Paul van Reyk
March 2023
Tartare Sauce
Put the yolks of two raw eggs into a basin with half a saltspoonful of salt, a little pepper, and half a teaspoonful each of French and English made mustard. Then add about half a pint of salad oil, drop by drop, stirring the sauce one way all the time. When it is very stiff, add one teaspoonful each of tarragon, chillies and malt vinegar, and eight or ten drops of lemon juice. Stir in half a tablespoonful of mixed chopped capers and gherkins, and one tablespoonful of chopped tarragon, chervil, and parsley. The sauce should be made very stiff.[1]
This was one of those ‘what the … ’ moments for me. I was researching the use of chilli in settler[2] cuisine in Australia. I was expecting recipes for chutneys, pickles, and curries to have chillies[3] in them, but tartare sauce? As I continued researching I found chillies turning up in unexpected places.
This article is a survey of the culinary uses of chilli over 50 years – 1871 – 1921 – of published recipes with chillies as an ingredient in newspapers, magazines, and cookery books in Australia. My source for magazines and newspapers was the material digitised by the National Library of Australia for the online library database Trove.
The article is in two parts: the first part is the survey of chilli uses; the second part is an Addendum of a menu for a ‘Festival of the Chilli’, a day’s dining on chilli dishes plus recipes for the dishes on the menu. There is a second Addendum which has three recipes for the medical use of chilli, the reason for which will become clear in the article.
A brief history of chilli in Australia
The first reference for chillies I uncovered via Trove was in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 13 Nov 1806 when J. Harris advised the readership that he had for sale earthenware and candles, 1 bundle of leather, 1 ullage of sweet oil, 1 bag of lines (sic) and 1 bale of chillies.[4] This was typical at the time of advertisements for goods imported into the colonies (Australia did not federate till 1901). Chillies were one item in several for sale or auction usually with other spices. Imported chillies would have been dried and in all likelihood would have been red chillies. Chillies were also imported in bottles, presumably in a preserving liquid like vinegar.[5] Chilli vinegar, however, was a product in itself [6] (See recipe 11), sometimes mixed with tarragon.[7] In 1836 Mr Lamb advertised that he was selling curry powder, essence of chillies and preserved mangoes and guavas.[8] Disappointingly while several recipes surveyed called for lemon essence none called for chilli essence. I am equally disappointed that though there was a published recipe for chilli syrup there were no recipes in which it was used.[9]
Chilli Syrup
Take 2qt of soft water, 2 1b of best white sugar, 10 or 12 chillies, a pinch of cloves, and boil the whole for at least 30 minutes. A little isinglass may be added. – Capsicums are sometimes used. In summer the syrup requires to be boiled a little longer than in winter.
W. V. (Queensland)[10]
Chillies were sold in the markets, by importers, and by general goods retailers and grocers. In 1835 J.A. Gough, a retailer of general goods, advised his customers that he had for sale chillies among other food items – like capers and olives, a variety of Salad Oils – and non-food items like starch, blue and bath bricks.[11] Retailers looked to ways to incentivise the chilli customer. Rushton’s Choice Food and Vegetable Market in 1886 pitched for customers by including with each purchase ‘Receipts for making Sauces Chutney and Preserving Garlic Eschalots and Chillies’.[12] Bert Earl & Co pitched to the pocket with:
CHEAP FOOD
Of Highest Standard Quality for the
People.
We cater specially for pickling and preserving season. Our Vinegars are guaranteed the good, wholesome, reliable, malt kind. Our spices are fresh and pure. We are pleased to weigh out your ingredients in the necessary quantities for your recipes – garlic, cayenne, tumeric (sic) cloves, chillies etc, all fresh and clean.[13]
Some also grew their own chillies from seeds available locally or imported from the likes of J. A. Dransfield, seed importer. They could receive from Dransfield a post-free Seed Catalogue of The World’s Best Seeds to peruse prior to ordering seeds.[14] Home gardeners could turn to the advice columns in newspapers like the ‘Kitchen Garden Calendar’ in the Sydney Mail which guided them in when to sow and transplant vegetables including chillies.[15]
Chillies and spices were also sold much to my surprise, by chemists. In 1826 H Mace Chemist and Druggist advertised for sale currie (sic) powder and a range of spices all of which are ingredients in the recipes using chilies surveyed in this article: mustard, vinegar, cinnamon, mace, nutmegs,, cardamom, carraway, cumin, cloves, and coriander.[16] It struck me as unusual that chemists would stock spices. What would a chemist want with these? But that was a question from a 21st century perspective. Two other chemists broadened my expectation of what a chemist of the early 19th century would stock. They were as Foster and Foss styled themselves , Chemists and Druggists and General Grocery & Provision Warehouse (authors emphasis) and sold essence of chillies as well as the usual range of spices and other food products like Superior Scotch Oatmeal and Pine and Berkeley Cheese in the highest state of preservation’.[17] J. Tawell styled himself as an Apothecary, Chemist, Druggist, Spice Dealer (again author’s emphasis) offering for sale the common list of spices along with other varied goods like horse medicines, loaf sugar, dried and candied fruits and coffee.[18]
There is, however, the possibility that some of the spices were also there for their pharmacological properties. Coriander, cinnamon. cumin and cloves have pharmacological properties.[19] Significantly for this article so does chilli. ‘Chillies were used in pain management,’ says Clinical Pharmacologist Paul Hanna. ‘The active chemical in chillies is capsaicin which produces a sensation of heat. Our pain receptors and heat receptors share neurones, messenger cells. With the application of something that produces heat, these neurones can convince your body that you are feeling heat and not pain, tricking the body to have a different response to what it would if it was just feeling pain.’[20]
Mace’s advertisement gives some support to the possibility that chilies at least could have been dispensed for home remedies. Chillies appear in Mace’s advertisement in a list of nearly one hundred plants (or parts thereof), oils, salts, minerals, and acids the majority of which are for treatment of a range of ailments. At the bottom of this list Mace advertised that ‘Physicians’ prescriptions, and family recipes (would be) carefully prepared.’ Perhaps one of the family recipes used chillies. A recipe for treating chilblains, one for treating rheumatism and one for treating coughs with chilli are Addendum 2.
Let me now turn to the breadth of the use of chillies in settler cuisine. Chillies go unidentified in these recipes. They are just described as either red or green. The exception is recipes that specify birds eye chillies. The recipes also rarely say whether the chilli is to be fresh or dried.
Condiments
Chutney was far and away the leading use for chillies in the material I surveyed. A chutney (the word derived from Hindi chatni) in Indian food writes K.T.Achaya in his 1998 book A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food is ‘a freshly ground relish consisting of ingredients such as the coconut, sesame, groundnut, puffed Bengal gram, several dhals, raw mangoes, tomato, mint leaves and the like’.[21]The British adopted it during their colonial days transforming it in two ways; dispensing with the necessity for it to be freshly made by bottling it, and ‘tending perhaps to emphasize the sweet aspect of what is essentially sour, or sweet and sour.’[22] The majority of chutney recipes surveyed for this article use sugar, sometimes brown/dark sugar. Tomatoes were a popular choice for chutney, both green and ripe. (See recipe 33) Apples were frequently substituted for mangoes which could be hard to get. (See recipe 16) Vinegar was often used to give sharpness to the chutney as was lemon in some recipes.
