables, meats, poultry and seafood as called for in these recipes and most of the same spices. The herbs used by Romans were Oregano, Sage, Coriander, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme. 

The history of the Academy's copy is interesting. The Apicius passed through different hands over the centuries and eventually ended up at the Paris bookseller's shop. The cookbook was purchased by an English aristocrat and book collector. After his death, it was sold at auction and was purchased by Dr. Margaret Barclay Wilson, who eventually gave it to the Academy. 

This may have been cooked in the old days and under a different name but today I call it.....

Bernadette's Creamy Chicken Deluxe 

Ingredients
 4 large Chicken Maryland pieces with skin on
40 grams of butter
2 Green Apples peeled, cored and sliced
10 small pearl onions
2 Bay leaves
1 teaspoon of thyme
Salt and ground black pepper 
6 tablespoons of Brandy
120 mls chicken stock
120 mls of crème fraîche
Half a lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons of parsley, finely chopped

Method 

Melt half the butter in a saucepan over high heat, add apples and sauté, stirring carefully with a spoon until golden brown and tender. Transfer to a bowl.

Melt the remaining butter in the pan over medium heat and fry the onions, bay leaves and thyme for 2-3 minutes.

Add chicken, skin-side down and cook for 5 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook for another 5 minutes. Season generously with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Add the brandy, turning the heat up high to burn off the alcohol, and cook for 3-5 minutes. 

Lower heat to medium, add chicken stock and when stock comes to boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is tender. 

Stir in crème fraîche and add apples, raising the heat again to allow some of the cooking liquid to evaporate and the sauce to thicken. 

Finally add lemon juice and parsley.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!

Pavlova Gate!!!!

Who created the Pavlova?

Recently, I was making a Pavlova and it made me think about who created it.

The pavlova is a beautiful meringue dessert with fresh whipped cream and fresh fruit on top. 

Named after the Russian Ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who visited New Zealand and Australia in the 1920's. The meringue dessert resembles her beautiful white ballerina costume.

Both countries still claim it as theirs! The Oxford dictionary favours New Zealand's case. Stating the first recorded recipe for pavlova was in the 1927 book Davis Dainty Dishes, a publication by Davis Gelatine (NZ).

Keith Money, a biographer of Anna Pavlova, wrote that a hotel chef in Wellington created the dish when Pavlova visited the capital in 1926 on her world tour.

Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at the University of Otago, New Zealand has compiled a library of cookbooks containing 667 pavlova recipes from more than 300 sources. Her book, The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand's Culinary History, states that the first Australian pavlova recipe was created in 1935, while an earlier version was penned in 1929 in the rural magazine NZ Dairy Exporter Annual.

The Australian website Australian Flavour gives an even earlier date of 1926 for its creation, suggesting that Home Cookery for New Zealand, by E Futter, contained a recipe for "Meringue with Fruit Filling". This recipe was similar to today's version of the dessert. It was never called 'Pavlova' though!

However, it has also been claimed that Bert Sachse created the dish at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth, Western Australia in 1935. In defense of his claim as inventor of the dish, a relative of Sachse's wrote to Leach suggesting that Sachse may have accidentally dated the recipe incorrectly.
Leach replied they could not find evidence "because it's just not showing up in the cookbooks until the 1940s in Australia".

Now to throw a spanner in the works. I have found some other information that may cause a stir! 

In 1720, a Swiss pastry-cook called Gasparini, practised his art in (Mehrinyghen) meringue, in a small town in the State of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Germany. Even the venerable Larousse perpetrates this myth, in complete disregard for the fact that confections made from sweetened, stiffly-beaten egg whites appear in cookbooks printed well before that date. The earliest I can find appears in the recipe collection of Lady Elinor Fettiplace, which is dated 1604, which she calls White Bisket Bread. 

To Make White Bisket Bread. (Original Recipe)

Take a pound & a half of sugar, & an handful of fine white flower [flour], the whites of twelve eggs, beaten verie finelie, and a little annisseed brused, temper all this together, till it be no thicker than pap, make coffins with paper, and put it into the oven, after the manchet [bread] is drawn.
Note: this is clearly what we would call ‘meringue’, but Lady Elinor does not use the name. 

