My friend David has 300 old New Zealand recipe booksSo guess what he did. He went through the lot, chose the four that most tickled his fancy, added one foreign intruder and wrote a book about them. Not a big book. Just a 20 page booklet. But it's a quirky, teasing, wee gem. And he didn't just write. He cooked, and photographed what he cooked. Regurgitated Recipes, (what a great, revolting title), by David Tulloch is a must for leaving on the coffee table where visitors can pick it up while you make their coffee. Here’s the front cover. Off beat
His cookbook collectionOf his cookbook collection David says: 'There are school cookbooks, kindergarten recipe books, and church fundraising cookbooks. Cookery books by pottery clubs, a retired flight attendant organisation and an Art Society. There are cookbooks dedicated only to fish, or herbs, or muffins, or just soups. There are expensive full colour tomes, and cheap mono-coloured booklets in that strange purple you only got from a Gestetner.' In Regurgitated Recipes each of the chosen five books gets a lively and amusing detailed summary of its contents, with well chosen comments, and always there is one recipe in full, with illustration – illustration either from the book or of David's cooked result. Distinctively, each of the book sections is individually engaging. And there is always something to be amused about. Stretching the Meat RationMy main attention though, went straight to the final book. Here is David's introduction to it.
Familiar territoryWhat David writes about from this 1944 two and sixpenny book, brought back clear memory pictures of my meat-rationed childhood in Dunedin. My Mum and Dad and I ate brains, tripe, lambs fry (liver), kidneys, stuffed roasted rabbit, pig trotters, ox tail soup, sausage meat, and vegetables such as potatoes fried in mutton fat, to stand in for meat. In addition, all fat was saved as 'dripping' and when set was used to 'butter' breakfast toast. I don't remember the book but I certainly remember the food. The recipe with which David's discussion of Stretching the Meat Ration finishes is Mock Whitebait. That leads me to talk for a paragraph or two about real whitebait. Whitebait are a New Zealand icon. Every New Zealander thinks he or she has the right to a feed of whitebait, usually cooked as fritters. Certainly, when I was growing up we had whitebait frequently when it was in season. WhitebaitAccording to the Department of Conservation (DOC), 'Whitebait are the juveniles of six species of fish. Five of these are migratory galaxiids: inanga, banded kōkopu, giant kōkopu, kōaro and shortjaw kōkopu. The sixth species is common smelt.'¹ Every spring these little fish come sweeping in to river mouths all over the country but especially on the west coast of the South Island. Whitebaiters fish for them with hand-held and stationary nets. The traditionally most common of these six species is the inanga. It has an unusual life cycle, pictured below. It starts as an egg laid at high spring tide in riverside vegetation and unfortunately that is too often cleared by humans. That fact, over-fishing and other degradation of streams and rivers is leading to species decline. Indeed four of the six whitebait species are 'threatened or at risk of extinction.' ² I find that appalling because it is just one more instance of how we in New Zealand have abused natural features like rivers. The whitebait rules have been changed and tightened but I fear that won't be enough. More radical care of rivers is necessary. I hope that over the next year or two serious government intent will push more radical care to become a reality. (Please click chart to enlarge.) Mock whitebait fritters.If whitebait is out of season, and it is except for a portion of spring, or if the annual catch is restricted further, the recipe 'Mock Whitebait' from Stretching the Meat Ration could again become commonplace. The recipe reads like this:
John McInnes Friday 22 October 2021 References: please click a red text ¹ Whitebait: meaning ² threatened or at risk of extinction Dr Ayesha Verrall Assoc. Minister of Research Science Picture Credits: Ianga life cycle diagram: Department of Conservation: Used with permission Cartoon portrait of David Tulloch: supplied by the subject. Special note: David Tulloch's little book is available for sale. Just email: [email protected] ##########
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