chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 01

Happy Mother's Day, Mum xox

There is of course no better time to commence a series of blogs about Mamon Wellman's (nee Prowse) culinary prowess, than just before Mother's Day. At which each year, she always received our home made card from us kids and tea and toast in bed. Home made cards, that she squirreled away and kept. Mum was the ultimate sentimental hoarder. 

No recipes this week, instead just some of my food related memories of the great lady .......

Sweet Fanny Adams more than Fanny Craddock
I have already alluded to the fact my mother, was not exactly what you would call a home cook. Never big into the home baking of biscuits and cakes and the likes, or into spending hours in the kitchen. Our meals growing up, were simple meat and two veg, a philosophy mum held all her life. But we always had a choice at dinner time, "like it or lump it" was one of mum's favourite sayings! 

No matter what the situation, we always came home from school to a hot, cooked meal. If we asked what was dinner as soon as we walked in the door, the reply from her was usually the same "thit and treacle" :-)

I say no matter what, because times would have been tough for my mother, bringing up three kids as a widow in the UK in the 60' and 70's. There was no massive government hand outs as there are now. Just how tight things were I did not fully realise, did not find out until much later in life.As kids we didn't take much notice when mum said she wasn't hungry, was feeling poorly etc as the reason she wan't eating. We didn't take it under our radar when we got home that things were missing (had been sold off). Mum provided, she always ensured we were warm, clothed and fed. We never went hungry. 

I grew up knowing we were loved, I grew up with the most happiest of childhoods. Mum was a shining jewel, and loved by all who has the honour to come into contact with her. God bless her ........ she never batted an eyelid when our friends invited themselves to stay. Even when in my teenage years, she would wake up to fine spare bodies asleep in the lounge or on a few occasions, asleep in the bath! (you know who you are!)

mum's favourites
She didn't like anything fancy, taking her out for a meal later in life one could almost lay one's life on the line and bet she would have steak and chips. The steak always (to my horror) well done. It could be as dry as the Sahara Desert, as charred as coal and she would love it. Her other great culinary joy was good old fashioned fish and chips, the other great stand by if we ever went out.

Later in her life, she loved nothing more than a trip to the seaside, an hour or so in a penny arcade and a fish and chip dinner, with a nice cup of tea and some bread and butter. I am pictured hear with Mum, in the last year of her life, on one such trip to Looe, Cornwall. I had returned on holiday from New Zealand where I had recently had all my hair shaved off for a cancer charity and it was a cold, cold winter's day. We are pictured outside the local fish shop, and just to turn the childhood tables on her, I had just bought her a bucket and spade, plus a net to go fishing.

But for some reason; maybe the howling gale and lashing rain or maybe just her fraility, she declined and wanted to go to the pub instead!

what mum cooked
The following few months of chapters will mostly feature dishes mum would frequently serve to us as kids. Mostly just dishes I remember, many for no particular reason and no attached memories. In subsequent chapters, I will not only describe dishes and memories attached to them, but also give notes on the main ingredients and then give both mum's recipe for them and then follow it with my refined version of each. But lets just kick off with some basics ......

cheese and biscuits

If ever there was a plate of food that my mother would happily devour any time of the day, whatever the circumstance, whether well or poorly, was cheese and biscuits. Mum loved cheese. Is it any wonder then that I turned out to be a cheeseaholic and my sister's son ended up working on the Wallace & Gromit series?

Cheddar was the staple, accompanied by Jacob Cream Crackers, with either pickled onions, branston pickle or pickled beetroot. But she loved most cheeses (within reason) and unusually for a plain eater loved blue cheeses. I remember going shopping with her as a child, going into Woolworth's and standing there gobsmacked at all the cheeses on offer, as mum ordered her quarter pound of delicious crumbly textured cheddar.

When I was staying with for her towards the end of her life, more often than not we would share a supper consisting of a slab of cheese (never grated or sliced thin), two pickled onions, a packet of crisps and a nice cuppa.

bangers and mash

Good ole bangers and mash, what more could a kid wish for, for dinner, when they come home from school wet and cold during the winter? Quick, easy, tasty and filling. Which is why probably it always seemed to be the signature dish of every scout troop in the UK, well it was when I was growing up. 

