Recipes from the Matilda Saga
I’ve just finished writing the last in this part of the Matilda Saga.
This book covers 1869-1989, and answers the many questions readers have had about Jed, Scarlett, Auntie Love, Sam… And many more. Like all the books, but even more so, it is a love song to a land and to its people. And (naturally) it has a lot of food in it, from the banquets of Rosemere to the bush magic of drover Mrs McIntyre, ex cook (or kitchen maid) at Government House. Food is one of the best ways of giving a taste of the time, the place and the person.
Each chapter in this book (the name won’t be released until just yet) starts with bush lore, or a recipe. So here are some of them, as a taster of the book to come.
Kedgeree
Potato Cakes
Salve for Chapped Lips
Slippery Bob (please don't make this, the main ingredient is kangaroo brains)
From the Notebook of Maria Fitzwilliam:
The yellow flowered yam daisy looks similar to a dandelion, but with wider spaces between its petals. The leaves are slender. The seeds are sown after fire by native women and can cover many acres. They are delicious baked, sweet and slightly salty, and make a most excellent soup.
From the Notebook of Maria Fitzwilliam:
Kurrajong is a native name for several species of native trees. The seeds may be roasted, or ground into an excellent flour for general use and I have been told the roots are also eaten. The name derives from the native word for ‘fishing line’. The bark is soaked for several weeks so the long fibres can be separated and woven for many purposes. It has great potential in agriculture as I have been told its foliage may also be cut and fed to cattle.
Strawberry and Passionfruit Jelly