COOKING FOR SEASONAL WORKERS

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 84, Issue 1, 15 January 1952, Page 65

COOKING FOR SEASONAL WORKERS

T ARGE-SCALE catering often presents a problem to the person who has had little experience of it, particularly if the occasion is a busy one for the whole family. Most people cope successfully with an influx of visitors on a special occasion, as the meals are served in the house, but for an occasion like haymaking, shearing, or fruit picking a different technique must be used, as often it is impossible to seat all the people round the table, to “stagger” the meal hours, or to use a buffet style of service. The problem has varying aspects, as the housewife may be called on to provide for meals and two “smokos” in the day, and quite often the meals must be first cooked and then carried some distance. Therefore it is essential when planning large-scale catering of this type not only to organise the meals and their preparation, but also to leave time for their transportation to the field. Of course, the cardinal rules of all meal service apply: Hot dishes must be hot, cold ones must be cold, and the food should be served as attractively as possible. To attain these objectives more easily it is wise to try to serve cold meals in the field. They should be plain; fussy, time-consuming details are attractive at afternoon tea, but quite often the garnishes have become wilted and unappetising by the time they reach the field. The meals which approximate to breakfast, and dinner are usually served in or close to the house, and the “teas” and lunch, which must be substantial meals, are those with which difficulty sometimes arises. In the menus and directions which -follow, the instructions may clash with normal good practice in preparation of foods to retain their nutritive value, but these are not normal practices to be followed every day of the year; rather are they designed to cope with a special occasion which may reasonably be called a housewife’s emergency. The day before the first menu is to be served certain preparations can be made which materially lessen the work on the days when the menus are served without making this day too exacting in view of the usual housework to be done.

Breakfast (8 a.m.): Morning tea (10.15 a.m.): Lunch (12.30 p.m.): Afternoon tea (3 p.m.): Dinner (6.30 p.m.):

MENU 1

Porridge Fried chops Bread, butter, marmalade Tea Sandwiches Drop scones Tea - Cold double-crust meat pie Buttered bread Tomatoes, cucumber Biscuits - Tea Sandwiches Cold meat pie (if any) Drop scones Biscuits . Tea * * Mutton stew Potatoes, carrots, parsnips Cabbage Fruit pie Tea

MENU 2

Stewed fruit or porridge Bacon and scrambled eggs . Heated left-over vegetables Bread, butter, honey Tea Bread, butter Scones Tea Aberdeen sausage Tomatoes, ■ lettuce, cheese Bread, butter, jam Tea Sandwiches Scones Sponge cake (if no biscuits remain from Menu 1) Tea Roast mutton Potatoes, onions, cauliflower Steamed pudding Tea

OUTLINE OF TIMETABLE FOR THREE DAYS

DAY BEFORE Prepare and cook meat for the pie. - Prepare and cook Aberdeen sausage. Make the meat and fruit pies. Put on the mutton stew to cook. After the stew has cooked stand it aside to cool. Make the porridge. Cut and trim the chops. Mix the dry ingredients for the drop scones. Prepare the cold drinks for the field.

MENU 1 DAY Heat the porridge. Cook the chops in the baking dish in the oven. Rill the top of the stove with kettles for hot water. Make beds and do any essential jobs while the breakfast is cooking. Make the gravy and serve the breakfast. • Mix the drop-scone batter and start baking the scones. Have own breakfast. Wash up. After the drop scones are cooked put in biscuits or small cakes to cook. Cut sandwiches and butter bread for lunch. Pill the sandwiches with cheese, , egg, and pickle. Butter the scones. Sweep the kitchen. Make tea and take it out to the men. Have own morning tea. Wipe the tomatoes. Peel the cucumber, cut it into lin. slices, and wrap it in waxed paper. Cut the meat pie into large pieces. Wash up. Pack the biscuits, sandwiches, and scones in tins or shoe boxes. Make tea and take it out to the men. Have own lunch at the house and rest for i hour. Cut more sandwiches if necessary and butter scones. Pack the food. Make the tea and carry it out. Have own afternoon tea. Wash up. Prepare vegetables and do any other essential household tasks. At 5.30 put on the potatoes and the carrots and parsnips in one pot. Skim the stew, reheat it, and thicken it. At 6 o’clock put on the chopped cabbage , and put the fruit pies in the oven to heat through. Take care not to scorch the pies; put an extra slide or a folded newspaper across the top if necessary. . Mix the porridge.- Serve the dinner. Put the porridge and fruit to be stewed on to cook while dinner is being eaten. Make tea. Wash up.