The first use that I am aware of (and I stand willing to be corrected) is in the cookbook of François Massialot, the first chef of Louis XIV (1638 - 1715). His book was published in 1692, and contained a chapter on “Meringues and Macaroons”.

For something different try this beautiful Pavlova roll.......


Peach and Passionfruit Pavlova Roll

Ingredients 

Three quarters of a cup caster sugar 
4 egg whites 
Half a cup flaked almonds
300ml thickened cream 
1 tablespoon of icing sugar
400g tub of sliced peaches in juice, drained, chopped 

2 passionfruit, halved 

Icing sugar to serve 

Method

 

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 25cm x 30cm Swiss roll pan. Line with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang on all sides. Place a second sheet of baking paper on a flat surface. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon caster sugar.

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add remaining caster sugar. Beat for 10 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Spread mixture over prepared pan. Smooth top. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake for 10 minutes or until top just starts to brown.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, beat cream and icing sugar until stiff peaks form. Pat peaches dry with paper towel.

Turn meringue onto prepared baking paper. Remove lining paper. Cool for 30 minutes. Spread with cream mixture. Top with peaches and passionfruit pulp. Roll up meringue from one long end to enclose filling. Place on a plate and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Enjoy!!!

A Match made in Heaven

I love to walk through beautiful old buildings, courts and arcades. One that stands out to me in Perth, Western Australia, is  "London Court". The architecture is beautiful Tudor/Elizabethan.  

It was built by a wealthy gold financier and businessman, Claude de Bernales. Originally it was used for residential and commercial purposes.  The arcade runs between the Hay Street Mall and St Georges Terrace.

The arcade is situated on land which previously was a collection of alleys known as Gun Alley and owned by former  Mayor of Perth, Thomas Molloy. Claude de Bernales acquired the properties from Thomas Molloy in February 1936 for the Australian Machinery and Investment Co. Ltd for the sum of £75,000. The arcade was conceived as being a continuation of the recently completed Plaza Arcade to the north, giving shoppers and commuters a continuous retail thoroughfare from the Perth Railway Station through to The Esplanade and the Swan River.

Claude de Bernales engaged Melbourne architect Bernard Evans to design the arcade in association with local consulting firms Oldham, Boas and Ednie-Brown Architects. Construction commenced in August 1936 and took less than 12 months to complete at a cost of £100,000.

The building was constructed using quite modern building techniques for its time, and featured an air-conditioning system not previously seen in the state.
Other architectural features include ornate entrances with large wrought iron gates at each end. At the Hay Street end at the first storey level, a large clock chimes every quarter-hour, half-hour and on the hour. Four mechanised knights appear from a castle door and move in a semicircle each time the clock chimes as they apparently joust with each other.

At the Terrace end, another clock in a window shows a miniature Saint George doing battle with the dragon. The clocks were made by the Synachrome Company of London at a cost of £4,000.

The two interior ends include statues of Dick Whittington and his cat  (northern end) and Sir Walter Raleigh (south end), each in bastion towers and gazing down on the shoppers below. Other distinctive features include gargoyles, masks, shields, crests and wrought iron signs and brackets. Gabled roofs, weather cocks and lead lighting add to the Tudor style. The arcade floor is laid with terracotta tiles.

Originally, the arcade included 24 residential flats in the upper levels as well as 53 shops and 55 offices. Most of the residences have now been taken over for commercial purposes. The arcade currently houses mainly small specialty retail shops and cafes.

The arcade was opened by former Lieutenant Governor and former premier Sir James Mitchell in a lavish ceremony on 29th of July 1937. Mitchell described the arcade as being "unique in Australia" and that it "would be an ornament to the city".
The opening was celebrated with a three-day 'Ye Olde English Fayre' which attracted several thousand visitors and raised £2,000 for the new Perth Hospital at St Georges Terrace and Irwin Street. 

After all the sight seeing let's have afternoon tea with my delicious Matchsticks! 

Bernadette's Cream and Jam Matchsticks

Ingredients

2 sheets of puff pastry
3 cups of whipped cream
5 tablespoons of icing sugar 
Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence 
Jam of choice - plum or  strawberry are my favourites!

Method

Turn oven on to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a flat baking tray with baking paper.

Cut pastry into about 5cms wide by about 12cms long  and place on the baking tray. Bake in oven until puffed up and golden brown.

Once cooled cut each matchstick in half.

