Food, Food, Glorious food .. and memories .. and, and .. Part 1 !

Last week on my birthday I had to go down to Cornwall to collect the remains of the things that I wanted from my mother’s flat – the day of reckoning had come .. that departure knowing the connection will no longer be there: sad times.

As travelling by car can do, we have time to think and mull and I got to think about not what I was missing, but the occasions of wonderful fun times over the years for birthdays and some of the fine dishes we’d experienced.



Beotys restaurant as it was .. and as I remember

Having a winter birthday is not really a good thing – but we don’t have a choice do we? ... I scarpered for a few years to South Africa ensuring that I had warm sunny birthdays by the pool, or at the sea with the sand between my incy wincy toes.

However last week I took with me a picnic for a very long-term family friend (92), who is very special to me .. so that we could enjoy a good chat without the worry of preparing or washing up afterwards. We had extra special Waitrose food on paper plates, with plastic cups, knives and forks .... it just fitted the bill: no hassle and no worries: we split the left-overs and the rubbish went in a black bag to be taken away ... nothing for her to do.

Eastwood as Rowdy Yates in Rawhide (1959–65)




Going back to way back when ... and first memories ... my parents must have gone to enormous trouble creating an Indian theme for one of our parties ... we were hooked into Cowboys and Indians .. Clint Eastwood and Michael Langdon to name two .. (was Clint a cowboy ever? – well memories merge! of course he was in Rawhide fame) ... we had a tepee with all the trimmings, must have had bows and arrows, and I’m sure guns .. I don’t remember much more – but it was a wonderful surprise opening the door of the dining room and seeing the magic.




Sioux tipi, watercolor by Karl Bodmer, ca. 1833

I know cowboys and Indians are definitely not ‘de rigeur’ now .. but back then we just accepted the norm ... the same with golliwogs on the Chivers Marmalade pot ... they were always so wonderfully cheerful and brought a smile to our faces; Little Black Sambo one of the small-format books ... he had such wonderful adventures in the sea, sun, palm trees and blue skies – where tigers came out of the bush, everything melted into a yellow sea .. as the tiger chased Little Black Sambo – I did love them .. evoking such brightly coloured memories.

Chivers Marmalade advert from 1952, via Grace’s Guide

I probably wouldn’t have mentioned them – but they’re part of history – and with the Mark Twain “N” thing going on ... I feel I can. Times change – but those times won’t .. that’s life. I’ve had a ‘Letter to the Saturday Times” hanging around because I wanted to mention it ... where do you mention slavery though? If we think about it ... slavery has existed since time immemorial ... no-one was really free .. armies were raised, pyramids and other buildings built, the Roman armies were conscripted ... this letter, I think sets it out clearly though:

Letter to the Saturday Times 27 November 2010 by Mrs Cyrstal Rushbrooke Dickinson, Bedford

Slavery Economics: Sir, At the heart of the New Testament is the ‘book’ of Philemon; the cover-note St Paul wrote, for the voluntary return of a former runaway slave, Onesimus. Paul tells Philelmon’s master, in no uncertain terms to receive him, “not as a slave, but .. as a brother, beloved”. That was the most subversive idea conceivable, in a world in which the institution of slavery was universally taken for granted ({previous} letters Nov 24 and 25).

Enfranchisement of individuals was always possible, and indeed common at the time, the freed individual normally remaining dependent on his former master, as “his freedman”. Very few slaves are known to have been fully liberated , in our sense of the word, let alone given the status of a “brother”, not even in households where common paternity was not infrequently a known biological fact.

But to overthrow the institution of slavery would have ruined the economic foundations of every major civilisation before the Industrial Revolution. No responsible thinker, however humanitarian, could dare to think in terms of abolishing the economic basis of his civilisation until there was a viable alternative. It took centuries, but the Christian Church got there, more or less, as soon as it could.”

What she says makes so much sense, if we think about it .... and as I posted over at Stephen Tremp’s Breakthrough Blogs .. but now ....

Little Black Sambo, from the 1899 edition, written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman

Can I go back to food, glorious food after those first paragraphs – perhaps yes, considering my next mention is the musical Oliver! which premiered in 1960 ... my parents went to see it a few times ... I seem to remember feeling left out, and never went! Anyway that was our introduction to Greek food ... Oliver! was on at the New Theatre in St Martin’s Lane, and Beotys became our favourite restaurant for a few years. The Greek restaurant opened up my palate to other world's of tastes .. sadly I see it is now closed, must have done so relatively recently.

Oliver! Original theatre programme and poster - 1960

To go back to our picnic last week ... which my ‘aunt’ described as absolutely fantabulous – "she of very high standards", was extremely happy to sit by the fire with a paper plate full of goodies .. and let me tell you they were goodies ... I had to go to Waitrose and make notes, because I’d forgotten what I’d bought – well the ingredients contained therein!

We had a selection from the following for my two visits ... six hour fireside chats! ... the first time we had her homemade mulled wine before I switched to apple juice (champagne was on the cards – but as I was driving to Penzance thought better of it!) ... we started with quails’ eggs and celery salt – a special request from the week before ...

... then lunched on smoked salmon crescents, mini scallop shellfish selection (a creamy prawn mousse, topped with king prawns and smoked salmon) a smoked haddock, smoked salmon, egg and asparagus layered tian – with a champagne vinaigrette, crawfish tails with lime mango mayonnaise, mini blinis, salad slithers for me, half-frozen sweet cherries and Cornish cream to round off ... so a wonderful experience and the fact my aunt had no work to do at all made her day almost perfect!

Waitrose’s - Salmon Tian

I left her with her first Taiko Sushi titbits of a taster! with an explanation of pickled ginger, wasabi - hope she remembered not to have too much?, and soya sauce ... something new at 92 – can’t be bad! More memories and good food coming up ...

Here's a story on this amazing lady that I posted almost two years ago ... Huggins Cottage

Dear Mr Postman .. who would have thought I could cover all those topics in one post ... but that’s “this mind” being let loose ... I’m sure my mother would be amused; though because she cannot eat or drink ... I don’t discuss the food and drink elements – she was an excellent cook .. and loved entertaining.

Hilary Melton-Butcher
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