This month’s menu is shown below,
but here are a few highlights of the evening:My recipe this month was for Lamington’s. This is an Australian dessert that, at least according to our research and reading, is quite common. It was actually fairly difficult to find true “Australian” recipes and dishes for our menu this month. We took to the internet, as is usually the case, and did our best, but what we found was that
Lamingtons were, however, one thing that came up over and over again. According to my reading on wikipedia.org, “The earliest known published recipe for the lamington appeared in 1902 in the cookery section of The Queenslander newspaper credited to ‘a subscriber’. The lamington’s subsequent popularity, particularly at fundraising drives and school fetes and, of course, its darn good eating, earned it a spot on the National Trust of Queensland’s 2006 list of Heritage Icons. But its fame extends beyond that state’s borders – every 21 July Australians celebrate National Lamington Day, and even New Zealanders lay claim to its invention.”
Other information at the same site suggests,” It might have surprised Lady Lamington, the wife of a Victorian governor in Queensland, Australia, to learn that her name would be immortalized ‘down under’ as a petit four. She probably wouldn’t have minded though, invented legend has it, in the governor’s kitchen as a way to use leftover cake, these squares of sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and then rolled in coconut are perennial best sellers at Australian bake sales and are the preferred accompaniment to afternoon tea.”
Despite how they came about, they
were quite easy to make and, although I worried they would be difficult to dip
in the chocolate without destroying the cake, I found this not to be so. The
cake recipe was quite dense and firm; simple, but tasty. Dipped in chocolate
and rolled in very fine, unsweetened coconut, they were quite cute little hunks
of after-dinner tastiness!
Our “Shrimp on the
Barbie” was our host’s own interpretation, and they were simple and perfectly
cooked. Here’s a little history on that so-called Australian food, that leads
me to believe how very not-Australian anything really is! Again, melting pot of
flavors, cultures and cuisines…..!
“Shrimp on the
barbie" is an often-quoted phrase that originated in a series of television advertisements by the Australian Tourism Commission starring Paul Hogan from 1984 through to 1990. The actual quote spoken by Hogan is
"I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you", and the actual
slogan of the ad was "Come and say G'day". It has since been used,
along with some variations, to make reference to Australia in popular culture.”
“Shrimp on the
barbie" is an often-quoted phrase that originated in a series of television advertisements by the Australian Tourism Commission starring Paul Hogan from 1984 through to 1990. The actual quote spoken by Hogan is
"I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you", and the actual
slogan of the ad was "Come and say G'day". It has since been used,
along with some variations, to make reference to Australia in popular culture.”
I found this interesting and not the least bit of a
deterrent to my enjoyment of the dish! Besides the menu we enjoyed, I’ve posted
the link to the lamington’s recipe. They’d be great for after any meal,
Australian-inspired or not!
I intend to refresh my “blogging spirit” now that I’m
feeling above the weather and refreshed in the New Year! Keep reading! We have
some truly exciting and unusual themes on the schedule in the month’s to come,
as well as a SPECIAL OFFER and information for my readers from a company I’ve
been asked to write about!
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| Sausage Rolls Appetizer |
Here’s that link to the Lamington recipe:
Here’s the menu we had this month:
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