Friday 22 April 2022

Your (My) Mum's cooking.

 

Some will have bad memories of their mother's cooking; for others it would have been a pure delight. My own experience was somewhere in the middle, but certainly edging towards delight.

My mother's arsenal of recipes was very much post-war-frugal. We still had rationing when I was small (even though there were ways around such things), but as we had a very good sized garden there was plenty of room for Chickens, Bantams, and occasionally Ducks or Geese. We had a good selection of fruit trees, nut bushes, and vegetables. And we also had 'Fuller' who did all the hard work.

I can't really remember much of my mother's early cooking, other than a bacon, onion, and sage roly-poly (also known as 'Clanger', above) which I loved. It was stodgy, filling, and delicious. It was a steamed savoury suet pudding, that really filled the belly, and was always accompanied by a good dollop of freshly made Colman's Mustard. I once tried to imitate it; and failed.

When I was about 7 or 8 my mother discovered Elizabeth David, her Mediterranean Food book was a revelation to post-war Britain, where she taught English cooks how to use a few herbs or spices to jazz-up otherwise plain meals. It was a different way of thinking about food, and my mother tried her best to put into practice what she had learned.

We ate a lot of Beef joints in those days; I think they must have been cheaper, and more available, than Pork, Lamb, or Chicken. Big pots of pukka 'dripping' were always available in the larder.

One of her favourites from the Elizabeth David book was a Chicken Casserole which was cooked with Chopped Tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives, and cider. It always had Bay leaves in it, but I'm not sure what else. Every time she made it, it became better and better. I still make it today.

My mother also made a stonking good Chocolate Cake. My task was to do the squiggly lines in the icing with the back of a fork. I'm still an expert.

She was a plain-ish cook, but with pretentions. Whenever she travelled abroad, she always returned with strange exotic ingredients in her suitcase; some were good, others just looked good. I do remember a small tin of 'Thrushes in Sauce' which (as one might expect) came from Spain. We all came to the conclusion that the poor Thrushes would have been better left alone!

I only remember my father ever making two things. Firstly he very occasionally made Curries which contained banana, and secondly he once produced a large batch of Piccalilli. Both were very good.

I was trying to think of some recipe that I would ask my mother for, if she was still here; but I couldn't think of anything. Maybe like most children, I probably view my mother's cooking through rose tinted glasses.

36 comments:

  1. I don't remember much about mum's cooking from early years, I remember a lot of cabbage and there was a vegetable garden so we must have eaten those veggies too. We didn't have lamb then, we had hoggett, which is year-old lamb not yet old enough to be called mutton. Very hard to get these days. I do remember goulash, which is very similar to a beef casserole I make these days, and apple strudel, home made, which we ate with lots of whipped cream in winter, or warm vanilla custard. Dad's specialty was plum cake, a basic buttercake mix, in a flat tin maybe one inch deep, but 10 by 12 inches, on top of the cake mix he would put sliced plums and sprinkle the whole thing with brown sugar before baking. We loved it.

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    1. Hoggett had a revival here for a while, but seems to have gone again.

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  2. My Dad loved a bacon clanger ! …. & my mums bread pudding was legendary . … she was really good at pastry too. My grandmother and Aunt were good cooks as well ….. they made wonderful fruitcakes covered in almonds on the top. It was often quite simple but always tasted good. XXXX

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    1. The 'Clanger' was real wartime food. It tasted good, filled your belly, and made use of what was available. I really must try to make one again.

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  3. My mother used to make a good sausage and tomato pie, and she could feed the 5000 on a tin of sardines! My grandmother used to make a thing called "Wednesday Cake". You made it on the Saturday but it had to stay in the cake tin untouched until the Wednesday, it was great, I wish she'd given me the recipe but as a teenager you don't think about things like that.

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    1. Sausage and Tomato Pie sounds like a family recipe; invented when there was nothing else in the cupboard. Such recipes often become firm favourites. When we were students my wife invented a Rice, Sardine, and Leek 'Bomb'. We loved it and ate it often.

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  4. My mother was an indifferent cook. She preferred shopping and sleeping. I learned to cook at school in Home Economics classes, once known as Domestic Science. Plain stuff, but I gradually developed a taste for more exotic fare when I started to travel.

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    1. Travel certainly broadens the gastronomic mind. What can't we buy these days?