Pickles were the next most common recipes. They were made on a single vegetable (See recipe 17) or as mixed pickles (See recipe 14). Vinegar was the pickling liquid medium of choice. A range of spices were used: turmeric, mustard, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, mace, ginger, cayenne, and curry powder. The range of vegetables across the recipes was comprehensive – marrow, onions, French beans, cauliflower, cucumber, cabbage, eschalots, tomatoes, lemons, chokos and beetroot. Chillies themselves were pickled. (See recipe 38) Recipes were also given for pickling fish and tripe. (See recipe 23)
In 1905 the Warwick Examiner in Queensland carried pickle recipes by a Miss Schauer. This was probably Amy Schauer who was teaching at Brisbane Technical College and who with her sister Minnie would publish The Schauer Cookery book in 1909. Her pickles in 1905 are preceded by notes for preparing vegetables for pickling.
This is a good time of the year to lay in a supply of pickles. Care is needed in the selection of vegetables and ingredients ; they must be in season, and in the proper condition of ripeness, and gathered on a fine dry day. They must be trimmed, washed, and wiped; the vinegar must be pure. Brown malt vinegar for dark pickles, white vinegar for onions, cauliflower, &c. Do not use copper vessels on any account, but enamelled pans for boiling the vinegar, and use wooden spoons. Glass bottles and jars are best for storing in; they must be corked and bladdered over[23]. A cool dry storeroom is necessary.[24]
Recipes for sauces were the next most likely to be published with recipes for tomato sauce and chilli sauce appearing in the same numbers. (See recipes 19, 35) A tomato mustard promised to stir up ‘fiery palates and weakened tastes with ‘red-hot charms which may be tried when the hottest chutney fails.’ (See recipe 24) Mrs. H. Francis, Forrest-street, Fremantle East, won an Honourable Mention in the Sunday Times Recipe Contest for her ‘Tomato Soy’. (See recipe 6) In the company of these the overly sweet ‘Battye Sauce’ seems incongruous:
Battye Sauce.
3 cups vinegar, 1 cup treacle, 1 cup of plum jam, 1 piece garlic, ¼ oz. cloves, ¼ oz. white spice, ¼ oz ginger, ¼ oz. chillies; boil all slowly for two hours, then bottle; ready for use when cold.[25]
Main Dishes
The first recipe with chillies as an ingredient I found was well outside the predictable. In 1871 a contributor to The Queenslander wrote to say that hams first cured by dry salting and then cured again in a sweet pickle which included chillies kept well over Summer. ‘The plan was tried and with some success’ noted the paper.[26] I asked my food historian cohort if they had ever heard of this to which the answer was no though they could see the sense in it for protection of the ham in heat.
Chillies appeared at breakfast with buttered eggs in a Rumble Tumble (See recipe 4), in one of the quintessential Indian dishes ‘Kitchoree / Kedgeree’ (See recipe 1) or on ‘Curry Toast’. (See recipe 2).
Fish dishes ranged from the simple to the more complex to make. At the simple end were ‘Oysters de Luxe’ which uses a chilli and caper infused mayonnaise for oysters scalded in their own liquor.[27] (See recipe 37) Fish Mooloo was also simple, dousing cold fried or boiled fish with a warm coconut sauce infused with green chillies and ginger producing something like a hot coconut gravy. (See recipe 26) ‘Lobster a la Creoles’ was moderately fiddly – all that picking out of the meat and then dicing it, frying it up with chili, cayenne and Spanish pimiento and then adding rice to the pan – though no doubt it looked spectacular on the plate.[28] ‘Darnes de Saumon’upped the antewith salmon either in slices or tinned set in an aspic in which capers and chilli are a kind of embedded garnish. (See recipe 13)
Meat dishes also ranged over degrees of difficulty and familiarity. Novel Rabbit Pie was layers of jointed rabbit, tomato, hardboiled egg and Spanish onion seasoned with cayenne, chillies, and cloves. (See recipe 35) Eight years later re-branded as ‘Rabbit Pie a La Bombay’ it took out fourth prize in the Sunday Times Recipe Contest.[29] I was surprised to find a 1905 recipe for ‘Kabob’s; rump steak or middle leg of mutton cubed then threaded on a skewer with alternating slices of onion, green ginger garlic and chilli, cooked in a butter and curry powder sauce. (See recipe 28) ‘Devil Sauce for Grills’ brought together stock, chutney, mustard (mixed), mushroom ketchup, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, half an ounce of glaze, a teaspoonful each of red currant jelly, chilli vinegar and flour.[30] Recipes for devilling teal or duck[31], devilled cold meat, fowl or kidneys [32] and devilled turkey[33] all use a sauce with this combination of mustard, mushroom ketchup, chutney, chillies and red wine. And to prove the old saw that there is nothing new under the sun in 1904 the Western Mail gave a recipe for ‘Beef Chili Con-Cane’ (sic).[34]
For some dishes chilli vinegar was the ingredient which provided the heat/bite: ‘Burdwan of Fowl’ (a skinless chicken cooked in anchovy sauce, Spanish onions, cayenne chilli vinegar and white wine)[35]; ‘Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton’[36]; ‘Lettuce Sandwiches’ (See recipe 20).
Chillies were often used as decoration and not integrated into the dish; ‘Stuffed Cucumbers -decorate with minced chillies’[37]; ‘Timbales of meat in Aspic – decorate this with chopped olives, cucumber, chillies, bard boiled eggs, beet root or anything you can get’[38]; ‘Rolled Herrings – garnish with chillies and sprigs of parsley’.[39]
Chillies were an integral ingredient in ‘Mulligatawny Soup’ (See recipe 25), could be stuffed (See recipe 31) or added bite to a salad (See recipes 10, 12, 32). And while it may not have made it into dessert, it did partner with green tomatoes in a sweet ‘Green Tomato Jam.’ (See recipe 8)
A divertissement – about curry powder
There is no dish better suited for cold days, when one’s vitality is low, than a curry. It not only aids digestion, but it is stimulating to all the organs of the body, and it renders even the plainest food palatable and savoury. It enables one to sustain fatigue and prolonged exertion, and it helps the system to get rid of waste products. …
… The first thing to do is to obtain a thoroughly good curry powder. It is hopeless to attempt to make this at home, and we do not suppose that any of our readers would be foolish enough to attempt to do so.
The art of compounding a good curry powder is possessed by but few, and many brands that are offered for sale are absolutely worthless.[40]
I had expected to find recipes for curries which used chillies but there were just a handful. (What most used instead was curry powder occasionally with chillies but most often without. (.See recipe 21) ‘Curry powder’ writes Alan Davidson, ‘represents an attempt by British (originally and still (1999) ) manufacturers to provide in readymade form a spice mixture corresponding to those in Southern India’.[41]
While these ready-mades had been available in Britain since the late 18th century, the first reference I found to curry powder in Australia was an advertisement in 1813 placed by J. Laurie for recently arrived cannisters of curry powder ‘Price £1 5s. per Cannister, with directions for use’.[42] Curry powders go unbranded in the advertisements for them until in 1862 Crosse and Blackwell advertised Captain Whites curry powder and paste.[43] Unfortunately I could not find a list of its ingredients. This is probably the same Captain White brand that manufactured Oriental Pickles.[44] In the early 1860s, Joseph Keen and his wife Annie began to produce a range of household sauces and condiments from their shop in Hobart, Tasmania. One of them was a curry powder made from turmeric, coriander, salt, fenugreek, black pepper, chilli, rice flour, allspice, and celery. In 1866 Keens’ Curry Powder won a medal at the International Exhibition in Melbourne.[45] It would go on to be arguably the most widely used curry powder in Australia until the present day.