I have very fond memories of peeling spuds for the mash and a big pot of baked beans simmering away ready for when we had all cooked out own sausages over the open fire. There is nothing like, nothing more satisfying than hearing the sizzle of sausages, no better aroma than a banger cooking over an open fire. Sometimes we even cooked them impaled on a stick and sat there holding them in the flames (I bet health and safety wouldn't allow the cubs to do that these days)


hamburgers

Nothing special here, apart from it holding special memories for me as one of my favourite 'home cooked' meals. No flash burger bun, no pickle, tomato, lettuce or special sauce. The bun was a crispy crust bread roll, the meat pattie was either freshly made by out local butcher down the road or Cap'n Bird's Eye frozen ones and essentially that was it. It was simply good honest food, cooked and served with love and a firm favourite.

next week - mum's passion with "on toast" ....... 

chapter XXIV - holidays 02

Like many families of that era, any actual holidays we had, were a week or a fortnight away in a caravan at a seaside resort, or at the infamous Butlin's holiday camps. The closest we got to an overseas trip was the thrill of crossing the Severn Bridge.

Porthcawl features heavily in my childhood holiday memories. It is a popular Welsh seaside resort. The name derives from the Welsh for porth: meaning a cove, bay or landing place and cawl; meaning sea kale. Cawl also means a type of soup or stew (see recipe below)

I recall one day we went to Porthcawl on a day trip with the Welsh Baptist chapel we attended, I think this was after my father had passed away. We were all piled into a bus, coach or charabanc, like the one pictured and off we went to Porthcawl. My only memories of that day are three rather random ones. I remember that as we approached Porthcawl, each kid was given a paper bag (that the banks used for storing change) that had a load of pennies in for us to spend. its a memory that remains with me, as that bag of pennies (or halfpennies) made me feel like a king. My other memory is sitting on a wall with a huge bag of chips, smothered in salt and vinegar that was shared by all us kids. Then on the way home each kid was given a piece of fruit and a slice of fruit cake.

porthcawl and bread rolls
As kids in wales we would go to the very same Porthcawl, where the family had a caravan. I think it had been bought as a co-operative with other family members. It was a huge blue thing, I say huge, I was only a small child so who knows. It seemed like a huge caravan to me back then.

We would spend our days like any child, whiling the days away. We would fly our plastic kites; I had a black one with a scull and crossbones on it. Now and again we would be lucky enough to be able to hire a tandem bike or go cart, build sandcastles, swim in the sea or just play away the day doing whatever. We were kids of the 60's, life was an adventure and we always found something to do, we were always doing something, we were never bored.


Most mornings we would have bread rolls for breakfast. These were fantastic. They came from a bakery on the caravan site. They had this most wonderful, super crisp, brown crust to them with a flavour I can still taste today. I suppose they were a bread roll version of a French stick. We ate them slavered with butter; thick, beautiful, tasty butter and maybe a smear of jam. My elder sister or I would be sent, pennies in hand to get a paper bag full of them. Mmmmmmm, carrying them back the bag clutched to our chests, the bag warm from the freshly baked bread, that wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread enticing us. I couldn't wait to get back and have breakfast.

Porthcawl is a typical UK seaside resort; large beaches, beach chairs, candy floss, amusement arcades, resident fairground and lots of other tacky stuff.

In the summer the air is just filled with all those familiar seaside aromas, of seaweed, fish and chips, candy floss being made, suntan lotion and drying sand.

As with many UK seaside resorts, there was always plenty of vendors selling cockles, mussels, whelks etc and pints of prawns. Quite literally a pint glass filled with prawns. My favourite was always cockles. You could stand there and eat them at the vendor's stand form a little plate and a wooden fork. Or take a little bag of them away to eat on the go; the bag always soaked in a combo of the cockle's juice and the malt vinegar you had just drowned them in. I love these little sweet, seafood gems made into a creamy chowder.

recipe - cockle chowder
050 gm butter
050 gm flour

001 pc  onion
001 pc  carrot
001 pc  celery stalk
001 pc  potato (large)

500 gm fresh cockle meat
500 ml  stock (fish or chicken) 
250 ml  milk
250 ml  double cream

recipe - method of preparation
Melt the butter over a low heat and add all the vegetables cut into small dice (about the size of the cockles). Allow to cook gently for 3-4 minutes. Add the flour and stir in gently. 

