Thursday, 25 July 2019

Tried, tested and true!!


Book Review of: Liz Harfull's Tried, Tested and True.  
Allen and Unwin, Australia 2018.


Treasured recipes and untold stories from Australia’s community cookbooks.

This is a wonderful book written by Liz Harfull. 

The South Australian writer and food historian has researched her large collection of community recipe books to distil the essence of food and hospitality in (mostly) regional Australia since the late 19th century. 

Liz writes about the well known PMWU and CWA cookbooks, the historic Goulburn Cookery Book, and there are recipe books to raise funds for hospitals, schools, sporting clubs and churches. There are others to assist home cooks in isolated places, new cooks and anyone looking for inspiration. For all of these often forgotten books, Liz provides a story or two, some history and tested recipes.

Liz’s book honours all those home cooks who used their culinary skills to raise funds and assist others in their communities.

Our favourite section is the pages Liz so generously devotes to the Pineapple Princesses.  She gives a good history of this blog and shows off one of our most popular recipes, pineapple fruit cake.

In exciting news, Tried Tested and True was shortlisted for an international Gourmand Award in 2019. There were thousands of entries from more than two hundred countries.  We are delighted to announce that after making a final shortlist of nine books, Tried, Tested and True came equal third in the Food Inheritance category of the awards. 

Liz said that the International Gourmand Award is “described by their Paris-based organisers as the food culture equivalent of the Olympics, the awards honour the best food and wine books, magazines, digital content and publishers from around the world. The 2019 round attracted thousands of entries from more than 200 countries. A long-list of finalists was announced late last year, with my book being named the Australian winner in two categories - best book based around an aspect of food heritage, in which it is now short-listed, and easy home recipes, Ann.

Well done Liz Harfull, Ann and Anne

The Liberated Cook by the Reluctant Housewife to aid research into Muscular Dystrophy NSW

Pineapple Fruit Cake

   



A moist cake with canned pineapple.

1 cup sugar; 500g can crushed pineapple; 500g mixed fruit; 1 tspn bicarbonate soda; 1 tspn mixed spice; 125g butter or margarine; 1 cup plain flour; 1 cup self-raising flour; 2 eggs

Place sugar, whole contents of can of pineapple, chopped mixed fruit, bicarbonate soda, spice and butter in saucepan. Bring to the boil and boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Sift flours together. Mix into cold fruits mixture with well-beaten eggs. Place mixture in greased and lined 20cm tin. Bake in a moderate oven 180°C for approximately 1 ½ hours, reduce heat to 150°C and bake further 20-30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin.

1 comment:

  1. Is Basmati rice healthier than jasmine rice? Both Jasmine and Basmati rice are low in fat and will give you a small protein boost. However, basmati is a healthier choice for diabetics, as it has a lower glycemic index than high quality Pakistani rice (59 to jasmine's 89). Both of these varieties are usually sold 'white'.

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