Stories about culinary mockery (C8) continue to come in. Betty Graham of Waitara confesses that, “During the war, my grandmother ran a guesthouse for young gentlemen. One of her favourite meals was slices of ‘battered chicken’, although chickens were too valuable to kill and eat. All went well until I blurted out, ‘Ha ha, it’s tripe’.” Hmm, is being sent to bed without a dinner of battered tripe really a punishment?, C8 wonders.
Then, the family of Jim Forbes of Northwood was just that bit more refined. “Mock fish?” he says. “In my family, fritters made from grated potato were called mock whitebait.”
Peng Ee of Castle Cove adds, “All this talk regarding mock fish, how about vegetarian mock abalone, available in cans from Chinese grocery shops?”
Yet another form of mock food is reported by Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook, “I can remember Mum resorting to mock cream to dress the baking in her kitchen.” Kelly Burton of South Wentworthville says, “My mother still makes mock cream that even has to be washed as part of the recipe. It is still the best ‘cream’ for fairy cakes.”
On the other hand, Andrew Cohen of Glebe is obviously still in trauma from the stuff, citing “the deep disappointment and revulsion at ‘mock cream’ that ruined a visit with Mum to the Pymble cake shop.”
Then there are “mock oyster” sandwiches, says Jenny Murchie of Sawtell, a recipe from 1963 edition of CWA cookbook, and repeated in the 2009 edition, which starts “‘Skin and cook 2 sets of brains’, and finishes with ‘Handle carefully, or it will be mushy when made up’.” Jenny is “not sure how this would go down with city folk”. Can’t help thinking it would go down, and come right back up again.
Robert Sharpe of Bondi brings to our attention, “All this talk about mock fish and mock chicken. What about mock crab? My mother-in-law, from the north of England, made it - a blend of cheese, tomato, egg and mayo. Delicious.” Is there any food left to mock?
Last week also gave us “little furry things from the fridge”. Cathy Rood of Blackheath says, “I wanted to give Christo’s mum the benefit of the doubt and think perhaps she was talking about kiwi fruit, but, as a person who grew up in the 1960s with a Mum with dubious cooking skills, I doubt it.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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