Meat and more meat, 1940s-1950s
The oldest cookbook I find in my first sort out of books is from 1941, The Coronation Cooking Book, compiled by the Country Women's Association of NSW. In the 1940s and 1950s meat was the main meal, with all parts of the animal being used. I see recipes for boiled leg of mutton, sheep tongues in jelly, Australian goose, brain fritters, stewed tripe and onions, rabbit in aspic and rabbit pie, baked ox-heart, quails on toast, pigeon pie, roast fowl, pigs trotters, Murray cod cutlets, roast lamb, steamed chicken, and lamb’s fry and bacon. I certainly never ate all these items. Lamb’s fry and bacon (as cooked by my mother (Bridget, aka Babe, Gooley 1906-1995) is a family childhood meal I remember that I still enjoy today. Babe would wash the lamb liver in salted water, dry it well before slicing it thinly and coating the strips with seasoned flour. The liver was fried in lard being careful not to overcook it. Flour, salt and pepper were added to the pan to make a rich gravy. The bacon