General Chat

Whatever makes you think that I can remember Wilfred Pickles and Mabel?? xx

(You have a recipe now for cheesecakes?)

Did you know that Cadbury chocolate have different flavours in some Countries?.
Im in NZ a rellie was here and enjoyed Cadburies Black Forest. After she got back to England she enquired at Cadbury's to see if she could get some. She was told it wasnt available in England and given the above reason.
Sadly Cadbury has closed the Dunedin ( NZ) factory and the chocs are brought in from Australia.
Not as nice now. Not as nice when bought in Australia so nothing to do with shipping etc.

Yes, Margaret. It is all to do with market research. On the Continent we have found that British products, although having the same name, do not taste or smell the same as the product sold in the UK.

pmsl Joanna

Yes I am sure I have one someone sent me and you can find the recipes for lots of things on line.

Lizx

Just googled and found this lol

Pastizzi (cheesecakes or peacakes) are ricotta or pea filled pasties which are the most popular and best known culinary export of Malta.

Pastizzi (singular: pastizz) are popular amongst Maltese people, and are also produced amongst the immigrant communities of Maltese in Australia, the US and Canada. Pastizzi lend their name to "pastizzerias" - the dozens of fast food outlets dotted around Malta which primarily sell pastizzi (along with pizzas, qassatat, timpana and sausage rolls). In recent years, an inter-family chain "Maxim`s" has taken a dominant share of the pastizzi market, though must pastizzerias are still small, local family concerns.

Pastizzi are typically cooked in batches of 30 on wood furnaces on black metal trays. Pastizzi come in the two standard ricotta and pizelli (pea) varieties, with the ricotta version notably the more popular of the two. A slightly different puff pastry version of the snack is sold at more stylish cafes. Pastizzi are particularly popular snacks on Sundays in Malta, with vendors all over the islands opening in the early hours to cater for late night clubbers. Pastizzi have a particular place of pride in Maltese culture and are light-heartedly considered one of the nation`s unique achievements. Locals consider no visit to Malta to be complete without eating some pastizzi. (OH I AGREE LOL)

THIS BIT MAKES ME LAUGH :
Pastizzi in the Maltese Language
Such is the ubiquity of pastizzi at the heart of the Maltese psyche, the term `pastizz` has multiple meanings in the Maltese language. The term `pastizz` has sexual connotations, with its oval/diamond shape often humourously likened to the female sexual organ. `Pastizz` is also slang for "idiot" or "buffoon". The term `pastizzi` also replaces `hotcakes` in the Maltese version of the English expression "Selling like hotcakes". Something which is said to be "selling like pastizzi" would seem to have inexhaustible demand.


I could just eat some now...

xx

Pastizzi

Pastizzi, is probably the most universally eaten Maltese pastry and few visitors to Malta or Gozo will leave without at least consuming one. The origins of this pastry are probably rooted in Sicilian, Arab and/or Turkish sources. The most likely origin of Pastizzi is of Arab origin. The roly-poly method of making pastizzi pastry is a typical example of Arab culinary traditions.

Pastizzi is an extremely popular small boat shaped delicacy of either ricotta cheese and egg or peas and beef, wrapped with thin crisp pastry, something between filo and puff. They are sold on street corners and in village bars everywhere and eaten hot. The Maltese normally take them as a snack with tea or coffee or Kinnie, a local non-alcoholic bitter-sweet herb drink.



Pastizzi making is an art form, and it is said that it takes many years to perfect one's pastizzi making. A common sight in Valetta until not very long ago was of young waiters emerging from small bars carrying trays of hot pastizzi and tall glass tumblers of tea or coffee for office employees. The best way to learn to make pastizzi is to watch them being made: in St. Paul's or Merchants Street in Valletta, or in Rabat, Hamrun or Msida. While there are many shops that sell pastizzi, very few of them actually make the treat on the premises.



Rikotta Cheese Pastizzi

2 lbs. flaky pastry dough
2 lbs. ricotta cheese
salt
2 eggs

Mix the rikotta cheese with the two eggs until the eggs are thoroughly mixed into the rikotta cheese. Add a bit of salt to the mixture for taste.

Roll out the dough (do not make the dough too thin.) Cut the dough into three- to four-inch circles.

Put one tablespoon of the rikotta cheese mix in the middle of each circle. Fold each circle from the top and the bottom to the centre and squeeze the edges together so that the pocket is sealed (the horizontal ends should be formed into points.)

Put the pastizzi on a margarine greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderate oven (350-425 degrees) for about one hour.