MENU 2 DAY Heat the porridge. Put the bacon in the oven to cook. Heat the kettles. Heat left-over, vegetables in the bottom of the oven. Prepare the scrambled eggs and put them ■ on to cook at the side of the stove or on a slow element i hour before breakfast. Make the beds. Serve the breakfast. Have own breakfast. Wash up. Mix and bake the scones. If necessary, mix the sponge and bake it. Cut bread and butter for morning tea and lunch. Sweep the kitchen. Butter the scones. Make tea and carry it out. Have own morning tea. Cut the Aberdeen sausage into pieces. Wipe the tomatoes, wash the lettuce, and , cut the cheese into pieces. Pack the food and place a pot of jam and a knife in the basket. Make the tea and carry out the lunch. Have own lunch at house and rest for J hour. Cut the sandwiches for afternoon tea. At 2.30 put the mutton on to roast. Prepare the dry ingredients for the steamed pudding. Butter scones and cut the cake. Wash up. • Reduce the heat under the mutton, or place a cold slide in the oven if using a fuel range. Make tea and take the afternoon tea out to the men. Mix the steamed pudding and start it cooking between 3.30 and 4 p.m. Have own afternoon . tea. Do any essential household jobs. Prepare the potatoes and onions and put them in with the meat at 5.30. Prepare the cauliflower and put it on to cook at 5.45. At 6.15 make the gravy, using the cauliflower water. Serve the dinner. Make tea. Wash up. ,

Varying the Timetable A . , , . . • , x- ' J The timetable given is elastic, and may be adapted to varying conditions and sizes and ages of families. Should there be children of school age, they may make a difference to the earlymorning schedule because of the necessity to cut lunches, but this is compensated for by the fact that before, going to school they can do some of the essential household tasks, such as making beds, sweeping, table setting, they washfns V uu ing they can help with the washing up. If there is a young baby in the family, the housewife can make time to attend to his needs by eliminating baking during the two days. She can serve biscuits such as crackers instead of scones, and a block of bought fruit

cake can be a useful standby. EliminatW the baking does not make the .two days easy for the housewife, but it does make them less hard. Tins mav h P filled with bismite cornies rolls fruit sauares and : shortbrea d during’the previous week These foods keen § wen and the of makine them can he spread over be spread over - e ai a y ' . ... . A/l u . n . . . When Milking Intervenes For the housewife who milks cows dai i these two days are strenuous , as the morning milking interferes with the breakfast preparation and the evening milking with the dinner preparation. However,- if she serves foods which ; require steady, slow cooking, : such as mince, smoked fish, or stewed

sausages, they can be put on to cook over gentle heat while she is out of the house. Possibly she will not be expected to provide breakfast or dinner « x, , -x, , If tbe h ? l usewi x®, has to take out the fo th -u outdoor meals, she can sei ? d lk ’ sugak and cool drinks out V lth the men first thing in the mornmg> racking the hood A laundry , basket is probably the easiest ‘ thing in which to pack and carry the food, as the tea can also be packed in it. The tea, is best kept hot by being poured into a‘billy , with a lid and the billy wrapped in several thicknesses of newspaper, in sacking, or in an old blanket. vs •

Quantities of Foods The quantities , which follow are estimated to make enough of each dish for 12 men: Porridge: 4 cups of rolled oats or oatmeal. Chops: 2 per man. Drop scones: ljlb. of flour and other ingredients in proportion make 3 dozen. Pastry: 21b. of flour and other ingredients in proportion make enough for both meat and fruit pies. Meat pie: 21b. of beef steak is enough for a double-crust pie in a large baking dish. Biscuits: lib. of flour makes 4 to 6 dozen biscuits. Mutton stew: 71b. of mutton (neck, breast, flaps, and shanks). Vegetables: 41b. of potatoes, 21b. of carrots, 21b. of parsnips, 41b. of onions, 4 to 61b. of cabbage, and 3 medium-sized cauliflowers. Bread: Two 41b. loaves each day. Bacon: 41b. Eggs: 12 to 18. Scones: 21b. of flour and other ingredients in proportion. Aberdeen sausage: 31b. of steak. Cheese: 31b. Sponges: A 3-egg sponge made in a flat pan. Roast mutton: A leg and a shoulder. Steamed pudding: J to fib. of flour. Salad vegetables: 6 lettuces and 3 or 4 cucumbers if they are available from the > garden; 18 to * 201 b. of tomatoes. Make sure the larder contains a plentiful supply of tea, sugar, baking powder, flour, and butter.