Place cream in bowl and whip until thickens, add 2 tablespoons of icing sugar and vanilla essence, then slightly mix until combined. (Do not over whip or it will go like butter) 

Spread the bottom half of each matchstick with jam. Then place whipped cream on top normally to about 2cms in thickness. 

Place tops on the matchsticks and sift the remaining icing sugar over the top.

Enjoy!

A Cake and A Cemetery!!!!

Perth, Western Australia has some great places to visit. One I would like to talk to you about may surprise you, The East Perth Cemetery.

You must think I am strange to talk about a cemetery but there is so much history in cemeteries.

When growing up, I remember my mother and father taking me to see my grandparents graves. I did not like it at all, I thought it was scary and a place where people were sad. Then one day my mother said, "There is so much history in a cemetery, you can normally tell how a town or city was born". I did not understand at the time, but as years went by I realised what she meant.

Perth is not an old city like some places in the world, but it has history. 

The East Perth Cemetery is on the crest of a hill overlooking the Swan River. The cemetery contains the graves of many of the State’s early pioneers. Historic cast iron railings and old tombstones adorn the graves.

The cemetery site was surveyed by John Septimus Roe on the 24th December 1829, soon after the central portions of the Perth town site had been surveyed. The area was known as Cemetery Hill and was established in 1830.  

The first record of a burial was Private John Mitchell, a soldier from 63rd Regiment. Mitchell died on January 6th, 1830.

During the first decade of colonial settlement, no one appears to have been made responsible for the daily running or organisation of Perth’s burial ground. This was remedied by June 1838, when the Governor appointed eight trustees who were responsible for Church of England property, which included burial grounds. These same trustees were granted Perth Town Lot R 1, containing four acres, for the use as a general burial ground on 5 April 1842. The place was announced in the Government Gazette as a Public Cemetery under the control of the Church of England Church’s Trustees. The Trustees issued regulations concerning the operations of the cemetery in 1843. The Cemetery was consecrated by Bishop Short (of Adelaide) on 14 November 1848. 

A small mortuary chapel, St. Bartholomew’s Chapel, designed by colonial architect Richard Roach Jewell was built and consecrated by Bishop Matthew Hale on 16th February 1871. 

Population changes led to the re-dedication of St. Bartholomew’s Chapel by Frederick Goldsmith, the Dean of St. George’s Cathedral, for use as a parish church. St. Bartholomew’s Chapel became St. Bartholomew’s Church on 19 August 1888. In 1889, a bell was hung near the entrance to the church. 

On 28th May 1878, John Septimus Roe died and was interred at East Perth, the cemetery he surveyed.

Today, you can take a guided tour from 2pm to 4pm on Sundays. An admission fee is charged. The address, Bronte Street, East Perth.

Orange Syrup Cake

Ingredients 

225g butter or margarine, chopped 

1 cup of caster sugar 

3 eggs 

1 and a half cups of self-raising flour, sifted 

1 orange, rind finely grated, juiced 

Orange Syrup 

1 cup of pure icing sugar, sifted 

2 oranges, juiced

Honey Yoghurt

200g of plain yoghurt  

1 tablespoon of honey 

Preheat oven to 190°C. Grease and flour a medium size round cake pan.

Beat butter or margarine and caster sugar in a mixing bowl with electric beaters until pale and creamy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Fold in the sifted flour with a large metal spoon. Then fold in the orange rind and juice, until well combined. Spoon mixture into the prepared cake pan. 

Place pan in a preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until golden, and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cover cake with foil for last 10 minutes of cooking to prevent it from over-browning.

To make the orange syrup. Place sifted icing sugar and orange juice in a saucepan  on a low heat, stir until mixtures reduces to a syrup. Pour over cake while in pan for the syrup to be absorbed. Let stand for 10 minutes before turning onto a serving plate.  Let cake cool.

To make the honey yoghurt, combine honey and yoghurt in a bowl. Serve with cake on the side.

Nautical Names, Champagne and Tagine!

Recently, I read an article on the
SS Kwinana and found it was originally known as the SS Darius. 

The Steamship Darius was bought in 1912 by the State Government of Western Australia. At first, it was decided to rename her Kimberly, but there were too many ships of that name on Lloyds' Register of Shipping. Kwinana was finally chosen, the name taken from a sub-division in the Kimberly district. It is Aboriginal for 'Pretty Maiden.'