Some householders, the advice from the Cobram Courier notwithstanding, were indeed foolish enough to make their own curry powder. Miss Helen Clevey won fifth prize in the Sunday Times Recipe Contest 1914, for her ‘Home-Made Curry Powder’ which used both cayenne and chillies:
One pound, and a half of coriander seed, 1-3 of a pound of cummin (sic) seed, 6oz. saffron, 18 oz. of dry chillies, 2 ½oz of black pepper, 3oz. of venthium [fenugreek leaves] , 4oz. mustard. Pound all finely, and pass through a muslin or fine sieve. Keep in a tightly-corked jar or bottle. This will make about 100 dessertspoonsful.[46]
I find the use here of fenugreek leaves fascinating. It is so outside of the common range of spices. I wonder did Miss Clevey think they could be sourced in Perth. Fenugreek or venthium is not listed by any of the three chemist druggists I have discussed above – Mace, Foster and Foss or J. Tawell. How did Miss Clevey come to have a recipe that was so abstruse in the context of Perth in 1914 Australia?
A divertissement – Indian provenance as spin
Sometimes the provenance of the goods or recipes was given as India or a city or state in India. In 1836 Mr. Samuel Lyons advertised for sale 60 jars of Indian Curry Powder.[47] Among the recipes surveyed for this article were ‘Mutton Cutlets a la Indienne’;[48] ‘Madras Chutney’; [49] ‘Indian Fritters;[50] and ‘Indian soup’.[51] At other times the recipe was said to have been given to the recipe writer or manufacturer by an Indian; ‘Bengal Chutnee’ – The f’ollowing is an Indian recipe for chutney, generally thought very good;[52] ‘India Pickle’[53]; ‘Mango Chutney’ -I have never myself tried the above recipe but it was given me by an old Indian housekeeper who is an authority on most things of the kind [54]; ‘Rabbit Pie A La Bombay’;[55] ‘Indian toast’;[56] Chillies and Chilly Seed, real Bengal;[57] and O.T. Chillie obtained ‘from one of the Maharajas of India’.[58] In both cases this was an attempt to claim authenticity for the goods or recipe to attract sales in the first instance and prestige in the second.
Beverages
This was an area that was completely out of the box for me having ‘Chilli Beer’ (See recipe 39), ‘Chilli Wine’ (See recipe 40), and ‘Hop Beer’ (See recipe 42). Hop beer used hops, maize, sugar and chillies or ginger to taste. Chilli beer and wine were both based on the same ingredients but one – birds eye chillies (25 for beer and 40 for wine) boiled in water, sugar, essence of lemon and cream of tartar/tartaric acid. The main difference was that brewer’s yeast was added to the beer and not the wine, making the latter ‘The best non-intoxicating beverage made of chillies’ claimed the Leader in 1915 in response to ‘W. W.’s inquiry for a recipe (See recipe 40).
There was an earlier contender for the title for this claim – ‘O. T. Chillie’. Made in 1901 by John Dixon at his Prahran Ice and Aerated Water Company The recipe for it was claimed to have been obtained from one of the Maharajas of India. [59] It was made from chillies and fruit juice and was non-alcoholic. It was also promoted as chemical free. The company held ‘that O.T. Punch is an invaluable remedy for cramps, spasms, indigestion, cough, and colds’. [60] The drink was hugely popular. In 1907 Punch, a newspaper in Melbourne wrote, ‘’Where two years ago one hundred and fifty bottles were sent out, one million bottles is now the output’.[61] Dixon aggressively and publicly threatened potential competitors with legal action. This didn’t stop a few newspapers printing do-it-yourself recipes for the stuff’ – as with Recipe 40.[62] Nor did it stop other cordial manufacturers. In 1916 ‘Rogers’ Famous Chilli Punch’ was being advertised as a stimulant ‘agreeable to every palate and can’t be beaten for indigestion’.[63]
The drink waned in popularity post World War 2. I was unable to find a recipe for ‘O. T. Chilli’ or ‘Roger’s Chilli Punch’ but have provided one for home-made O. T. Punch.’ (See recipe 41)
Addendum 1. Festival of the Chilli
Breakfast
Kitchoree
Curry Toast/ Tomatoes on Toast
Rumble Tumble
Bipperrada
Tomato Soy
Tomato Relish
Morning Tea
Green Tomato Jam
Banana Chutney
Bread & butter
Lunch
Potato Salad with Chili Vinegar
Benares Salad
Ham
Darnes de Saumon
Piccalilli
Apple Chutney
Cucumber Preserves
Ladies’ Delight Pickle
Tomato Sauce
Rice
Afternoon Tea
Lettuce Sandwiches
Devilled Eggs
Sandwiches with Russian Salad
Pickled Tripe
Tomato Mustard
Dinner
Mulligatawny Soup
Fish Mooloo
Chicken Curry
Kabobs
Mutton Cutlets a la Indienne
Dhall Curry
Green Sweet Tomato Pickle
Choko Pickle
Chilli Sauce
Supper
Novel Rabbit Pie
Oysters de Luxe
Pickled Chillies
Cucumber Pickle
Beverages
Chili Beer
Chillie Wine
Hop Beer
O. T. Punch
Addendum 2. Recipes
[Note: In these recipes I have kept the text as originally and have not amended spelling ,punctuation, etc.]
Breakfast
1. Kitchoree
Kitchoree is a breakfast dish peculiar to an Indian breakfast table, but it is worthy of transplantation to this soil, and by the recommendation of being extremely simple. It consists chiefly of boiled rice, mingled with split peas, shredded, and fried onions, raisins, a few chillies and slices of hard-boiled egg. Mixed up with fresh butter, the dish is a charming accompaniment to broiled fried REPETITION? fish, broiled ham, or fried bacon. No gentleman in India would consider his breakfast-table complete without a dish of kitchoree.[64]
2. Curry Toast
Wash, and pound ¼lb of anchovies. Mix them with a little curry paste, a little mustard, some butter, and a few drops of chilli vinegar. Spread the mixture on hot buttered toast, and set it all before the fire to heat; serve very hot.[65]
3. Tomatoes on Toast
Cut some pieces of stale bread about half an inch thick, stamp out some nice rounds about the size of the top of a wine glass, fry a golden brown, drain them well on a sieve before the fire. Slice some nice red tomatoes, and fry in butter; put a round of them on each piece of toast, then put a few small slices of green chilli on each. and cover up with another round of tomato; sprinkle over the top the yolks of hard-boiled eggs that have been passed through a sieve. and surround the egg with a thin border of chopped green parsley.[66]
4. Rumble Tumble
This is, properly speaking, buttered eggs, and is very quickly made. Beat from four to ten eggs, and carefully strain them, then melt some butter in saucepan over your oil stove or fire, and salt and pepper to taste. Turn one way until melted, then put in the eggs, and stir them round until the mixture is quite thick. Place on small pieces of buttered toast made very hot. Green chillies are sometimes added and are an improvement.[67]
5. Bipperrada (Green Chillies)
(From the Basque Provinces)
Mince some green chillies and fry in lard; add half-a-dozen tomatoes and a clove of garlic; cook for fifteen minutes, and add a slice of soaked bread, without crust, 2 eggs well beaten, and a little salt, mix well and serve like an omelette. (Lemon juice should, I think, improve this.)[68]
6. Tomato Soy
Take 21b. green tomatoes, slice them with ½lb onions and ½lb cucumber; place in colander, sprinkle with 4oz. of warm salt, leave over-night; next day drain well and place in a preserving pan with a teaspoonful of peppercorns, four cloves and a blade of mace, a pinch of ginger, six chillies and enough vinegar to cover; boil slowly till reduced to a pulp, rub through a sieve; bottle in warm, dry
bottles, putting a chillie and clove in each.
