Darrell Finds A True Culinary Treasure

Yesterday, Darrell had a very most excellent morning “wombling” as he likes to call it.

He’d nipped into Imagine (a community space offering free books, art displays and opportunity) for his usual weekly perusal ……..

https://www.creative-lives.org/imagine

…….. and struck gold with a 1,000 piece jigsaw of the London Underground system for Tom the Scientist to take into work for his group of young technicians who have formed a Jigsaw club in their lunchbreak, which no doubt will be duly returned when they’ve completed it ……

…….. PLUS the smallest, 1954 copy of the  most undistinguished cookery book you could imagine, but the stuff that made Darrell’s little heart sing to almost epic Freddie Mercury proportions ……

….. with each page opening up was an new epicurean delight……….

……. with recipes for confectionary delicacies and skills …….

…… almost lost in these Haribo of days ………

…… measured in long forgotten gills ……….

………. while using wooden paddles, iron hooks and small brushes for moistening the sides of pans, in order to prepare, coat and stretch ones prize dates and prunes for sweetmeat heaven.

It was almost too romantic a find for words ………

Who knew there were quite so many variations on the crack and ball?  It all held Darrell spellbound for hours.

Even the page listing the other books in the series was long mulled over, who wouldn’t want to share their kitchen with the likes of Dame Muriel Beckwith, Gretel Beer and Mollie Stanley-Wrench, not to mention the magic weaved by Ambrose Heath with his “Herrings, Bloaters and Kippers”!

This was a treasure indeed, to be shared with Hugh, Darrell’s best friend and mentor of all thing almost culinary extinct, during his next stay, with dreams of making tablets, all manner of fudge, French ribbons and something called divinity together in the cottage kitchen, sharing their mutual love for the lost arts of confectionary!