The Marking Ink

The very last ad in the book

A pie of potatoes (and tapioca)

I had my sisters over for dinner again...
but seeing as the temperatures were topping 46 oC last week and still in the 30s this week it was almost too hot for my planned meal of potato pie and tomato and onion pie...

Also I hadn't boiled my onions for 2 hours on Sunday like I planned so in the end I just went with Potato pie and a fresh salad.

The continuing challenge on making scrummy vegetarian cooking is keeping me occupied for when my sisters come over, and this did not fail to delight even though I thought it would be way too carbo-loaded.

It also contained tapioca because at our last dinner I threatened to cook and entire dinner with tapioca, so you know what we had for dessert then... and what kind of hostess would I be if I didn't fulfill my culinary promises.

POTATO PIE

INGREDIENTS - 2lb of potatoes,
1 onion
1 stick of celery

1 oz. of vegetable butter
1 oz of sago or tapioca
seasoning
short-crust paste to cover

water or milk

METHOD - Slice the potatoes and the celery, fry the onion in the butter, and fill a pie-dish with these, sprinkling in the sago or tapioca, and seasoning to taste. Fill up with water or milk, put on a cover of paste, and bake in a good oven for about 1 hour or more, according to size.

TIME - To bake, about 1 hour. SUFFICIENT for 3 or 4 persons

I went with the water option seeing as we were having milky pudding. The water and tapioca mix and end up as a kind of gravy. It's definitely one I would make again... also carrots or any other vegetable would be a good addition.

Three Cooks in a Turban?

Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tapioca, everyone!

"Everybody tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tapioca,
Everybody, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slapioca.
If ya got the dap, dap, dap-dap-dappier flappers flap-flap-flappier
Everyone is happier when the do the tap tapioca.
When they do the flap flapioca.
Tap, tap, tap, tapioca,
Slap, slap, slap, slapioca,
Tap, tap, tap, tap the tapioca.
Let's pretend we've got a bowl, we're gonna have some sport.
Ha!Add trumpled licks and a rag-time beat, let's say about a quart.
Yeah!Ya stir and stir it with your knee, adding a bump or two.
Ya heat it, mash it, beat it, smash it, if there's a lump or two.
Don't let the temperature drop to many degrees,
Or you'll wind up with what is called the frozen tapioca freeze!
Everybody, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap tapioca, everybody freeze!
Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap, slap slapioca everybody freeze!"

Ahhh, Thoroughly Modern Millie - don't you wish the twenties had really been like that (except perhaps without the unpleasant white slave trade associations...)

So here is my tapioca pudding... I went without soaking the tapioca before hand, and it turned out just fine and dandy.

This recipe was a little too egg-y for my liking but seeing as the eggs are optional I will probably omit them next time.

TAPIOCA OR SAGO PUDDING

INGREDIENTS - 1 pint of milk
2 tablespoonfuls of tapioca or sago
1 tablespoonful of sugar, or to taste

2 eggs, optional
nutmeg
salt

METHOD - Boil the milk, sprinkle in the tapioca or sago, stir until boiling, and simmer gently until it become clear, stirring occasionally. Add the sugar and a good pinch of salt, and when a little cool, the eggs, beaten. Pour into a greased pie-dish, and bake in a slow oven.

TIME - To bake, about 1/2 an hour. SUFFICIENT for 4 to 5 persons.

A handy man and a dainty dish

Que sago, sago, whatever will be will be...

Well, according to Wikipedia, sago and tapioca are two completely different things.

"Sago is a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of Papua New Guinea and the Moluccas. It is traditionally cooked and eaten in the form of a pancake and served with fish.
Sago looks like many other starches, and both sago and tapioca are produced commercially in the form of "pearls". Sago pearls are similar in appearance to tapioca pearls, and the two may be used interchangeably in some dishes. This similarity causes some confusion in the names of dishes made with the pearls."

And yet I bought "Seed Tapioca (Sago)", so clearly McKenzie's thinks they are the same thing... go figure.

Either way it all sounds fairly exotic for for something my brain thinks of as boarding school food...

I haven't made anything with my tapioca yet, as every time I read the packet the first instructions is to 'soak the Tapioca for 24 before use', which really doesn't lend itself to a spur of the moment thing.

However, Mrs Beeton doesn't have that as an instruction so I may just give it a burl...

Stand by for some tapioca pudding real soon.

Take my advice!