Mrs. H. Francis, Forrest-street, Fremantle East.
Honourable Mention in the Recipe Contest[69]
7. Tomato Relish
First Prize in the Sunday Times ‘Recipe Contest’ awarded to Olga Berghofer, 9 Adelaide-street, East
Perth for this recipe.
Twelve large tomatoes, 4 medium-sized onions, 1 tablespoonful curry powder, 1lb. sugar, 1 handful salt, vinegar, 1½ tablespoonfuls Colman’s dry mustard, 5 or 6 chillies or cayenne.
Cut the tomatoes in four, place them in a large dish, and sprinkle the salt over them, let them stand for 12 hours. Take the onions and cut about the same size, place them in another dish, and do the same as above. In the morning pour away the water that has run out of both, then put the onions and tomatoes together into a saucepan with enough vinegar to just cover them, place on the fire and boil for five minutes. While they are boiling mix up the curry powder and mustard in a little cold vinegar, put into the saucepan with the sugar and chillies or cayenne, stir well, and boil for half an hour.[70]
Morning Tea
8. Green Tomato Jam
Take 101b. of green tomatoes, cut up in medium-sized pieces, put some lime in sufficient water to cover the tomatoes, stir and let it settle, pour off the water and cover the tomatoes with it. Let it stand all night. Pour off the water in the morning, and to every pound of fruit add ¾lb sugar, two lemons, and to the whole add three red chilies cut up (discard the seeds), and ginger to taste. Boil until when some is set on a plate it will jelly. This recipe is especially good for children.[71]
9. Banana Chutney
The following is the only RECIPE? for banana chutney that I have: Take a dozen large and rather unripe bananas, roast them in their skins; then peel them; grind up with three dried red tamarinds and four red chillies, and fry in a little butter, then pound the whole together, season with salt, and add the-juice of two lemons, and bottle.[72]
Lunch
10 Potato Salad with Chilli Vinegar
The notion of serving cold potatoes will be new, and not very pleasing to a number of my readers; yet it is not to be despised. A potato salad is a very good thing, and may be simply made by cutting the potatoes into slices or into dice like pieces, and then covering them with a good salad dressing. But a better way is to pass them through a coarse sieve, provided they are dry and floury enough to admit of the process, and those who possess a patent ‘masher’ will be able to have this little dish in the greatest perfection. Mix the potatoes with a little Chili vinegar, salt, and, if not disliked, oil, for which, however, a little cream may be substituted. This done put them on a dish and spread a little small salad, or a few leaves of cos lettuce, finely shred and very dry, on the top. An anchovy or two minced is a capital addition to the salad. Most people like those which are preserved in oil, as they are very fine in flavour, and require no preparation.[73]
11. Chili Vinegar
Get an ounce of dried bird’s eye chillies from the grocer’s, which clean; put into a stoppered bottle, just cover with pure rectified spirits of wine or brandy[74], sufficient to wet them thoroughly, close cork the bottle, place by the fire for a few hours, then pour on a pint of vinegar; keep in a warm place for one month, then filter. Half a pint more vinegar may then be put to the chillies; this last may be strained in a fortnight.[75]
12. Benares Salad
1 cup of finely shredded peeled apples; 1 cup of chopped celery; ½dozen chopped pickle onions; 3 shredded little bird’s-eye peppers; half a cup of grated coconut. Mix with a French dressing, but use lemon juice instead of vinegar; 1 dessertspoonful to 1½ tablespoonsful of oil. Scoop out some ripe tomatoes, sprinkle with sugar and fill with the well mixed salad.[76]
13. Darnes de Saumon
Line some sandwich moulds with aspic jelly, and garnish them with capers and shreds of chilli and French gherkin; lay in each mould a slice of cold cooked salmon (good tinned salmon will do), and fill up the mould with aspic, and put it aside to set. If you have no cutlet moulds take the lid of a tin of biscuits, line it with aspic, and after garnishing it as above, lay in the salmon slices a little apart from one another, fill up with aspic, and when set cut them out neatly, leaving a rim of aspic round each.[77]
14. To Make Piccalilli
This consists of all kinds of pickles, mixed, and put into one large jar; gherkins, sliced cucumbers, button-onions, and cauliflowers broken in pieces. Salt them, or put them in a large hair-sieve in the sun to dry for three days, then scald them in vinegar for a few minutes; when cold put them together. Cut a large white cabbage in quarters, with the outside leaves taken off and cut fine, salt it, and put in the sun to dry for three or four days; then scald it in vinegar, the same as cauliflower; carrots three parts boiled in vinegar, and a little bay-salt; French beans, radish pods, and nasturtiums
all go through the same process as gherkins capsicums, &c. To one gallon of vinegar put four ounces of ginger bruised; two ounce of allspice; half an ounce of chillies, bruised; four ounces of turmeric; and one pound of the best mustard; half a pound of eschalots; one ounce of garlic, and half a pound of bay-salt. The vinegar, spice, and other ingredients, except the mustard must boil half an hour; then strain into a pan put the mustard into a large basin, with a little vinegar; mix it quite fine and free from lumps, then add more. When well mixed, put it to the vinegar just strained off, and when quite cold put the pickles into a large pan, and the liquor over them; stir them repeatedly so as to mix them all; finally, put them into a jar and tie them over, first with a bladder, and afterwards with leather. The capsicums want no preparation.[78]
15. Curing Hams for Summer Use
While making inquiries during last year upon this subject, it was stated by a contributor that hams first cured by dry salting in July or August, and then put into a sweet pickle (salt, saltpetre, sugar, and the water of chillies) during September, would keep during the summer. The plan was tried, and so far with success. By steeping during September, it was represented that the season of the jumper flies was avoided, and by using in the pickle the attacks of other flics were warded off. This appears to be the case and the method deserves attention from all who do not begrudge care and attention when there is a prospect of making a good article.[79]
16. Apple Chutney
A very near imitation of the Indian may be made from 2lb. of apples, peeled, cored, and pounded; ¼ lb. of green mint chopped fine, the juice of 2 lemons, 4lb. of small green chilies, 4lb. of salt, 1lb. of onions and the same of garlic, with a small quantity of vinegar. If you cannot procure the green chillies use cayenne. – A.H.H.[80]
17. Cucumber Preserves (Jewish)
Wash and dry off cucumbers, put into cask or airtight jar with some vine leaves and cover with brine of salt and water and chillies. Nice relish uncooked with meat.[81]
18. Ladies’ Delight Pickle
Mode: Put together 8ozs. each chopped onions and apples, 2ozs. chopped chillies in a jar, boil 1 pint of white wine vinegar, to which is added a large spoonful of salt, pour this over, the ingredients named before, mix well, and when quite cold put into small jars if preferred, It is to be eaten with cold meat (Likely to become as much the gentlemen’s delight).