Ordinary household equipment should suffice to cook the meals. Two large baking dishes are needed. Only tried and trusted recipes should be used at an extra busy time. Trying out new recipes may result in failures because of the extra calls on the housewife’s time. Rest Periods If possible, such weekly tasks as washing clothes should be done before or after the busy period, which is already' full enough. If a little time can be spared, the housewife should have a rest or a break in the open air, as the working day is already long, particularly if the dinner hour is set back to allow the men to finish a job, as it may be in threatening weather. The housewife’s working day is unlikely to end until 1| hours after the evening meal has been served, so should the men ask for an extra afternoon tea and a late dinner at, say, 8.30, it will be 10 p.m. before the housewife puts away the last plate. If she has not had an extra rest, she will be very tired and probably rather irritable by this time. Recipes Aberdeen Sausage 31b. of steak 1 small onion li cups of bread- Jib. of bacon "crumbs .1 tablespoon of Wor2 eggs cestershire sauce IJ. teaspoons of salt 1 teaspoon of pepper Mince the bacon, steak, and onions. Add the breadcrumbs and other ingredients and mix them thoroughly. Form the mixture into a roll, tie it in a floured cloth, and boil it for 2| to 3 hours. Turn it out and roll it in either fine breadcrumbs or oatmeal.

Steamed Fruit Pudding Fill a large enamel pudding bowl two-thirds full of cut-up fruit, such as rhubarb, apple, and gooseberries. Sprinkle 1 to I'cup of sugar over the fruit. Mix a scone dough, using Boz. of flour. Pat it into the size and < shape of the top' of the bowl and place it on top of the fruit. Cover the pudding with either greased paper or the lid and steam it for 1£ to 2 hours. Three tablespoons of golden syrup or treacle may be used instead of some of the fruit. Foundation Cottage Pudding 6oz. of butter 3 eggs 6oz. of sugar Milk if necessary 12oz. of flour 1J teaspoons of Flavouring baking powder Cream the butter and sugar and add the beaten eggs. Add the dry ingredients and mix them in. Add a little milk if the mixture is too stiff to drop from a spoon. Steam the pudding in a covered greased bowl for 2 hours. These quantities make 12 to 16 servings. This recipe may be varied by adding 2oz. of melted chocolate, j cup of chopped fresh fruit or soaked dried fruit, 4 tablespoons of-raisins or currants, i cup of chopped stoned dates, or 2 tablespoons of raspberry jam to the mixture, or by lining the pudding bowl with jam. Drop Scones ljlb. of flour ilb. of sugar ’ 3 eggs 3 heaped teaspoons of 1 breakfast cup of baking powder milk Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Beat the eggs, sugar, and milk together and pour them into a well in the flour. Fold in the flour. Drop the mixture in large spoonfuls on to a cold greased tray. Bake the scones in a hot oven (450 degrees F.) for 10 to 15 minutes. Do not crowd them on the tray, as they spread. Photographs by Sparrow Industrial Pictures Ltd.

Cleaning Felt Carpets

AN article on the care of carpets in the February “Journal” made no mention of felt carpets. Shampooing is as efficient a method of removing dirt from a felt carpet as from a woven carpet, but there is a distinct danger that, being nearly pure wool, the felt will shrink badly. It has been known to shrink as much as 2 to 3in. in a yard. If the felt is tacked down firmly all round, it can be shampooed safely, as the tacks will prevent it from shrinking unless it is very old and thin, when it may tear away from the tacks.

A felt carpet which is to be moved into a smaller room can well be shampooed before being cut to fit the new floor, but if it exactly fits the room in which it is to be laid, shampooing it is not safe unless it is firmly tacked down all round. If the carpet is not to be tacked, it cannot be shampooed.

EIRENE E. UNWIN,

Rural Sociologist, Department of Agriculture, Christchurch