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Qfl Sue Burke back to fast foods By SUE BURKE Examiner Staff Reporter Preparing meal of traditional Nova Sco tian dishes from scratch is an unnerving pro spect for anyone accustomed to readymix dinners frozen foods and McDonalds And particularly for me am not creative cook My breads dont rise and the memory of my one attempt to freeze vegetables leaves me weak My attitude toward regular homecooked meals tends to be hitandmiss and while have some dependable recipes have engineered some spectacular failures in my kitchen But my assignment was an article on old fashioned cooking and in burst of misguid ed enthusiasm wound up cooking com plete meal based on recipes from the 18005 My choice of recipes from Nova Scotia came after reading Marie Nightingales Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens fascinating collection of traditional recipes and stories of the people who cooked them In her book she explores the diets of eight races of people who settled in Nova Scotia the French English Germans Scots Irish New Englanders black Americans and their predecessors the Indians Her research spans the roasted meats and wild potatoes and carrots the Indians ate through breads baked in outdoor communal brick ovens by the French to the oatcakes porridge potatoes and meat dinners of the Irish DIFFICUIT CHOICE While the cookbook has over 200 pages of recipes and folklore choosing represen tative crosssection of dishes is difficult Some of the cies of fish Nova Scotlan cooks had in dai supply are either too rare or expensive to be practical to todays cooks as are such vegetables as fiddleheads or sandfire greens And tastes arent the same today as they were in the 1800s My overriding impression of recipes have tried in Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens is one of blandness lack of many of the spices now commonplace in any meal When cooking any of the recipes listed in this article cooks should use their own judg ment in adding spices particularly to the meat and potatoes Another roblem is what foods Nova Sco tians ate ir diets were often dominated by starchy foods heavy syrup pies and boiled meals The final choice of recipes listed here is compromise between ageold recipes and modernday tastes The meat dish is Mock Duck based on recipe said to be over 130 years old and served for generations on one familys table While fish were most plentiful pioneers ate venison beef and pork when it was available roasting it on open spits until the invention of cooking stoves The recipe calls for round steak pounded and filled in rolled fashion with an herb dressing Simmering actions of the gravy or tomato soup used as moisture base for the meat acts as tenderizing agent for any cut you use Preparation time for the meat is 20 minutes while it takes about 12 hours in covered dish in 325 oven to cook The recipe for Fricassed potatoes is Irish traditional dish very similar to scalloped potatoes in preparation and taste Preparation is simple and quick if you boil your potatoes for the dish day ahead and have them refrigerated before slicing The potatoes are one area where old fashioned cooking needs sprucing up with modemday spices Paprika over the top will give added taste The vegetable is Cape Breton Creamed The recipes MOCK DUCK lb piece of round steak cups soft bread crumbs OR cups dried crumbs onion finely chopped Salt and pepper Pinch of mistard teaspoon savory cup melted butter Pound the steak thoroughly Make dress ing combining bread crumbs onion salt and pepper mustard savor and melted butter extra butter if ed to get proper con sistency for dressing Spread dressing across meat and roll the meat up like jelly roll Skewering the ends to prevent dressing from spilling out Bind with string to secure Brown well all over in hot drippings and place in covered baking dish Ma gravy and pour over meat tin of tomato soup can be used in palce of the gravy Cover and simmer in 3st oven for about We hours FRICASSEI POTATOES tablespoons butter cup rich milk or cream Salt and pepper Boiled potatoes cold and sliced Melt butter in saucepan and add cream seasoning with salt and pepper Bring to simmer and add potatoes stirr ing occasionally in until thoroughly heated Put in 375F to 400F oven and brown potatoes on top CREAMED CABBAGE Cape Breton Style small cabbage teaspoon salt Pinch of pepper Little vinegar Butter legg lcup cream Cut up cabbage and cook until tender in small amount of water Season with salt pepper vinegar and but ter Cabbage one pioneers used constantly in meals along with potatoes It is tricky dish to prepare requiring just enouyi heat exposure to thorough cook the vegetables and sauce Any more heat results in curdling of the milk staple on any pioneers table was pies ac cording to the cookbook but my choice for dessert was traditional English tarts and cookies made with nuts and dates The pastries filled with chop ed raisins and walnuts mixed with straw erry jam have been made for centuries in England and Beat egg and add the cream to the mixture Then stir egg mixture quickly into cabbage before removing it from stove Do not allow to boil after the cream has been added or it will curdle GRANNIES ROCKS cup butter cup brown sugar egg yolks beaten teaspoon ground cloves teaspoon cinnamon teaspoon salt lb chopped dates cup broken walnuts teaspoon baking soda tablespoon hot water 134 cups allpurpose flour egg whites Cream the butter and gradually add sugar Add egg yolks and beat well Add the remaining ingredients disolving the soda in water hot water and lastly folding in egg whites which have been beaten stiff but not dry The mixture will be difficult to mix but knead with wooden spoon until it is thoroughly combined Drop on greased cookie sheet and bake in 35oF oven for 10 to 15 minutes Do not overbake ECCLES CAKES Short pastry cup chopped walnuts cu chopped raisins tab espoons strawberry jam Roll pastry about quarterinch thick and cut into threeinch squares Put about tablespoon of filling on each square and after moistening the edges fold the four corners to centre Join well and turn over pressing or rolling slightly until the filling just begins to show Make two small slits in the top place them on yeased cookie sheet and brush with mixture of egg and water Bake ina hot oven 400F until lightlybrowncd about 20 minutest the examlnor Wodnonday Oct 20 1917 10 via the palate were peddled during Wake Week celebrations on city streets The Dastrv should be as thin as possible to reduce any possible heavy taste the tart cold have Grannies Rocks favorite cookie for generations of Nova Scotlan children is the most challenging dish to prepare in the meal and the tastiest The cookies are filled with brown sugar cinnamon crushed cloves walnuts and dates and fascinating moisture basethree egg whites The two dessertsin The Examiners Nova Scotlan meal Grannies Rocks left and Eccles akcs right are both steeped in history Grannies Rocks filled with chopped walnuts and dates pictured in Mixing the stiff dough is difficult but the result is small chewy cookies which will disappear faster from your kitchen than most storebought ones Cooking this meal is challenge If your boss has given you massive headache or youre wearied by children with problems and babies with dirty diapers wait until another night to cook this meal Preparation of the entire meal took me four hours of solid work kneading cookie dough pounding steak chopping ca bage and slic ing potatoes In the end my kitchen looked as though small tornado had swept through with every available dish filled with something My husband approached the finished pro duct with nervousness after hearing curses and muttered instructions floating out from the kitchen for four hours And ever muscle had ached But ha done it My husband took me out to dinner the next night to celebrate the achievement After all you cant overdo all this home cooking in tradition background with other ingredients are chewy cookies which take about 20 minutes to prepare and date back to the 18005 Eccles Cakes are small tarts filled with nuts jam and raisins and date back to English Wake Week celebrations centuries ago Examiner Photo