Mrs. A. Mint, junr., Forest Hill, Mt. Barker. [82]
Afternoon Tea
19. Tomato Sauce
The following recipe for tomato sauce has been tried, and can be recommended. The following are the quantities, and you need not object to making a large amount, as if it is properly corked it will keep for years. To keep sauces and pickles properly you should resin the tops of the corks. Melt 6d. worth in an old saucepan, and apply it when hot with a flat stick. Then the saucepan can be put away until another sauce or pickling day comes round. Tomatoes 12lb, eschallots 4oz, garlic 4oz, white pepper 4oz, salt ½ lb, ginger ½oz,chillies ½oz, cloves ½oz, mace ½, allspice ½oz. Boil the tomatoes slowly for two hours, strain through a colander, rejecting the skins. Add with the other ingredients three pints of vinegar, boil again two hours and strain. When cold bottle tightly.
” May ” (Ravenswood).[83]
20. Lettuce Sandwiches
Delicious for afternoon tea. Take the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, pass them through a sieve, then
mix with a little butter, a teaspoonful of vinegar, also a little tarragon and chilli vinegar, and a little salt. Mix this to a paste, then spread on both sides of thin slices of bread; place the nice green part of fresh lettuce leaves on both sides. Cut into neat squares or long-shaped sandwiches.[84]
21. Devilled Egg
Hard-boil four eggs (or more if required); place immediately in cold water, and remove the shells. Cut them carefully in half and place the yolks in a basin. Add to them a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, a small pat of butter, a pinch of cayenne, and a few grains of salt, and moisten them when pounded with chilli vinegar. Mix thoroughly and fill the whites with the mixture, heaped into a neat mound. Slice off a little of the white at the bottom of eggs so that they will stand flat. Place a slice of truffle on top of each and serve.[85]
22. Sandwiches with Russian Salad
Cold pounded veal, chicken, or rabbit; two parts of butter to one of anchovy or shrimp paste. Butter the bread with the anchovy or shrimp butter, put a layer of pounded meat on the bread and butter, make into sandwiches, and serve round the following salad:-Take equal parts of cold cooked peas, capers, very young onions, the size of a large pea, chopped olives, cauliflower, carrots, turnips, asparagus, beetroot, two red chillies and two hard boiled eggs cut in dice. Pile these vegetables, well mixed, high in a pyramid in the centre of the sandwiches and pour over it mayonnaise sauce.[86]
23. Pickled Tripe
To every quart of vinegar allow half an ounce of whole black pepper, six small ‘Chillies’, quarter of an ounce of salt, twelve whole cloves and three cloves of garlic. Add the spices to vinegar, bring it to a boiling point, allow to cool, and pour over the tripe. The tripe should always be well covered with
the vinegar. If desired, onions may be added to the pickle. These are pared and sliced, sprinkled with salt, and allowed to remain overnight. Drain well and place in the vinegar when it is boiling hot. When the tripe is served cold, slices of the onion are added as a relish.[87]
24. Tomato Mustard
For fiery palates and weakened tastes which require stirring up, tomato mustard offers red-hot charms which may be tried when the hottest chutney fails. It can be made as follows:—Slice a peck of ripe tomatoes, and boil them for an hour with three chillies; strain through a colander, and boil for another hour with a tablespoonful of whole pepper, 1oz. of ginger, 1oz. of allspice, 1oz. of cloves, a teaspoonful of mace, and 2oz. of salt. When cold, stir in 1oz of mustard, 1oz. of curry powder, and a pint of vinegar.[88]
Dinner
25. Mulligatawny Soup (Clear)
Slice an onion and fry it lightly in two ounces of butter, add two sliced tomatoes, three tablespoonfuls of curry paste, and two green chillies cut small. Add a quart of well flavored stock, and boil for forty minutes. Skim well, and let the soup cool. Beat the white and yolks of three eggs
together, crush and wash the shells, and add all to the soup. Stir over the fire till boiling, and then strain through a thick cloth. Re-heat the soup, add a squeeze of lemon, season with pepper and salt,and serve. Some well boiled rice should be handed in a separate dish.[89]
26. Fish Mooloo
A capital way of dressing boiled or fried fish. Arrange the fish nicely in a deep dish. Grate a cocoanut, and pour over the grated pulp a large breakfast cupful of boiling water, and let it soak for an hour or so; then drain it off. Melt an ounce of butter in a hot saucepan, and fry in it two or three onions, cut up roughly, and three green chillies, also cut up. Add two spoonfuls of the cocoanut water, and stir till it has been quite absorbed. Then pour in the rest of the cocoanut, a table-spoonful of vinegar, a slice of green ginger, and a little salt; bring to the boil, and pour over the fish. This is eaten cold.[90]
27. Chicken Curry
Cut a chicken or old fowl that has been previously steamed tender, into joints. Put a tablespoonful of ghee into the frying pan, two sliced onions, three sliced green chillies, some green ginger and garlic to taste, and fry until the onions are quite brown. Add two dessert spoonfuls of curry powder, a teaspoonful of salt, and fry for two minutes. Then add the chicken and fry all for ten minutes. Then uncover and pour in a coffee cup of rich first drawn cocoanut milk, stir well, and allow it to simmer till it thickens. Add the juice of a lemon or lime, and dish, garnished with lemon slices.[91]
28. Kabobs
Required : One rump steak, one onion, green ginger, two cloves of garlic, to (sic) red chillies, two ounces of cooking butter, one tablespoonful of curry powder, boiled rice. Take either rump steak for this or a steak from the middle of a leg of mutton. Cut the meat into square pieces, and divide a sliced onion into dice, and some green ginger into thin slices, also the garlic. and slice the chillies. Get some fine skewers, string on a piece of meat, then a piece of each of the other ingredients, then more meat, and soon till the whole is used. Dissolve a couple of ounces of cooking butter in a stewpan, fry in it a little onion, add a teaspoonful of mild curry powder. After this has fried a few minutes, add the skewers of meat, and cook gently till done, on no account
allowing anything to burn. Serve on the skewers with boiled rice.[92]
29. Mutton Cutlets a la Indienne
Here is an excellent recipe — a pleasing variety from the ordinary mutton cutlet. Required: One pound of cutlets, two ounces of butter, one teaspoonful of grated horseradish, half a teaspoonful of made mustard, two teaspoonfuls of chopped green or red chillies one teaspoonful of walnut ketchup, half a lemon. Work the butter well on a plate with a knife, stir into it the chillies, mustard, horseradish, and ketchup. Trim the cutlets neatly, and spread some of this mixture over each side of them. Have ready a clear, bright fire, grease the gridiron, lay on the cutlets, and cook them quickly for about five minutes. Turn them over three or four times. Heap up some nicely mashed potatoes in the centre of a hot dish, and arrange the cutlets round it; garnish with slices of lemon.[93]
30. Dhall Curry
Take ½lb. musoor or moong dhall; clean pick, wash and roast it; mix with it a large tablespoonful onions, minced fine, a saltspoonful ground chillies, same of turmeric and ground ginger, a clove of garlic minced fine, a teaspoonful of salt; slice two onions lengthways, warm a stewpan, throw in 2oz. butter, fry the sliced onions crisp, and remove meanwhile cover the dhall and other ingredients with about 2in. water above the whole, let it boil smartly until the dhall is dissolved ; do not stir it while boiling, but let it cake; rub the mixture through a sieve, pour the dhall into the melted butter in which the onions were fried, stir until well mixed, cover the stewpan close, and simmer for about. twenty minutes; serve very hot, with onions floating on the top of the mixture. Dhall may be made from peas, Egyptian lentils, gram, or haricot beans, but the moong and musoor dhall are the best.[94]
31. Stuffed Chillies
A nice little savory is made, of even-sized green chillies. Cut out the stems, seeds, and cores. Mix four large sardines with a teaspoonful grated cheese and one egg, and mash them with a fork. Stuff the chillies with this. Dip them in thick butter, and fry, in deep fat. Drain on paper, and serve very hot.[95]
