CHOICE OF MEAT DISHES

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 63

CHOICE OF MEAT DISHES A survey made of the cross section of the families under the Kaikohe Scheme confirms that they have a very high starch diet. Fatty meat, vegetables of high starch content (potatoes, pumpkin, kumeras, sweet corn, and maize). They are heavy bread eaters, and in addition are fond of doughboys (dumplings) made solely from flour. How often do we see a Maori garden plot consisting mainly of potatoes, kumeras, sweet corn (and occasionally cabbages) with such vegetables as lettuce, beans, peas, carrots and tomatoes being absent. I consider that the families should be encouraged to extend their gardens to include these items as it is possible to literally live off a garden during the summer months, and at the same time be able to store away sufficient potatoes and kumeras for the winter months. In choosing meats, the likes and dislikes of the older members of the family are often given priority over those of the younger members. How much easier it is to entice the younger members to eat, if the diet is varied from day to day, with emphasis on the softer types of dishes, soup, stew with roast meat and gravy. Set out below is a list of meat dishes giving a family variation and value. The Tamaki District Council of the Maori Women's Welfare League leading Japanese women of the P.P.A. in the Maori carved meeting house in the Auckland Museum. Roast Dishes: Roast mutton, roast beef, roast stuffed mutton flap with gravy. These meats could be used the following day cold, and again the following day the roast beef could be made up in a Scottish pie or rissoles. Stews and Soups: Steak and kidney stew or pie. Stews made up from mutton neck or flank. With these stews could be added peas, beans, carrots, onions and potatoes. Soup: Made from knuckle bone and shin. Fish soup made from fish heads and bones. A typical meat order for a week for a family of two adults and three children, costing approx. 25/-to 30/-, could consist of the following: Saturday: Roast beef and gravy/roast mutton and gravy/roast stuffed mutton flap. Sunday: Left over roast and gravy. Gravy is saved from the Saturday and warmed up. (This is very effective.) Monday: Cottage pie with remaining meat or rissoles. Tuesday: Steak and kidney stew with vegetables added, or stew made of mutton neck or flap.

Wednesday: Knuckle bone or shin bone soup with vegetables added. Thursday: Sausages or mince with vegetables. Friday: Fish soup or fried fish.