Slowly add the stock and milk while stirring. Add the cockles with any juice and the cream and simmer until the vegetables are cooked (approx 15 minutes). Serve with a good, crunchy crusted bread. 

note - I like to finish mine off once in the bowl, with a pile of nori on top; sheets of nori, cut into thin strips and lightly toasted in the oven with the bread as its warming

I recently returned to Porthcawl, my younger sister, my good lady and myself stopped there en route to Wales when we took mum's ashes up for interring. Re-uniting her finally with my father. We stopped off there because we wanted to take Debbie there, because I hadn't been for decades and because mum loved it. So we took mum on one last visit. I could't believe that it looked pretty much the same as my childhood memories, even down to the same food stalls where we would buy candy floss, sticks of rock, a bag of freshly cooked cockles. None were open as we visited in the winter, but there they were.

This photo is myself and mum on her last ever visit.

butlins
We would also, after the caravan was sold I would presume, go on holiday to Butlin's in Minehead. What a wonderland that was for a child. For those not in the know, Butlin's is a uniquely British holiday camp. It was an affordable get away from it all, family holiday.

• you stayed in chalets. Nothing flash, just a basic motel room really. Where mum and dad stayed in one and us kids in our own room/chalet next door. Each chalet was equipped with a built in speaker, that would crackle on and camp wide announcements made; when meals were being served, what entertainment was on, when and where or if a lost child had been found etc. 
• there was organised events and entertainment for kids, bingo for the oldies, disco's for the younger one's or young at heart, there was talent competitions for all ages, there were treasure hunts for the kids (led by a redcoat dressed as a pirate that we delighted in pushing into the swimming pool, beauty contests ...... and all organised and looked after by the glamourous redcoats
• it has its own fairground where the rides were free (built in to the cost of your holiday)
• redcoats, were the entertainment staff who always seemed glamourous people, tanned, good looking and smart in their white trousers/skirts, white shirts and tie and the infamous red blazer. Many well known UK entertainers started their career as redcoats

http://www.butlins75.com/slideshow.html

And we ate in vast dining halls. There were three as I remember, all named after close by places. I think we always seemed to be in the Gloucester dining room. You were assigned a dining hall on arrival, a table number for the week and what sitting you were; there were two sittings per hall. There was no way you could miss your sitting as the whole camp was informed what sitting was available and when over the camp wide tannoy system. Morning campers .......

The meals were served en mass by waiting staff, they brought the whole tables dishes at once. There was no choices, except for like it or lump it. But I never recall having to lump it, as can be seen by my chubby little face in this pic; that's me on the right, aged about 10. Mind you, those were the days, when you ate whatever was put in front of you with no arguments or you just went hungry.

Breakfast was always cereal, followed by a cooked breakfast. That was always piping hot; sausages, bacon, tinned tomatoes or whatever was on for that day. With large stainless steel pots of tea put on the table, that was the only thing to drink for us kids apart from water.

I don't remember lunches but dinners were usually a soup followed by a main course and dessert. For some reason it was the soups that I vividly remember

• The soup was, I presumed, mass produced tinned / dehydrated product. Cream of tomato, oxtail, a thin vegetable, always served with a bread roll and butter. 
• The main course was the typical meat and two veg
• Then there was the always eagerly awaited dessert. Apple pie and custard is the only one I recall

chapter XXIV - holidays 01

After months of suffering school meals, eventually we would be rewarded with the much anticipated school holidays. None were more eagerly awaited than the summer holidays. Those days of endless sunshine, when the days never seemed to end and the holidays went on for a lifetime.

Most of us will recall our childhood holidays with very fond memories; where we went, who we went with, random things we did and maybe even the holiday friends we made. Maybe like me, you can visualise a certain buddy you made one year so clearly, but also like me maybe for the life of you can't remember their name. Sound familiar?

I am sure you will also have favourite childhood holiday memories of what you ate back then. maybe the packed lunches you had, maybe a favourite takeaway meal or maybe a favourite sweet that just screams HOLIDAY!

aunty poltridge's afternoon teas

Aunty Poltridge wasn't a real aunty, but just an elderly friend of the family. She lived just a stone throw away from Home Park, the stadium for Plymouth Argyle. So as a boy I loved going out there with dreams of being taken to a game one day, but of course with no father that was but a pipe dream.