32. Salad
For summer use there is no better way of serving cold vegetables than as a salad. Spinach, cauliflower, or cabbage or, indeed, any other cooked vegetables-must not be kept more than a day, aa they are apt to become sour in hot weather. The method of preparing these things for table is simple enough. In the first place, well-cooked green vegetables-those which have a yellow tinge or have water left in them-will no more make a good dish on the second than on the first day, and served as a salad they will probably give a permanent distaste for that kind of thing. Supposing, then, the vegetables be of fine quality, and to have been properly boiled-if there are several kinds so much the better-mince them not too fine, add salt, pepper, a very little oil, and still less of mild vinegar or lemon juice; mix the whole thoroughly together, put in a little heap in the middle of the dish, place round tastefully slices of hard-boiled eggs, with tiny bits of pickled capsicums or chillies All this done with judgment, you will have a most delicious addition either to luncheon, dinner, or supper.[96]
33. Green Sweet Tomato Pickle
Take 3lbs of small green tomatoes, slice them, sprinkle each layer with salt, and set them aside in a basin for 24 hours then drain off the liquid and put them in a preserving pan with quarts of good vinegar, 3lb of treacle,1lb of brown sugar, four tablespoonfuls of mustard, six tablespoonfuls of chillies, a teaspoonful of mixed spice, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, ½ an ounce whole pepper, one, dozen of clove ground up fine, 2ozs of green ginger, 6lbs of onions chopped up small and two tablespoonfuls of Worcestershire sauce. Boil all together for one and a half or two hours, or
until the pickle is a rich dark brown, and the syrup about it quite thick.[97]
34. Choko Pickle
Take 4 lb. choko and 1½ lb onions. Cut Into small pieces and let stand 24 hours in a brine made of 1 lb salt to l qt water. Then drain well. Take 1 cup sugar, 1 cup plain flour, 3 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon each curry, cayenne, and mixed spice, a few chillies, 5 pints vinegar. Put the ingredients Into a basin, mix well, and stir In very gradually 1 pint vinegar, avoiding lumps. Put the rest of the vinegar in an enamel saucepan on to boil, add the mixture and boil for5 minutes. Plunge In the vegetables, stir gently and cook a few minutes. Let stand on the cool end of the stove for 1 hour, bottle hot, and seal when cold.[98]
35. Chilli Sauce
One peck of ripe tomatoes, peeled, one-half teacupful of salt, three red peppers, and twelve small onions chopped fine, one tablespoonful each of ground allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Mix altogether and boil two hours. Rub through a sieve, then add one pint of vinegar, a half teacupful of brown sugar, and let come to a boil. Bottle and seal while hot.[99]
Supper
36. Novel Rabbit Pie
Have a good sized but tender rabbit, skinned, and washed, and then cut it into small joints as for curry, wipe all with a damp cloth and parboil very slowly in a pint of water. Drain the joints of rabbit, dredge with flour and place in a pie dish, alternately, with a layer of sliced tomatoes, sliced hard boiled eggs and half a sliced Spanish onion. Season between each layer with salt, cayenne pepper, a very small piece of finely chopped garlic and two finely chopped green chillies, add also two cloves. Moisten all with half a pint of stock or gravy. Cover with a very light puff paste; ornament it with leaves, brush over with beaten eggs, and bake in a moderately heated oven for one hour and a half. Serve hot or cold.[100]
37. Oysters de Luxe
Scald the oysters in their own liquor; wipe them dry, place on a flat dish, and then on Ice. Choose from the lower half shells those that are flat enough to stand without tipping and tilting. Clean and dry the shells and put them on a fiat dish with a folded napkin under them. Make some mayonnaise flavoured with lemon and add a few chopped gherkins and chillies.[101]
38. Pickled Peppers
An Amateur : Please tell me how to pickle chillies? Soak fresh, hard peppers in salt and water for nine days in a warm place, changing the brine every day. Then put them in cold cider vinegar. If the pickles are not liked very hot, remove the seeds from the greater portion of the peppers. Malt vinegar will do if the other is not obtainable.[102]
Beverages
39. Chili Beer
Twenty-five bird’s-eye chillies ,1½ lbs of sugar, 1 teaspoon of essence of lemon, 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar, 2 gallons of cold water, 3 large tablespoons of brewer’s yeast.
Boil the chillies in 1 pint of water for about 10 minutes, and strain over the sugar, cream of tartar, and essence.. Add 2 gallons off cold water, and last the brewer’s yeast. Stir thoroughly , bottle at once, and tie down the corks. It will be ready for use in 2 days. The chillies may be had from any chemist.[103]
40. Chillie Wine
The best non-intoxicating beverage made of chillies is as follows:- Put two pounds of white sugar into a saucepan with 40 bird’s eye chillies, pour on two quarts of boiling water, let boil for half an hour and then pour in two quarts of cold water. When cold, add three teaspoonfuls of essence of lemon or cloves, one ounce of tartaric acid. Burn about one tablespoonful of sugar to colour. Strain and bottle.[104]
41. O.T. Punch (original)
Ingredients: 1 gallon boiling water, 100 chillies, 1oz. tartaric acid, 21b. white sugar, 1lb.brown sugar, 1 tablespoonful essence of lemon. Method: Put the chillies and sugar into boiling water, boil for a quarter of an hour, then add the tartaric acid. Boil for another five minutes, then strain into a bucket. When cool add essence of lemon, bottle, and cork tightly. Put about two tablespoonfuls into a glass and fill up with cold water.[105]
42. Hop Beer
The following is a recipe for hop beer — Put in a piece of mosquito-net a quarter of a pound of hops, one handful of maize, and two chillies or ginger to taste; then put the lot in three and a half gallons of water; place on the fire and boil. When the net sinks take it and its contents out, and into the liquor three pounds of common sugar, well stirring, and continue boiling for ten or fifteen minutes. Take off fire and let stand till cool. Then bottle, but let it remain uncorked till it rises. If then well-corked, and the corks tied securely down, it will be ready for use within .from ten to twelve hours. This will, however, materially depend upon the state of the atmosphere. Stone bottles are better than .glass, and they must be scrupulously clean. The above quantity will fill two dozen bottles.[106]
Addendum 3. Medical Recipes
For Chilblains
The Family Physician recommends a recipe which, it states, acts like a charm, and effects a rapid cure. It is as follows: Make a strong tincture of capsicum pods (chillies) by steeping them for several days in a warm place in twice their weight of rectified spirits of wine. Dissolve gum arabic in water to about the consistency of treacle. Add to this an equal quantity of the tincture, stirring it together with a small brush until they are well incorporated. The mixture will be cloudy and opaque. Then take sheets of silk or tissue paper, give them with the brush a coat of the mixture, let them dry, then give another. Let that dry, and if the surface is shining there is enough of the peppered gum; if not, give a third coat. This paper applied in the same way as court plaster, to chilblains that are not broken, speedily relieved the itching and the pain.[107]
For Rheumatism
Put a quarter of pound of chillies into one quart of cold water and’ bring to the boil. Boil all steadily till the liquor is reduced to one pint; when cold add one pint of sweet oil and half a pint of turpentine. This mixture should be sprinkled on a piece of flannel and applied to the affected part. The patient will find great relief immediately.[108]
For coughs
Dear Irven—Seeing your enquiry in “The Herald” for cough remedy, the following has been found very good to relieve a troublesome cough. O.T. 3 cups of sugar, half cup burnt sugar, 23 birds eye chillies, 8 cups of water. Boil all together. When part cool add one I dessertspoonful of essence of lemon. When cold strain through a fine strainer and bottle. Take a tablespoonful when cough is troublesome. Yours very sincerely.
