Chef and cookbook author Ross Dobson has taken his hobby of finding ‘forgotten’ recipes and created a gem of a book, The Lost Recipes. He searched old journals, books, and newspapers to find over 90 recipes from Down Under from Victorian times to the 1950s. Here are just some of the rediscovered recipes:
Green Tomato and Pineapple Jam – a recipe sourced from Burnie, Tasmania from 1933. This came from a search by Ross for a jam that was unusual, but still delicious. Great on toast, fresh ricotta, or even on an upside down cake.
Salmon Patties – sourced from Hurstville, New South Wales from 1932. They are nothing like fish cake but instead like little pies with a mingling of salmon and other ingredients.
Chicken Curry – sourced from Cowra, New South Wales, 1914. Old curry recipes were apparently very bland in Australia, but this recipe has chillies, garlic and ginger!
Baked lamb & Potato pie – sourced from Perth, Western Australian, 1908. It’s not pretty but the flavours in this dish are amazing. It seems to be a variant on a traditional Irish stew, but with some changes.
Molasses Cake – sourced from Hay, New South Wales, 1894. A cake with the taste of liquorice from long ago!
These dishes are nostalgic but still relevant in today’s kitchens. All the recipes have been lovingly rescued, tested and updated.
Karen McMillan
Echo Publishing