Today,
for those of you outside the continent who may not know, is our official
national day here in Australia. The day commemorates the date in 1788 that the first fleet of ships carrying
convicts from Britain sailed into Sydney Cove, and the country was formally
claimed for Britain by Captain Phillip – without (as per the usual method of
imperial nations of the time) the indigenous inhabitants of the continent being
included in the new ownership decision.
The debate about the appropriateness of celebrating the day of invasion
and colonization will hopefully be settled by consensus before too many more
decades are past, even if this requires re-naming of the day (‘First Fleet
Day’?) or perhaps the choice of another day altogether.
My mission on this blog is not to wax political
but is simply to give you some insights into how the day has been celebrated in
the past and how the Australian colonial experience was perceived in the Mother
Country, and also from time to time to give you some ‘Australian’ recipes and
food stories.
In
the middle of the nineteenth century there was a shortage of meat in Britain
and Europe for a variety of reasons (see the first link, below). Luckily there was no shortage in the colony of
Australia, to which free settlers had been lured with the promise of “meat
three times a day” – an unheard of luxury to the working class in Victorian
Britain. The obvious opportunity was seized by some of the movers and shakers
in the far south land, and in 1865 the Australian Meat Company was established, with a head office in London,
eager graziers and farmers throughout the land Down Under, and a large-scale
canning operation in the state of South Australia. Canned Australian meat was,
however, not met with overwhelming delight amongst the working classes of the mother
country (to whom it was targeted), despite the enthusiastic efforts of the
promoters.
Many
‘Australian Meat Dinners’ were held in London over the second half of the
nineteenth century to promote the product, and these were often reported with
interest in local colonial newspapers. One such dinner was described in the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett
Advertiser (Qld.) of 13 February 1875 :
The Australian Meat Agency, Cannon-street,
London, who has recently given a series of Australian meat dinners to
representative men, gave one at the Guildhall Assembly Room, under the auspices
of the Walsall Trades' Council, by whom a gathering of 200, chiefly working men
and their wives, had been got together.
... The bill of fare
comprised boiled beef, spring lamb, seasoned beef, minced collops, vegetables, pickles,
tea, and water.
The
meats were served cold, in order that they might be subject to the severest test
possible. In commencing the proceedings the chairman said that Mr. Tallerman
would show them first how properly to open these tins of preserved meat, and
this that gentleman at once proceeded to do. Holding the tin bottom upwards,
over a plate, the splendid provision slipped on to the plate as easily and as
perfect as if simply turned out of a mould, while loud applause proved at once
the looseness with which he had been watched and the spectators' admiration. He
cut it down the centre and it stood on the plate, and laying the two halves
flat sides downwards proceeded to cut off thin and appetizing slices which
looked as well as those which might have been cut off a cold joint.
…
The gusto with which the particularly fine meat then handed round was discussed
fully testified its merit, and indeed it is not too much to say that the
samples set on the table evening were equal to any English meat out from the same
part of the beast. Had all that has been imported from Australia been of equal
quality there would not now have been any necessity for Mr. Tallerman to be
perambulating the country prosecuting a vigorous war against prejudice. If, as
is stated to be the fact, the meats served on Wednesday are simply the ordinary
meats imported by Mr.Tallerman’s company (and indeed, as the tins were opened there
and then it is almost impossible but that they were),there is little doubt that
prejudice will rapidly be dissipated, and Mr. Tallerman and his supporters will
deserve the ample return which their enterprise and public spirit will have won
for them. All the meat was of high class but the minced collops were the
perfection of a savoury and tasty dish, and will form a wonderful addition to
the many delicious little tit-bits provided for breakfasts or for meat teas.
Mr.
Tallerman spoke at some length on the Australian meats. He mentioned the
enormous quantity now brought into this country, about 16,000 tons 'annually,
and observed that it came in no less than ninety-two different forms. He asked
the working people who tried it, to compare it with other cold meats of the
same description, and urged that it would be found, not a substitute for, but
an admirable addition to, the present meat supply. He dwelt upon its cheapness
when compared with fresh meat, maintaining that in a leg of mutton, of ten
pounds, at 10d. or 11d. a pound, the loss in cooking would be about 2 lbs.,which,
after deducting the bones would only leave about 4 lbs. of cooked meat. This
cooked meat would have cost by the time it was eaten about Is. 6d. a pound,
while that from Australia was only some 6d. or 7d. a pound when it had been
cooked. He also commented upon the advantage it had in many parts of the
country from not requiring anything more than a few sticks to heat it and make
it ready for table as a hot dish, by that means saving the very costly article
of fuel, and concluded by thanking all for their attendance, and the patience
with which they had heard him.
… The Chairman called
on Mr. Hodgson, who, he said, had been one of the first in Australia to boil
down sheep for their tallow, to second the motion.
Mr. Hodgson did so in a
long and humorous speech, in the course of which he mentioned that he had
twenty-five years previously given a lecture on Australia to a Walsall audience,
at the request of his friend, Lord Hatherton, then Colonel Littleton. He
explained the large surplus of cattle and sheep that existed in Australia, and
pointed out that they were descended from picked English cattle. He was not the
first, but the second, to boil down sheep in Australia for their fat, but now
he thought they found a better use for them. He gave several anecdotes in
relation to the use of the meat, and the admiration with which it was spoken of
by prejudiced persons when they did not know what they were eating, and
concluded in the words of Shakespeare by wishing ‘may good digestion wait on
appetite, and health on both,’ to the company generally.
The
enormously popular Cassell's Dictionary
of Cookery (London, c. 1870) had an entire section devoted to “Tinned
Meats, Australian.” At one time I promised to eventually transcribe all of
these for your edification and delight, but I seem to have lapsed in that
regard. I offer you a couple today, but
first, let me repeat the opening remarks in the chapter:
Tinned Meat, Australian.
The following original
recipes (one hundred in number) are the result of several years’ experience in
the use of Australian tinned meats. Against these considerable prejudice
exists, owing to a great extent, to the fact that few know how to cook them
properly. If the recipes, here given, however, are followed, it will be found
easy, even for a cook of moderate abilities, to prepare from Australian meats a
succession of tasty as well as digestible and nourishing dishes.
I
have chosen recipes number 11 and 12 for you today, for no better reason that
they call simply for ‘minced Australian,’ which amuses me.
11. PUDDING, ROLL.
Make a crust of one
pound of flour, a quarter of a pound of bread-crumbs, half a pound of rolled
and rubbed suet, one tea-spoonful of baking powder, and water sufficient to
make it into not too stiff a paste. Roll it out half an inch thick, and spread
over it a layer of minced Australian seasoned with pepper and salt, one shallot
finely minced, and a quarter of a pound of minced ham or bacon, all mixed
thoroughly together. Let this be spread upon the paste, half an inch thick,
then roll up as for a jam roll, tie in a wetted and floured cloth, then boil
one hour and a half; turn out, garnish with parsley, and serve thick brown
gravy over the pudding.
12. PUDDING (au
GRATIN).
Mix well together one
pound of flour, half a pound of bread-crumbs, one tea-spoonful of baking
powder, one pound of minced Australian, a quarter of a pound of chopped ham or
good bacon, pepper, salt and nutmeg to season, a quarter of a pound of rolled
and rubbed suet, two eggs well beaten, and half a pint of milk. Have ready a
buttered pudding-basin, pour in the mixture, cover with a wetted and floured
cloth, tie down tightly, and boil one hour and a quarter. Serve with rich brown
gravy round it.
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1 comment:
You Aussies are pretty tough. I imagine you'd have to be minced to be edible :-)
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