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  5. Mum cooked because she had to, not because she enjoyed it. The basics were OK. The chip pan lived on one of the hobs. It wasn't until I went into the wider world I discovered people actually cooked for pleasure. I was astonished to find my children look back with nostalgia at the food I served them. That pleases me.

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    1. I love cooking, and I'm pleased to say that my oldest son loves it too. We even exchange recipes!!!

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  6. Lucky you. I didn't realise what a poor cook my mother was until I was an adult. The only exotic meal she could make was chow mien. Otherwise meat and basic vegetables and the occasional stew. I hate stew to this day.

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    1. I love a good stew in the winter. My problem here is that WINE is so expensive, and a good stew without wine isn't worth eating.

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  7. My son complained endlessly about the fact that I made a lot of soups in his growing up years. I worked night shift, Tim worked second shift, and the kids all went to school. So I made soup because I could assemble the soups, put everything in the crockpot, and it simmered all day. When anyone was ready for a hot meal, all they had to do was ladle it out.

    Fast forward: Now my son is married and a father. He and his wife made the decision that she would cut back on her nursing hours to raise their child to school age and looked for ways to economize.

    I got a call from Brittani. "Dylan says you made the best soups, and that I should get some recipes."

    A mother lives for moments like that, let me tell you.

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    1. Having lived in France for the past 48 years, I have always lived on lunchtime soup. Lunch in France is even called 'La Soupe'.

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  8. My kinds were bought up on good wholesome food. we had kidneys, heart, liver, Breast of lamb, Pork Hock, and lots of other delicious meals. All very reasonable in price then. The kids as their schools were horrified when they told them what they had but they have all grown up strong and healthy. I dread to think of the health of some children now eating Pizzas and so called chicken nuggets etc.
    By the way, chicken was our Christmas dinner when I was young from Aunties farm, they were a luxury then and more expensive than Lamb or Beef.
    Briony
    x

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    1. I seem to remember that a WHOLE roast Chicken was a treat. We had our own but they were mostly layers. We did have Bantams which were lovely. Otherwise our Sunday roasts were usually Beef.

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  9. Affectionate recollections. They always say that the way to a man's heart is through his belly and this can apply to sons as well as lovers. I wonder what your children will recall of family meals from their childhoods?

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    1. My sauces! They were always Sauce of the Nile, Sauce of Inspiration, etc. They would always ask what they were called.

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  10. I loved my mother's cooking and fortunately have many of her recipes and books she used. My children learnt some of her classics and we still make her dishes. My father became an expert baker
    in his later years and we have his handwritten recipes. It's a wonderful way to keep their memories alive.

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    1. We gave my daughter a Ladybird girl's cook book when she was small. It has notes written throughout 'Good for parties'.

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  11. I learnt all my cooking skills from my mother and still cook in the same way. She was a good cook. She was also a great baker of cakes and pastries. I don't do these but understand the skills, never forgotten. She was also a great jam maker.

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    1. The English are known for their Cakes and Jams; it must be the fault of the WI.

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    2. My mother never went to WI, I don't think she could imagine anything worse. Her mother died when she was 9 so I assume she was mostly self-taught as she was sent away to boarding school as soon as her mother died, and her next home was when she married my father at 19. I guess she just learnt as she went along.

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    3. I still think that the UK's love of Jam and Cake has been perpetuated by the WI; whether one was a member or not. There are very few WI members compared to the number of cake or jam makers

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    4. Yes, agreed. I wasn't disagreeing with you.

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  12. My Mom was a wonderful cook. She was Italian and could make most everything taste delicious! HER favorite, tho, was liver and onions which none of us would touch!

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    1. I have had a real desire recently for Lamb's Liver. However, I can't summon any enthusiasm from Lady Magnon!

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  13. Why are you living in england instead of in France?

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    1. He loves it here though. He forgot to tell you that. Best thing that ever happened, gave him a reason to come home.

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  14. My mother used to say, "If I could give everybody a pill for each meal it would be ideal." She cooked but not happily. She was more interested in her Women's Club teas and nice meals at restaurants. She had help for housekeeping and child care. She should have had a cook!

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    1. I'm not sure if my mother enjoyed cooking or not; I imagine she did. Kitchens were less friendly places in those days, but she coped very well.

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  15. My mother's one decent meal was pot roast. Actually, very good. Otherwise, casserole from cans, hamburger and pasta, etcetcetc.

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    1. I suppose the reason why I can't remember too many of my mother's 'creations', is because I was mostly away at school.

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