On Christmas Day, 1920, the Kwinana was damaged by a fire at Canarvon, Western Australia. A year later she was brought to Fremantle, Western Australia where she was stripped and towed to moorings at Careening Bay, Garden Island. During a westerly gale in 1922, a mooring shackle was parted and the vessel drifted across Cockburn Sound to where she lies today.

The rusting hulk of the SS Kwinana was cut down to low water level, and the centre filled with limestone to form a platform as part of the jetty at Kwinana. 

Thinking about this boat and how it was renamed I was wondering if it is bad luck to rename a boat/ship.

After doing a little research, I would like to share what I have found and leave it up to you to decide! 

According to legend, every vessel is recorded by name in the ‘Ledger of the Deep’, and is known personally to Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea. To change the name of a vessel without consulting Poseidon is to invoke his wrath. So in order to change a boat’s name, a traditional ceremony is used to appease the Gods of the seas.

The first thing that must be done when renaming a boat is purge its old name from the Ledger of the Deep and Poseidon's memory. This will involve wiping out every trace of the old boat name, and reciting a short ceremony to remove the boat’s name from Poseidon’s records. 

The renaming ceremony can then begin, and should take place as soon after the purging ceremony as possible. Finally, the gods of the winds must be appeased with another short ceremony, which will assure you of fair winds and smooth seas wherever you sail.

This version is for the Southern Hemisphere. For the Northern Hemisphere, swap around the attributes of the wind Gods, eg:
Great Boreas, exalted ruler of the North Wind would have frigid breath instead of scalding.
Oh mighty rulers of the winds, through whose power our frail vessels traverse the wild and faceless deep, we implore you to grant this worthy vessel (Insert your boat's new name) the benefits and pleasures of your bounty, ensuring us of your gentle ministration according to our needs.

Facing north, pour a generous libation of Champagne into a Champagne flute and fling to the North as you intone: Great Boreas, exalted ruler of the North Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your scalding breath.

Facing west, pour the same amount of Champagne and fling to the West while intoning: Great Zephyrus, exalted ruler of the West Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your wild breath.

Facing east, repeat and fling to the East: Great Eurus, exalted ruler of the East Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your mighty breath.

Facing south, repeat, flinging to the South: Great Notus, exalted ruler of the South Wind, grant us permission to use your mighty powers in the pursuit of our lawful endeavors, ever sparing us the overwhelming scourge of your frigid breath.
Of course, any champagne remaining will be the beginnings of a suitable celebration in honor of the occasion.

Once the ceremony has been completed, you may bring aboard any and all items bearing the new name of your vessel. If you must schedule the painting of the new name on the transom before the ceremony, be sure the name is not revealed before the ceremony is finished. It may be covered with bunting or some other suitable material.

I also found this site where ocean liners were renamed and their fate!

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ocean_liners

Next time you see a boat/ship think about that name and hopefully, if you are travelling on it and it has been renamed, it has been done correctly!

All this talk of the Ocean has made me hungry and I would like to share one of my favourite dishes!

Chermoula Fish Tagine

Ingredients 

1kg firm white fish fillets 
1 tablespoon of olive oil 
1 brown onion, finely chopped 
3 celery sticks, trimmed, finely chopped 
2 carrots, peeled, finely chopped 
400g can diced tomatoes 
125ml (half a cup) fish stock
Fresh mint leaves, to serve 
Lemon wedges, to serve
Rice, to serve

For the Chermoula 
A quarter of a cup fresh coriander, chopped
A quarter of a cup flat leafed parsley, chopped
1 large red chilli, seeded and finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, crushed 
A large pinch of saffron 
1 tablespoon cumin seeds 
1 lemon, juiced

Method

To make the chermoula. Combine the coriander, parsley, chilli, garlic, saffron, cumin and lemon juice in a large glass or ceramic bowl.  

Cut fish into strips about 6cm long and 4cm wide. Add to the chermoula. Toss to combine. Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinate

Heat the  oil in a 28cm flameproof tagine over medium heat. Cook onion, celery and carrot, stirring until onion softens.

Add the tomato and stock and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Place the fish on top of the onion mixture. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the fish flakes when tested with a fork. 

Top with mint leaves and serve with lemon wedges and steamed rice.

Serves 4 People