Peter Pan
Duologies are coming into fashion. Two novels that are linked. I’m not going to do that to you, though it is tempting. Instead I’m going to do two posts.
Tonight I want to introduce you to a tiny little cookbook. Tomorrow I thought it would be fun to look at a bit of the food in the book the cookbook relates to.
The booklet is “Lunching with Peter Pan”. It’s only sixteen pages long, without dates but with many dreams inside. It’s not linked to the Children’s Hospital that has lived for so many years on the royalties of Peter Pan. Instead, it’s recipes from “the Committee and some supporters” of Peter Pan Kindergarten, Paddington NSW. In other words, Sydney, Australia.
So what food does the Peter Pan Kindergarten recommend? And just when was this cookbook from?
The second question is straightforward. Library catalogues are just wonderful things. The National Libary of Australia says it was published in ‘196-’. Maybe towards the earlier end of the decade rather than the later, because everything is so very pre-metric and the names of the recipe donors are particularly formal. Mrs. Neville Manning gave the Barley Water recipe and Mrs. Stephen Hewlett a recipe for a Gimlet, while Mrs. William Adams tells how to make Rum and Pineapple Juice and Mrs. Leo Cook Cucumber Soup.
That gives you an idea of the type of recipes. This is a beautifully trendy booklet. The fashionable foods, from Lettuce Soup to Camembert in Aspic. There’s Curried Chicken in Grapefruit Cases, Duck with Olives, Oysters in Prawn Sauce Nola and Beetroot with Orange Sauce. Everything you need for an elegant sixties dinner.
For dessert you might want Angel Mousse, or you might prefer Lemon Ice, either served with creme-de-menthe or white rum, or sprinkled with “powdered expresso coffee.”
Maybe I’ll do a Swinging Sixties dinner from this booklet one day. I even have a suitable black lace dress with a rather mini skirt. See, a booklet of dreams.
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