M. B.[109]
[1] The Colac Herald (Victoria) 2 March 1900 p.6 accessed at Trove 15 February 2023 02 Mar 1900 – RECIPES FOR BACHELORS. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[2] I use the term ‘settler cuisine’ to mean the food practices of British settlers and their descendants in Australia.
[3] I use the spelling chilli and chillies except where I am citing a source in which case I retain the spelling from that source.
[4] Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW) p.1 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 30 Nov 1806 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[5] ‘Mr J.T Collicot has for sale ABOUT 80 lbs. of Hops, of an excellent quality; a small Cask of Lamp Black, a few Dozen Cups and Saucers, and some bottled Chillies.’ Hobart Town Gazette and Van Dieman’s Land Advertiser (Tasmania) p.4 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 08 Apr 1825 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[6] ‘Chillie vinegar’ Robert Mather, Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser (Hobart) 1 September 1826 p.4 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 01 Sep 1826 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[7] Mr Samuel Lyons, The Sydney Monitor (NSW) 4 March 1835 p.3 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 04 Mar 1835 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[8] ‘Merchandise’, The Tasmanian (Hobart) 21 October 1836 p.8 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023
21 Oct 1836 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[9] To Correspondents, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney) 27 January 1894 p.20 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 27 Jan 1894 – TO CORRESPONDENTS. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[10] ‘Chilli Syrup’ To Correspondents, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney) 27 January 1894 p.20 Accessed at Trove 16 February 2023 27 Jan 1894 – TO CORRESPONDENTS. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[11] J. A. Gough, The Sydney Times (NSW) 30 January 1835 p.2 Accessed at Trove 14th February 30 Jan 1835 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[12] ‘Tomatoes Tomatoes’ Geelong Advertiser(Victoria) 2 March 1886 p. 2 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 02 Mar 1886 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[13] ‘Cheap Food’, Maryborough and Dunolly Advertiser 12 Mar 1915 p.3 Accessed at Trove 14th February
12 Mar 1915 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[14] ‘The World’s Best Seeds’, J. A. Dransfield, Cootamundra Herald (NSW) 13 January 15 p.1 Accessed at Trove 14th February 19 Jan 1915 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[15] ‘Kitchen Garden Calendar’ Sydney Mail (NSW) 8 Jan 1870 p.11 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 08 Jan 1870 – Kitchen Garden Calendar. – Trove (nla.gov.au) (See also .The Garden., Western Mail (Perth) 16 Sept 1911 p.3 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 16 Sep 1911 – THE GARDEN – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[16] ‘H Mace, Chemist and Druggist’ Advertisement in The Australian (Sydney) 19 April 1826 p.1 Accessed 14February 2023 19 Apr 1826 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au). See also for example ‘Medicines &c’ A Foss Apothecary, Chemist, The Sydney Gazette and News South Wales Advertiser 24 September p.4 1828 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 24 Sep 1828 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[17] Foster and Foss Chemists and Druggists. Commercial Journal and Advertiser (Sydney) 7 September 1836 p3 accessed 13February 2023 07 Sep 1836 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au) See also for example ‘East India Preserves’ Mort and Brown The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney)5 March 1815 p.4 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 05 Mar 1851 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[18] J. Tawell, Apothecary, Chemist, Druggist, Spice Dealer, The Monitor (Sydney) 19 May 1826 p.8 4 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 19 May 1826 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[19] For pharmacological properties of other spices see for example cumin at Cumin: Benefits and Side Effects (healthline.com); coriander at Coriander – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics; for cinnamon see (PDF) Therapeutic and Pharmaceutical Potential of Cinnamon (researchgate.net); for cloves see Cloves: Health Benefits and Effects (verywellhealth.com)
[20] Paul Hannan, Clinical Pharmacist, in conversation with Paul van Reyk 27 February 2023
[21] K.T.Achaya, A Historical Dictionary of Indian Food, Oxford India Paperbacks, 2002 p. 545
[22] ‘Chutney’, Davidson, Alan, The Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford University Press 1999 p.185.
[23] Animal bladders were stretched over the top of the pickling jar, as it dried it tightened sealing the contents.