She was as far as I know, a spinster all her life and lived in her latter years, in those years that I knew her, with her sister.

As far as I remember we always went out to see her during the school holidays (and sometimes on a random school week Sunday afternoon) Where we were always treated to the most delightful afternoon tea. Tea was served in proper bone china cups and saucers and it was always piping hot and sweet, with little triangular sandwiches, cakes and biscuits were served from very posh cake stands and there was always plenty of bread and jam. The latter I always remember because she always had 'posh' jam, like Hartley's New Jam, not the run of the mill cheap stuff, but jam that had real, whole berries in it.

Home jam making is such a chore for the most part, for most people. Along with producing fresh pasta or fresh bread, for me it is a delight, a great way to invest a few hours of leisure. But I understand why people think it is too much of an effort. So here is a great little cheat, that most people when I tell them say something like; "duh, why didn't I think of that" ...

recipe - cheffies home made jam

001 jar  berry jam (cheap home brand)
001 cup frozen berries of choice

recipe method of production
Defrost the berries. Place into a large bowl with any juice, add the jam and combine carefully so as not to break up the berries. Spoon back into the jar and keep refrigerated. 


bovi-sandwiches
Many of my childhood summer days were spent at local beaches. Usually Bovisands, but from time to time we went further afield to the likes of Cawsands in Cornwall, or Drakes Island (a small private island in Plymouth Sound) both only accessible via a ferry trip from Plymouth Barbican. If it was Drakes Island, we would spend hours exploring; beaches, caves and the maze of tunnels that run under the island. Always dreaming that we would one day find some buried treasure

Other times we would all get piled into my aunty and uncle's car and and head off for the day with all my cousins, to Bigbury. Famous for Burr Island where many a TV show or movies have been filmed, and the amazing 'tractor' that transports people to the island when needed. As can be seen by this photo, the island is fairly unique as it is close enough to the mainland, that at high tide it gets cut off by the sea. but at low tide it is easily accessible and can be walked to. I loved going here, as there was the added treat of shops, a big cafe and a penny arcade.

But mainly we went to Bovisands; a beach area close to Plymouth.  Sometimes with our cousins in their cars, and other times we would catch the 23 bus into town, walk down to Plymouth Barbican and catch the ferry out there. Once out there, there was either quite a hike from where the ferry dropped all the holidaymakers off, or a trek down to the beach from the carpark. Whichever it was we were all kitted out and carrying supplies for the day. Be it our swimming costumes (or bathers as we called them) all rolled up in our towels and our mask and snorkel, our lilo or our picnic for the day.

Sunscreen was unheard of, covering up was our only defence against the summer sun and even then there was no real slip, slop and slap. As a result we often got sunburnt, and had to deal with the subsequent pain and discomfort. Coming home at the end of the day, feeling that familiar burn to the skin and mum trying her best to cool us down by painting  our even pinker with that all so familiar calamine lotion.

But back to the food. Whichever beach destination we ended up at, the culinary fare was the same. Chilly bins or bags were unheard of, taking ice bags to keep the food chilled was no where to be seen, I don't even remember there being any lunch boxes for the sandwiches; our picnic sandwiches were simply wrapped in paper and transported in Mum's shopping bag. Our sandwiches were usually either ham, or cheese and tomato or some god awful meat or fish paste, that invariably ended up warm, limp with the butter melted through. But by god, nothing tasted better when we got out of that water after spending hours and hours splashing around and having fun. Even if they did end up slightly crunchy from the sand on our hands. And if you wanted a drink, it was either water or orange or lemon squash, both warmed by the sun and drank straight from the glass bottle. For the adults of course there was tea from the flask, tea that always had that familiar flavour from spending hours in a flask, especially if it had, had the milk added when made

One day when we were at Bovisands, I remember a submarine surfacing out to see and an hour or so later it headed off to sea closely followed by a ship out of Devonport Dockyard. I never knew what it was all about, but in my young imagination it was a Russian submarine, being chased off by our brave Navy. All the while probably standing there, with a sandy, gritty, warm ham sanwich in hand!


