Food History

For the next three days we have something special. While the key rights (voting, drinking and driving) all descend on Aussie teenagers at age 18, the big party is always the 21st. My wonderful rural NSW correspondent (who gave us the christening recipes not so long ago) has a daughter who is turning 21 this week. She has given me three posts, so today and tomorrow and the day after we celebrate a very special occasion, with recipes, and you get to share in another aspect of her famuly foodways. Thank you, Sharyn!!

A 21st BBQ

“A barbeque, shortened by all to bbq, is a great way to feed a lot of people at once. And for an Aussie country 21st, where the guests might be sitting at trestles in a freshly swept out shearing shed, or seated on plastic chairs in a backyard, a bbq is a perfect match.

According to our friends at Wikipedia, etymologists believe that the word barbeque derives from the word barbacoa. Barbacoa, a method of cooking over a fire pit, on a platform of sticks, was used by the Taino people, who were the Pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas.

While an Aussie bbq is traditionally sausages, steaks, and maybe rissoles or meat skewers, served with salads, the 21st I’ll be helping to cater for this weekend is well in September. Yes, I know it’s supposed to be spring here in the southern hemisphere, try telling that to the night times, as its still jolly cold. So we’ll replace the salads with vegetables, and have a fire bucket going to keep people warm. Simple, right?

Vegetables to feed a crowd

The absolute easiest vegetable dish to serve is potatoes:
5kg bag of chat potatoes, any of the red skinned varieties on offer at the moment will do.
250g tub of sour cream
Half a bunch of fresh chives.

Boil the potatoes in a large stock pot til tender, and cooked through
Mix sour cream with finely sliced chives, place into an unbreakable serving bowl (21st, people drinking, small children, everyone helping themselves, you do the maths)

Drain potatoes and divide in to two large bowls (see above) serve immediately with cream.

A close second would have to be corn on the cob:
12 fresh corn cobs, de-silked and cut in half, boiled til tender, serve immediately, dotted with butter

And finally, a bit of effort, but well worth while is honey carrots:
Top and tail six bunches of baby carrots. Scrub carrots and place in a large pot of boiling water (this can be done early in the day) Drain carrots when just tender, place in a large casserole dish (a roasting pan or lasagna dish is perfect for this) cover with water, half a cup of honey and dot with about 50g butter. Cover with foil, and reheat when needed.”