interesting eggs…

I was leafing through a book called ‘Lenten Recipes’ that my grandmother gave me a while back – the booklet must be almost 70 years old – and found a recipe for ‘interesting stuffed eggs’

The mind boggles at what can be considered a suitable addition – they mention ‘nutmeats’ further down the page (what in the name of interesting eggs is that?!) Don’t get me wrong, there are some great recipes in the bookelt, I just thought that the title of ‘interesting stuffed eggs’ as a recipe title is, well, interesting..

back in the day..

In a world of glossy bright modern celebrity organic cook books, I have a secret passion for old vintage cook books, where the chefs remain faceless, the photography dark and ostentatious and the recipes fussy, unpronouncable, decadent and just looking too hard to attempt (though that doesn’t stop me). I don’t know what it is about these books, I think I love the attention to detail, the ceremony of the recipe, and the technical ability that is needed; no short cuts are taken and nothing is ‘easy peasy’ but the sense of accomplishment that must come along with a successful ‘Timbale Orta’ – a hollowed out sponge pudding which miraculously holds bright red cherries inside – or a successful cold lemon souffle – must be pretty satisfying 🙂

Plus, these books hold so much history of how people used to eat and cook – aspic anyone? This book is pretty important to me as it was my first cook book, bought for me when I was about 12 or so, and I wrote my name, address and class before bringing it into school in case I lost it lol.