Sunday, June 29, 2014

Kangaroo Steamer




 
Front plate of The English and Australia Cookery Book


Here is a great recipe from The English and Australian cookery book : cookery for the many, as well as for the upper ten thousand. Published in 1864 this was Australia's very first cookbook. The author was a Tasmanian man by the name of Edward Abbott, who used the pseudonym of 'The Aristologist". Aristology was a word first coined in London in 1835 to describe the art of fine dining.
In his book, Abbott provided a broad selection of recipes including many for English, French and Jewish dishes. As well, he gave many recipes for Australian wildlife like this one for Kangaroo Steamer. Many food historians consider this dish to be the first truly colonial Australian dish. Part of Abbott's intended readership were those belonging to 'the upper ten thousand' or the colonial gentry. It is interesting to speculate whether these readers would have been as interested in the wildlife recipes given in the book as in the description of the hundred guinea dish presented to Prince Albert or the instructions regarding dress and manners at a dinner party.



                                             Kangaroo Steamer (Authors Recipe)

"This is a simple species of braise, and, as its name imports, the meat is steamed. Cut the meat in pieces of about one quarter of an inch square, and put in a pan with a well covered lid, with a spoonfull of milk, an onion shredded into small pieces, and some pepper and salt to taste. When it has been on the fire a short time add about a tenth of the quantity of salt pork or bacon cut the same size as the kangaroo, with a spoonfull of ketchup. Serve hot"

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