Goodrington duck
One day, during one of those endless summer childhood days, I was taken off to Goodrington with my best friend's family to Goodrington, Devon. Les (aka Deno) remains like a brother to me to this day. We heaed off in two cars; Les' parents car and his sister and Greek brother in law and family.

I have no recollection what we did that day, but three things stick out about that day trip. Les and I had this photo taken in a photo booth, it rained and we sat in the car and I experienced duck for the first time. I think it was cold duck sandwiches. It was delicious, and I have no doubt it is the reason I love roast duck to this day

If you have never had roast duck, you are missing a treat. It is succulent, juicy, tender and delicious. Especially when you get that skin nice and crispy. And if you like potatoes roasted with duck fat, then from an average sized duck you will get approx 500ml of fat rendered down off it.

My favourite way of eating duck is the way I have eaten it many a time in Chinese restaurants and on my trips to China. My simplified version of this classic dish is below.

recipe - roast duck 
001 pc duck

recipe - method of preparation
Pre-heat oven to 220C. Using a skewer or the tip of a small sharp knife, gently pierce the skin all over, especially any thick, fatty areas. Ensure only the skin and not the meat is pierced - this is to allow the rendered fat to escape and not the meat's juices. Rub a little oil all over the skin and generously sprinkle with salt - this will help crispen the skin.

Place into a lightly oiled roasting tray, and place into the oven. Cook for twenty minutes, turn down the heat to 180C and allow to roast for another hour. Basting every 10 minutes. After 1 hour 20 minutes, remove from the oven and carefully cut the skin that holds the leg to the breast and gently pull away to expose the thigh joint. This joint is the last point to cook; if it is bloody in apppearance, place back into the oven and cook for another 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven. In the cavity of the bird, there will be a lot of rendered fat. Very carefully tip the duck to pour it out into roasting tray. Remove the duck for carving. Strain the fat and reserve for roasting potatoes or for frying breakfast foods. This fat will also take saute potatoes to a new level of yumminess! 


                                                                                                                                           


recipe - roast duck pekin style 
001 pc duck
001 tsp salt
001 tsp chinese five spice
003 pc  manderins
003 pc  spring onions 
002 pc  carrots     (small)
001 pc  cucumber (small)
012 pc  thin flour tortillas or similar
003 tbs  hoi sin sauce
003 tbs  sugar
003 tbs  water
001 tbs  soy sauce
001 tsp  cornflour

recipe - method of preparation
prepare and roast the duck as above, but rub the skin with the salt and the five spice and place two of the manderins cut in half into the cavity. When cooked, allow to cool slightly and carefully remove all the crisp skin and cut into long strips. Pull all the flesh off the carcasse and slice or cut into strips also. 

Peel the manderin, cut the skin into very fine strips (julienne) and cover with boiling water and allow to sit until cold. Drain. 

Cut the spring onions (both green and white), the peeled carrots and the peeled cucumber into approx. 10cm long pieces, then cut into thin strips, (the carrot is best completed by shaving off strips/ribbons with a peeler and then into strips with a knife)

Combine the hoi sin, sugar, water and soy sauce and bring to simmer, mix the cornflour with a little flour and whisk into the sauce to thicken and simmer for 1 minute (strain if required)

Wrap the pancakes in a clean, wet teat towel and place into a warm oven (160C) for 5 minutes to warm through

Serve all the prepared ingredients attractively on a serving platter and allow everyone to make up their own pancakes

• smear the pancake with a little of the sauce
• neatly arrange your chosen ingredients
• roll up and enjoy

chapter 001 - welsh cakes

Dydd Dewi Sant 

Happy St David's Day! Today (March 01) is the Welsh national day. Everyone everywhere knows about and for some reason gets in on the act for St Patrick's Day, the Irish national day .... but today is St David's Day

As a child growing up in Wales, I would be sent to school either proudly supporting a daffodil or more likely than not, an artificial leek safety pinned to my shirt or jacket. This artificial leek had been made either by my mother or grandmother from green and white wool, the same home made leek would have also been worn by most of the kids of the school.

