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Crime and nourishment

May 12, 2009 4 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Sherbet dib dabs, Fizz Wiz, vintage sweets

Sherbet dib dabs, remember them? I’m sure I could incorporate Fizz Wiz into a recipe somehow.

little white mice made from chocolate

The whitest mouse is made out of pure sugar. It takes a while to get used to these, but it can be done. The other little white mice are made from chocolate.

treasure chest full of sweets
Local food Advisor kindly sent me a treasure chest, yes, a real one, full of sweets, from the Oldest Sweet shop in England! At one fell swoop a childhood fantasy was fulfilled.

I was going to take pictures of the Fruit Salad, Blackjack and Refresher chews, all childhood favourites (but I think the Refresher chews were lollies before?). But I ate them.

As a child I was such a sweet addict I shoplifted these sweets, along with ‘Fizzers’ and ‘Parma Violets’.  To fund this habit I even, along with my best friend Donna, stole from my teacher’s handbag in primary school, a shameful episode. That day after school we bought so many sweets we literally filled a shopping bag. Proud of our haul, we took the bulging shopping bag to school the next day. We were the stars of the playground. Kids were sucking up to us to get some sweets. We were royalty, dispensing favours. Then we went into class. The teacher, a woman with a grey beehive, sat us all down and stated solemnly:

“Something very upsetting happened to me last night.”

A fearful feeling rose in my stomach, I sensed what was coming.

“I went to the shops to buy some tea for my husband, reached into my purse and my money was missing.”

The class started buzzing with noise. A few heads swivelled towards Donna and I. Although we hadn’t told anyone that we stole from the teacher, the amount of sweets we had bought into school basically amounted to the kiddie version of winning the lottery. I tried to shuffle the still bulging carrier bag under my desk with my foot.

The teacher asked a child to distribute small pieces of blank paper to everyone.

“Now what I’d like you to do, children, is write down on this piece of paper, any information that you know about the theft”.

I wrote nothing. Handed it in.
Strangely, Donna and I were asked to talk at break with the teacher.

“Nope, I don’t know anything Miss”, I said stubbornly.

We had to return every break; morning, lunch and afternoon, while the teacher repeatedly interrogated us about this missing money. I was silent, giving nothing away. The Gestapo couldn’t have got me to admit the theft. Eventually, Thursday lunchtime, as Donna and I were about to go in for our separate questioning, Donna said to me, with a weary air:

“Look, I told her Monday afternoon it was us, so you might as well tell the truth.”

While I was digesting this shocking news, which put me in an even further bad light, she said brightly:

“Then we can have playtime again!”

I had to pay it all back, both my share and Donna’s because, as my mum and dad said, Donna had an excuse, coming from a single parent family with seven kids (this was rare at the time), and I didn’t. 

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Comments

  1. Canal Explorer

    May 12, 2009 at 9:44 am

    Ooooh, naughty!

    I never stole as a child, after my mum made such a fuss about me bringing a gold crayon home from nursery (making me take it back and apologise). Just goes to show the importance of nipping these things in the bud…

    Reply
  2. MsMarmitelover

    May 12, 2009 at 9:49 am

    Gold crayons! they were sooo coveted.
    The stuff that kids desire… I remember my first set of Caran d'Ache felt pens. I so lusted after them.

    Reply
  3. ceebs

    May 14, 2009 at 3:18 am

    You can still get the Refresher lollies, saw them in the shops the other day with my nephew.

    Reply
  4. Scarlett the Heavenly Healer

    May 14, 2009 at 3:42 pm

    MMmmmmmm…. parma violets and blackjacks – lovely memories!

    Sherbert fountains were good too, with the thick hollow liquorice to suck the sherbert through.

    And jamboree bags…..

    I was rarely allowed sweets as a child, which is probably why I have such vivid memories of these sweet treats!

    Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
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Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Mi Galette des Rois, made yesterday in 12th night. Minus Crown and king as I cannot find either. This one is made with Tonka bean. Plus homemade puff pastry (well worth the effort). According to ike delorenzo at The Atlantic:  The tonka bean, a flat, wrinkled legume from South America with an outsize flavor that the US government has declared illegal. Nonetheless, it proliferates on elite American menus. The tiniest shavings erupt in a Broceliande of transporting, mystical aromas.
The taste of the tonka bean is linked strongly to its scent. "Scents," I should say, as the tonka bean has many at once. I register the aromas of vanilla, cherry, almond, and something spicy—a bit like cinnamon. When served cold—say, in tonka bean ice cream—the taste is like a vanilla caramel with dark honey. When warm, perhaps shaved over scallops, it moves toward spiced vanilla. Additionally, the aroma of the tonka bean shavings (it's almost always shaved) is so affecting that it seems like an actual taste in the way that opium, which has no taste in the traditional sense, "tastes" like its rich, flowery smoke.  Here is the recipe: 

Tonka bean galette des rois

Serves 8
Ingredients
* 140 g caster sugar
* 125 g salted butter, softened
* 100 g ground almonds
* 2 eggs, medium
* 1 tonka bean, grated
* 2 packs ready made butter puff pastry on a roll
* 1 yolk for brushing the pastry
Instructions
* Preheat your oven to 200c.

* Blend the butter with the sugar then add the almonds. Make sure it’s well mixed. Add in the 2 eggs one at a time, then add the tonka bean.

* If using a block: divide the puff pastry into two and roll out to 5mm thick. 
* Make two circles about 15 cm’s each in diameter. Lay one circle on a silicone mat/parchment paper on a baking tray and fill with the almond cream leaving a 3 cm border around the edge. 
* Paint the border with the egg yolk. Then lay the other circle on top, sealing the edges with a fork. 
* You could then carve designs into the top. Make a little slit in the middle to let steam escape then brush the top with the egg yolk
Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. T Mapo tofu is probably my favourite Sichuan dish. This is a vegan version. ***

Ingredients:
- 400 g box of soft tofu not silken
- 5 soaked dried shiitake mushrooms, diced, keep water
- 1 red bell pepper, finely sliced
- 400 g fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 thumb fresh ginger, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 4 tbsps groundnut or vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp fermented bean paste
- 1 or 2 small red chillies, minced or a spoonful of Chinese chilli paste
- 1 tsp heaped sichuan peppercorns, finely ground
- 2 tbsps soy or tamari sauce
- 2 tbsp cornflour in 3 tbsps water, mixed into a slurry
- 4 spring onions, finely sliced
- large pinch fresh coriander leaves

Prepare the tofu by cutting it into one inch cubes and soaking it in hot but not boiling salted water. Drain after 15 minutes.
Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms, covering them in boiling water. Leave until soft, then dice the mushrooms. Retain the mushroom soaking water and add to the vegetable stock water.
Prepare the other ingredients so they are ready to stir-fry: red bell pepper, fresh mushrooms, ginger, garlic.

Using a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat to frying temperature. Add the bell peppers,fry for a couple of minutes, then add fermented bean paste, chilli paste or chillies, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sichuan pepper.
Add the mushroom/vegetable broth and simmer on high for a couple of minutes.
Carefully add the cubes of tofu, taking care not to break them too much.
Add the cornflour slurry, stirring for a couple of minutes.
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