By Ed Goode in Dish of the Day — 9 Jan 2025

Dish of the Day: 9th January

Things have been a bit busy lately between Miss Maud (if you usually get a copy, issue 4 should be heading your way shortly, and if you don't get one but you'd like one, email me and let me know), Sowing Discord, and a few other related projects, so I apologise for the sporadic updates on this site. My florist will be open again next week, which means more bouquets to interpret, but for the next little while, instead of Ask the Past, I'm going to try something a little different. (Although of course if anyone has any pressing questions, get in touch as usual and I'll be happy to let the past clarify things.)

Two old cookbooks sitting side by side with a bit of dark wood table visible behind them. The one on the left has a cream cover with a red cross and a picture of an old-fashioned nurse talking to a woman with a notebook, and the title "The Red Cross War-Time Rationing Cookery Book". The one on the right has a red cover with an illustration of what looks like the haunted ghost of a chef holding a speckled turd, and the title "365 Puddings, one for every day of the year".

These two books are from my collection of old books, and they both give one recipe per day. The Red Cross War-Time Rationing Cookery Book was published in 1943 by the NZ Red Cross Society. 365 Puddings doesn't list a publication date, but according to the National Library, it was published in 1941.

If you're sick and tired of coming up with new things to cook all the time, or if you're in a rut where you're cooking the same food every week, these two books have got the answer for you. For dinner tonight, why not try one of these dishes, or if you're feeling very bold, why not both?

The Red Cross War-Time Rationing Cookery Book's dish for January 9th is Cheese Balls:

Beat the whites of 2 eggs to stiff froth, add 1/4 lb grated cheese, mix into balls and drop into boiling fat till they are pale brown. Serve with salad, or baked tomatoes.

That sounds like a lovely main course that will go very well with the Raspberry Tapioca from 365 Puddings:

Soak 4 tablespoons tapioca in cold water for an hour, drain, add 1 quart scalded milk and cook till transparent. Beat 6 tablespoons sugar with the yolks of two eggs. Pour milk and tapioca over eggs, pour back into pan and cook until thick. Then stir in the stiffly beaten whites of the eggs. Leave till cool and when nearly cold beat in raspberry jam to turn a pretty pink.

I think the dish of the day is going to very much be a lucky dip situation, but for this week, at least, provided you're well supplied with eggs and not allergic to dairy, you could probably find worse things to have for dinner.

I'm sure that will help.

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