My sister's however would go to school in the Welsh national costume, as can be seen in the above picture. All the kids would take Welsh cakes, barabrith (meaning speckled bread) which is in fact a type of heavy fruit cake. If not these two, then other traditional food would be taken to enjoy throughout the day. Once at school we would have an eisteddfod; a festival, a celebration of Welsh music, language and literature.

Maybe one of the most well known Welsh songs, that you will hear us singing at rugby matches etc just so happens to be about cooking.; Sosban Fach (little saucepan). Translated it makes no real sense in English, but rhymes in Welsh. The music for which is as ingrained into Welsh Culture as Rule Brittania is in England. For those of you not familiar with the Welsh language it is a totally separate language, with no relation to English or to Latin. As can be seen in this verse from the song.

When we got home from school, for dinner you can guarantee there would be lamb cawl (stew) and more welsh cakes.

Welsh cakes

Welsh cakes were traditionally made on the large wood or coal burning stoves, onto which would be placed one of these large, thick solid iron plates or stones. This one pictured, I am happy and proud to say was my Grandmother's, that I know proudly own and use at least once a week. Not to just make Welsh cakes, as it is equally great for making real crepes, frying a breakfast on and all manner of cooking. It is an inch thick, takes ages to heat up but cooks beautifully and totally non stick. 

I shall of course be cooking a batch up today, which is just as well as I have friends visiting and my Welsh cake crazy sister coming to stay. Along with them, will be a big pot of beef cawl to ward of the winter chills.

The trick to a great welsh cake is to ensure they are cooked throughout without burning them, but at the same time, they should be more than just a light golden brown. A good dark golden brown is best, this imparts the true flavour to them. If they are too light in colour, the flavour can be rather bland.

recipe - welsh cakes
200 gm flour

½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp mixed spice
050 gm butter
050 gm lard
075 gm castor sugar
050 gm currants
001 pc egg
030 ml milk

recipe - preparation method

sieve the flour, baking powder and mixed spice together. Rub in the lard and butter. Add the sugar and the currants, then the egg and sufficient milk to form into a firm paste. Roll out on a floured board to a thickness of 1cm and cut into rounds. Cook on a greased griddle or a heavy based frying pan for about 3 minutes on each side or until a golden brown. Cool and sprinkle with sugar if desired

________________________________________________________________________________

recipe - barabith
350 gm dried fruits
350 ml  cold tea
001 pc  egg (large)
250 gm brown sugar
600 gm self raising flour
001  tsp mixed spice

recipe - preparation method
Soak the fruits overnight in the tea (made extra strong). 

Pre-heat oven to 170C. Add the beaten eggs to the tea and fruit and combine. Add the sugar and combine. add the flour and mixed spice. Pour into a prepared loaf tin (greased and lined) Bake for approx 90 minutes (cover if required to prevent the top over browning)

Remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin. Slice and serve with chilled butter, jam and slices of Welsh cheddar cheese.

chapter XXIV - holidays 03

My only other memories of any childhood holidays involves my father's brother; my Uncle Vic. He was an RAF Officer. As such he was posted all over the world; my cousins therefore I always considered to be very lucky as they were brought up all over the place. 

On a home posting though, I remember we visited them in either Hemel Hemstead or Shrewsbury. I remember that trip because it was there and then, that I had a few memorable culinary moments.

butter with peanuts in it?

Maybe the first morning of our stay, we were sat at the table with our toast and cereal and amongst all usual spreads and toppings for the toast was thing called peanut butter. Peanut butter? Quite a commonly seen product now, but in the late 60's it was quite 'exotic' and American; only seen in American TV shows and movies. What was it? What was peanut 'butter' was it butter with peanuts in? I had no idea, and I remember not wanting to ask be shown up in front of my cousins. So I just stuck to my jam and waited with baited breath, waited in hope one of my cousins would have this intriguing product. It was that very morning I fell in love with this yummy spread. Although I think it might have been years before I saw it again. 

a buffet by any other name

That was the introduction to our stay. Literally, the grand finale was just as memorable. For our final evening meal of that stay, my Aunty June put on a Mezze. Again, quite a common place thing now. But who the hell had heard of a buffet meal at home back then? What was the point of putting lots of different foods out on lots of plates, and just causing all that extra washing up? (he types hearing his mother's voice whispering out those very words) After all meals were just one plate, with all the food put onto it in the kitchen and put in front of you! 