You will need to experiment a bit with the oven temperature and the cooking time. The pastizzi should be a golden-brown colour when they're ready. They're best eaten when they are warm with a cup of good coffee or tea

Meat Pastizzi

2 lbs. flaky pastry dough
1 or 2 small onions
1 lb lean ground beef
2 cans of pees
2 teaspoons tomato paste
half a teaspoon spices

Mince the onions and fry in a bit of oil. When the onions start turning dark in colour add the hamburger. Cook for a bit and then add the tomato paste and the spices. Mix well and then add the pees. Add pepper and salt to taste.

Roll out the dough (do not make the dough too thin.) Cut the dough into three- to four-inch circles. Put one tablespoon of the meat mix in the middle of each circle. Fold each circle from the top and the bottom to the centre and squeeze the edges together so that the pocket is sealed (the horizontal ends should be formed into points.)

Put the pastizzi on a margarine greased baking sheet. Bake in a moderate oven (350-425 degrees) for about one hour.

You will need to experiment a bit with the oven temperature and the cooking time. The pastizzi should be a golden-brown colour when they're ready. They're best eaten when they are warm with a cup of good coffee or tea.



get cooking Jo lol

Pastizzi Dough

8 oz. flour (use common flour)
6 oz. margarine cut into half-inch cubes
6-7 tbs. cold water
dash of salt

First, here are a few secrets you need to know if you are to be successful making this dough!

The key one is that everything you use must be cold! The dough must also be kept cold at all times. The best working surface for the dough is a slab of marble since marble tends to stay cool. Always store the dough covered with a damp cloth in your refrigerator, but before storing it, make sure you remove any loose flour. Always sprinkle the working surface, the rolling pin, and the dough with flour before you start working the dough. Never turn over the dough while you are working it. Instead, turn it flat on the board (or turn the board itself) clockwise before each rolling and always in the same direction. This is one of the hardest doughs to make and you may have to try it a few times before you get it right!

Sift flour and salt together. Divide the margarine into half-inch squares. Drop margarine squares into flour making sure not to squash them. Mix lightly until all margarine cubes are covered with flour (make sure that the cubes remain intact.)

Add water and mix lightly with a knife again making sure that the cubes remain intact. If some flower is left loose, add a teaspoon of cold water at a time until all the flour is used. The resulting dough should be very soft.

Sprinkle the dough and the working surface with flour. Work the dough into an elongated shape using your finger tips. Sprinkle some flour on the rolling pin and roll the dough until it's about eight inches long and not more than five inches wide. Now do the steps below exactly.


Fold the lower third toward the top. Now fold the upper third toward the bottom on top of the first fold. You should end up with a three-layered rectangle. With light pressure from the rolling pin, seal the three edges.
Remove any extra flour. Now turn the folded dough anti-clockwise so that the right side is at the top. Roll the dough lightly until it is nine inches long and six inches wide.
Repeat steps one and two.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth and store in the refrigerator for twenty minutes.
Repeat steps one through four, four times.
The dough can now be rolled out to the desired thickness and used for pastizzi or even Timpana



Sources: Anne and Helen Caruana Galizia. 1999. The Food & Cookery of Malta. Malta: Pax Books

Joanna. When we first came to NZ we noticed the sweets were not as sweet.

A friend who worked at the sugar mill said one country used sugar cane the other sugar beet so they really were not as sweet. Not as tasty either but after 35 years you forget. We do have a UK shop in the local shopping centre but everything is so expensive to buy.

What I miss is Battenburg cake. Love Battenburg. So does my daughter who was with us in England visiting. The UK shop cant import it because its shelf life is only 6 weeks so it would be out of date as soon as it arrived.
There was an Irish shop that sold it here years ago but it wasnt as nice. Cant even get it from there now as the shop changed hands and the new owners stopped making it

Hi Margaret, shame you can't get Battenberg cake, can you not try making it?

How long do parcels take to arrive, I would send you some lol

Lizx

Just for you Margaret. I am off to bed now, night!
Lizx

Battenberg cake is a popular commercially produced cake in England. It consists of four square lengths of a butter cake or sponge cake. Two lengths are coloured pink and two left plain yellow, they are stuck together with apricot jam, so when you slice into it there is a checker board cross-section. The two tones are believed to mimic the marbled effect of many German breads and cakes. Finally a sheet of almond paste is wrapped around the outside.

Battenberg cake is originally thought to have been created in the late 19th century, although the first recorded mention of the cake was in 1903. It has been suggested that it was perhaps named to commemorate the marriage between Princess Victoria of Hessee-Darmstadt, granddaughter of Queen Victoria to Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884. Prince Louis later took British nationality and Anglicized his name to Mountbatten.