[24] ‘Miss Schaeur’s Pickles’ Cookery, Warwick Examiner and Times (Queensland) 25 November 1905 p.6 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 25 Nov 1905 – Cookery. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[25] ‘Battye Sauce’ Recipes, Daily Herald (Adelaide) 28 Nov 1910 p.5 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023
26 Nov 1910 – RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[26] ‘Curing Hams for Sumer Use’, The Queenslander (Brisbane) 25 November 1871 p5. Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 25 Nov 1871 – CURING HAMS FOR SUMMER USE. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[27] ‘Oysters de Luxe’, American Oyster Recipes, From Boudoir to Kitchen, Table Talk (Melbourne) 18 November 1909 p.13 Accessed at Trove 15 February 2023 18 Nov 1909 – From Boudoir to Kitchen – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[28] ‘Lobster a la Creoles’ Lobster Recipes, Leader (Melbourne) 27 July 1912 p.51 Accessed at Trove 15 February 2023 27 Jul 1912 – LOBSTER RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[29] ‘The Prize Recipes’, Sunday Times (Perth) 18 October 1908 p.7 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023
18 Oct 1908 – FOURTH – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[30] Recipes, Smith’s Weekly (Sydney) 98 Nov 1919 p.14 Accessed at Trove 23 February 08 Nov 1919 – RECIPES – Trove (nla.gov.au)devi
[31] ‘Devilled Teal or Duck’, The Lady Victoria Buxton Girls’ Club Adelaide , The Kookaburra Cookery Book, E.W. Cole, Melbourne, 1915, p.59
[32] ‘Devilled Meat’, Home Recipes, Daily Telegraph (Launceston) 5 May 1900 p.2 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 05 May 1900 – HOME RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[33] ‘Devilled Turkey’, Honourable Mention, Recipe Contest. The Sun (Kalgoorlie) 25 June 1915 p.11 Accessed at Trove 23 February 25 Jul 1915 – HONORABLE MENTION – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[34] ‘Beef Chili Con-Cane’, Best Twenty Ways of Cooking Meat, Prize American Recipes, Western Mail (Perth) 17 September 1904 p. 39 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 17 Sep 1904 – BEST TWENTY WAYS OF COOKING MEAT. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[35] ‘Burdwan of Fowl’ Recipes, Evening Journal (Adelaide) 26 April 1902 p3 Accessed at Trove 15 February 2023
26 Apr 1902 – RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[36] ‘Shoulder of Mutton’ Plain Cooking, The Table, The Queenslander (Brisbane) 8 January 1898 p.78
Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 08 Jan 1898 – The Table. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[37] ‘Stuffed cucumbers’, Darling Downs Gazette (Queensland) 5 November 1910 p.7 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023
[38] ‘Timbales of meat in aspic’, A Woman’s Letter, Leader (Orange) 28 Oct 1911 p.4 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 03 Nov 1911 – LADIES COLUMN. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[39] ‘Rolled Herrings’, Lenten Dishes, Household and Cookery, Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners’ Advocate (NSW) 18 March 1911 p.15 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 18 Mar 1911 – HOUSEHOLD AND COOKERY. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[40] ‘Curries,’ Our Cookery School, Cobram Courier (Victoria) 16 May 1907 p.5 Accessed at Trove 21 February 16 May 1907 – OUR COOKERY SCHOOL. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[41] Davidson, Alan, The Oxford Companion to Food, Oxford university Press, 1999 p. 236
[42] ‘Curry Powder’ The Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser (New South Wales) 4 December 1813 p.4
Accessed at Trove 21 February 2023 04 Dec 1813 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[43] ‘Pickles, Sauces Jams &c &c’ Advertisement for Crosse and Blackwell, Sydney Mail (New South Wales) 24 May 1862 p.1 Accessed at Trove 14th February 2023 24 May 1862 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[44] ‘Auction Sales’ South Australian Chronicle and Weekly Mail (Adelaide) 15 October 1870 p.15 Accessed at Trove 9 March 2023 15 Oct 1870 – COMMERCIAL. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[45] ‘Keen’s Curry Powder’ The Companion to Tasmanian History, University of Tasmania Keen’s Curry Powder (utas.edu.au),
[46] Home-Made Curry Powder,’ Recipe Contest, Sunday Times (Perth) 4 oct 1914 p.31 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023 04 Oct 1914 – Fifth Prize – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[47] ‘To Dealers and Others’ Advertisement The Sydney Gazette and News South Wales Advertiser 19 May 1836 p.4 Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 19 May 1836 – Classified Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au). See also for example Francis Gaunson, Advertisement, The Sentinel (Sydney) 17 December 1845 p.1 Accessed at Trove 14th February 17 Dec 1845 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[48] Mutton Chops a la Indienne’ Homely Fare, Home and Fireside, Weekly Times (Melbourne) 7 October 1905 p.30 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 07 Oct 1905 – HOME AND FIRESIDE. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[49] ‘Madras Chutney’, The Lady Victoria Buxton Girls’ Club Adelaide , The Kookaburra Cookery Book, E.W. Cole, Melbourne, 1915, p.178
[50] ‘Indian Fritters’, Mrs. Lance Rawson, The Antipodean Cookery Book and Kitchen Companion.George Robertson and Company, 1896 p.79.
[51] ‘Indian Soup’, Homely Fare, Weekly Times (Melbourne) 14 June 1902 p. 31 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 14 Jun 1902 – HOMELY FARE. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[52] ‘Bengal Chutnee’, Recipes, The Australasian (Melbourne) 6 March 1869 p.7 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 06 Mar 1869 – RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[53] ‘India Pickle’ The Housekeeper. The Queenslander (Brisbane) 26 July 1884 p.138 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 26 Jul 1884 – THE HOUSEKEEPER. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[54] The Housekeeper, The Queenslander (Brisbane) 4 December 1886 p.890 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 04 Dec 1886 – THE HOUSEKEEPER. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[55] ‘Rabbit Pie a la Bombay’ Fourth prize) Sunday Times (Perth) 18 October 1908 p.7 890 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 18 Oct 1908 – FOURTH – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[56] Simple Recipes, The Bundaberg Mail and Burnett Advertiser (Qld) 24 December 1908 p.4 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 24 Dec 1908 – Simple Recipes. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[57] ‘On sale ex Psyche’, Bent’s News and Tasmanian Three-Penny Register (Hobart) 23 January 1836 4 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 23 Jan 1836 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[58] Dixon & Co Cordial Manufacturers O. T. Chillie’ The Herald (Melbourne) 6 February 1906 p.3 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 06 Feb 1906 – DIXON & CO. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[59] ‘Dixon & Co Cordial Manufacturers O. T. Chillie’ The Herald (Melbourne) 6 February 1906 p.3 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 06 Feb 1906 – DIXON & CO. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[60] ‘Dixon & Co Cordial Manufacturers O. T. Chillie’ The Herald (Melbourne) 6 February 1906 p.3 Accessed at Trove 23 February 2023 06 Feb 1906 – DIXON & CO. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[61] ‘O.T. Exhibit” Punch (Melbourne) 21 Feb 1907 p.14 Accessed at Trove 14 February 2023
21 Feb 1907 – O.T. EXHIBIT. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[62] ‘’What happened to O.T.’, Whatever happened to O.T.? The tale of the drink with ‘twang’. (meandmybigmouth.com.au)
[63] ‘Rogers’ Famous Chilli Punch’’, Northern Star (Lismore) 24 Oct 1916 p.4 Accessed at Trove 14 February 24 Oct 1916 – Advertising – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[64] ‘Kitchoree,’ East Indian Cookery, Weekly Times (Melbourne) 20 August 1870 p14.Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023. 20 Aug 1870 – EAST INDIA COOKERY. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[65] ‘Curry Toast’, Household Recipes. The Tasmanian (Launceston) 31 May 1890 p4. Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 31 May 1890 – Household Recipes. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[66] ‘Tomato on Toast’, Home and Fireside, The Caulfield and Elsternwick Leader (North Brighton) 20 January 1894 p3. Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 20 Jan 1894 – Home and Fireside. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
[67] ‘Rumble Tumble.’ Indian Dishes (From the Lady). Recipes. Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton) 2 November 1893 p3. Accessed at Trove 13 February 2023 02 Nov 1893 – RECIPES. – Trove (nla.gov.au)
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[74] Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. Neutral spirits can be produced from grains, corn, grapes, sugar beets, sugarcane, tubers, or other fermentable materials such as whey. In particular, large quantities of neutral alcohol are distilled from wine and/or by-products of wine production (pomace, lees). A product made from grain is “neutral grain spirit”, while a spirit made from grapes is called “grape neutral spirit” or “vinous alcohol”. Neutral spirits are used in the production of several spirit drinks, such as blended whisky, cut brandy, most gins, some liqueurs and some bitters. Rectified spirit – Wikipedia
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