Especially when it had an exotic, foreign name. And even more especially, when it had exotic, foreign foods in it. Foods like melon. There were no doubt other foods, but I re ember that meal for melon. Like peanut butter, I had never had melon before. Yellow skinned, large and soft fleshed; all cut into the wedges they sat there on the plate like little boats all afloat. 

But I still remember that first bite into it. The juiciness, the sweetness, the juice dribbling down my chin. The way after two more slices, the corners of my mouth became quite sore from the melon skin cutting into them.

malta 

In my early teens, my mother, myself and my younger sister went to Malta for 2 weeks. Again to visit my Uncle Vic, I am not sure but I suspect at the generousity of my Uncle, because I can't imagine my mother being able to afford the air fares. 

You would think given it was our first time flying, our first time going overseas I would remember it so vividly, that I would remember the flight minute by minute. Sad to say though, I only remember two things about the flight out and back. Firstly we hit some turbulence and while I thought it wildly exciting, my mother went as white as white with fear. Mind you this is the same lady that would wake us up at night if there was a thunderstorm, "to make sure we weren't scared" and to let us know we could sleep in with her if we wanted!

olives and green sweets

The second fond memory is that of a meal served. Amongst it all were these little round, green things stuffed with some other red stuff. Yes olives! My mother and sister hated them, I loved them. Actually I am torn now between whether I did actually like them, or whether it was just a case of "more free food for me". Whatever it was it started my love for olives. 

It was through this latter form of thinking that formed my love of all green sweets. Green sweets? Aye, well every kid loves the red or purple ones first and always the green one's (lemon/lime) last. Buying learning to like them, I always got free sweets! ;-)

The picture here is bit of "a had". Olives do not grown like grapes in various colours. They all start of black and from there it is basically a case of stages of ripeness (and to some degree processing). Did you know that they use caustic soda in the process?

tapenade
An olive puree by any other name would taste ..... But did you know the name is actually derived from an old French word for capers; tapenas?!? So, any good tapenade recipe must include capers, or it is just an olive puree not a tapenade. Great as a dip, as a spread or to form part of a stuffing or filling. If, like me, your an olive-itte, there is nothing better. For me, it has to be the purplish olives though, the stark black ones lack flavour and the flavour of the ripened green ones just do not cut it.

My recipe is a guideline only. Each ingredient is best adjusted to suit one's own taste buds.

recipe - tapenade
001 cup pitted olives  (purple)
002 tbs  capers
004 pc   anchovy fillets
001 pc   garlic clove   (large)
001 pc   lime 
              French mustard
              parsley
              e.v.olive oil

recipe - method of preparation
Chop the olives and capers to a chunky paste (or pulse in a food processor). Place into a bowl and add the chopped anchovy fillets and pureed garlic clove. Stir to combine thoroughly. Loosen up the mixture by vigorously stirring in some olive oil. Squeeze in a little lime juice to taste and a little mustard. Add some chopped parsley, taste and adjust with more lime juice and mustard if required. 

coca cola

In a previous chapter I blogged about what we tended to drink as kids, and how fizzy pop in our house was a rarity. None more rare that Coca Cola. I don't remembering encountering coke really until that trip to Malta. 

I remember how amazed and impressed I was, that in my Uncle Vic's fridge was not only bottles of coke, but also bottles of 7Up. Not only that they were in small individual bottles! Seems so strange now, but small bottles were a rarity in the UK, fizzy pop usually came in large 1 or 2 pint bottles. I remember how amazed and impressed I was ..... I remember further how lucky my cousins were to have fizzy pop like this whenever they wanted. 

There has always been this thing about how the British drink their beer warm. Compared to the USA, NZ and Aus, I suppose they do. In reality though, it's was not so much warm, as just not refrigerated or chilled to an inch of its life (just how I prefer my beer to be honest). The same can be said for the fizzy pop, no one in the UK kept it in the fridge, including the shops. So drinking ice cold coke and 7Up was quite a revelation to this young teenager. I remember when we went out in Malta how cheap it was too.

To this day, I am addicted to olives, peanut butter and coca cola.

Next week - I start my "cooking with mamon wellman" blog ......