Battenberg Cake

150 grams of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cups of white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of plain white flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup of milk, approximately
red food colouring
1/4 cup of apricot jam
250 grams of almond paste / fondant to cover
Pre-heat oven to 175 degC.
Line sponge roll or shallow square cake tin with baking paper.
Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
Sift the flour, baking powder and fold into the creamed mixture.
Add sufficent milk to give a soft dropping consistency.
Spoon half the mixture into one half of the prepared tin as neatly as possible.
Add a few drops of red food colouring to the remaining mixture to turn it a pink colour, then spoon this into the other half of the tin, try to get the join between the two mixtures as neat as possible.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and has shrunk slightly from the sides of the tin.
Turn out and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Trim the edges of the cake and then cut into 4 equal strips down the length of the colours.
Gently heat the apricot jam in a small pan and stick the stripes of cake together,
one plain piece next to one coloured one, and then vice versa to make a checker board effect.
Brush the top of the assembled cake with apricot jam.
Roll out the almond paste into a rectangle the length of the cake and sufficiently wide to wrap around the cake.
Invert the cake on to the almond paste, then brush the remaining 3 sides with apricot jam.
Press the almond paste neatly around the cake, arranging the join in one corner.
Serve in slices

Thanks for that PSparklyD I had seriously considered making one myself.
Trouble is I would also have to make the Almond paste as the commercial stuff here is rubbish.
It takes at least 6 weeks for parcels to come by sea.
Recently a friend was in England. They went to the Canary Isles to visit son in laws family. The family who couldnt speak English gave them all these gifts to bring back to their son. The family in England also gave them gifts.

Had they realised it would have been cheaper to buy another suitcase and bring it in as excess. They left the gifts for someone to send by sea for them. It finished up costing them 200 pounds.

Aotearoa.
My UK shop is in Browns Bay.Yes I have bought the Mr Kipling cakes including the small Battenburg. Not as nice as the big ones though.
I had a Rowntrees blackcurrant jelly not long ago. The UK shop sells them off when they get to the sell by date. Still $2 though. They are selling Marks & Spencers stuff at present.( Not food).
Its true you long for things from the past and when you finally get one its not the same because the recipe has changed.
Wagon Wheels for example were big when we lived in England.
Walnut Whips too not as good as they were.
HOWEVER still cant beat Cod and chips from the Magpie in Whitby

You are right, Margaret, things do change so much, all the time it seems.
Wagon Wheels I used to love - well, those have changed too. Or perhaps it is just that my tastes have changed with age!!
I am sorry that you are longing for Battenburg Cake; could you not try making one as Liz suggested? I haven't tried it myself, but if you want I could look for instructions for almond paste. I don't think that it is too difficult to make.
You might come up with something that tastes even better than store-bought Battenburg!
Meanwhile, I have to really start thinking about having a go at Maltese pastizzi. Liz will keep nagging me 'cos she wants to taste one! She doesn't know my cooking!

pmsl Joanna, maybe I will make some and send you a parcel.
I can remember one Good Friday, in the days when the postman delivered on such days lol, when I was living in Cambridge. I went to the local bakery to get hot cross buns (again when you could only get them at Easter!!!) and when I got back the postman had left a parcel on the step, it was a shoebox full of my Mum's homemade hotcross buns, they were so much better than the shop ones lol


Margaret, the family must have had forty fits when they found out, as you say, excess baggage and a new holdall would have been cheaper! Hope the presents were worth having lol

Lizxx

Sparkly.
The presents were not worth it. Bottles of booze for instance. Problem was it was a special type that you cant buy in the duty free.
They were worried that the family might have written to ask if son in law enjoyed his treat.
I think I would have ditched the booze and explained to son in law it wasnt practicle to bring it. Im sure he would have understood.

As for that Battenburg cake and the almond paste.
I know you need a lot of almonds to make the real stuff.I wish I had the recipe for the stuff they use on the cakes in England.
You can make a mock AP using semolina and almond essence.
You are going to laugh but my street is called Battenburg. Now isnt that a coincidence?

Almond Paste
1 ½ cups (8 oz.) whole blanched almonds
1 ½ cups (5oz.) sifted powdered sugar
1 egg white
1 tsp. almond extract
¼ tsp. salt;


Grind whole blanched almonds, a portion at a time, in electric blender or food chopper with fine blade (Yield: about 1 ¾ cups ground almonds). Combine with powdered sugar, egg white, almond extract and salt; work to a stiff paste. Store in refrigerator tightly wrapped in saran or disposable plastic bag.

Makes 1 1/3 cups (13 oz.) almond paste

Julia.
Your recipe sounds yum. Keep it in mind for when I finally get around to making the cake.

Old Geezer recognise the rest but Chorley Bags has me foxed. Is this a Manchester delicacy?

yuk only thing i would like off your list is yorkshire puds .lol
...................rose.......................x

My late husband adored tripe. Stinks when you cook it though

Old Geezer - everything on your list (except yorkshire puds) sound like the meals our local farmer invites us for when he's slaughtered a pig!