{"id":2175,"date":"2021-10-10T21:25:06","date_gmt":"2021-10-10T21:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/?p=2175"},"modified":"2021-10-10T21:39:13","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T21:39:13","slug":"stirring-up-the-stacks-9-two-for-the-price-of-one-macaroni-soup-and-ginger-pudding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.otago.ac.nz\/thehockenblog\/stirring-up-the-stacks-9-two-for-the-price-of-one-macaroni-soup-and-ginger-pudding\/","title":{"rendered":"Stirring up the stacks #9: two for the price of one! Macaroni soup and ginger pudding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Post cooked up by Eilish McHugh-Smith, Collections Assistant – Publications<\/p>\n

Our recent return to Covid alert level 4 prompted Hocken Staff to fish through their camera rolls and personal bookshelves in search of historical culinary delights to tantalise their bubble\u2019s taste buds. In the preceding weeks, I had been on a mission to find a selection of the most peculiar and delicious sounding recipes within our cookbook collection, so had an array of delights to choose from.<\/p>\n

One of my favourite finds is a well-loved copy of New Zealand women\u2019s household guide: containing recipes and general hints<\/em>, dating from 1934 or 1935.[1]<\/a> This was published by the Women\u2019s Division of the New Zealand Farmers\u2019 Union, an organisation established in 1925 by the wives of members of the Farmers\u2019 Union to help combat the isolating nature of farm life, advocate for the needs of rural women and children, and of course, provide support to the Farmers\u2019 Union.[2]<\/a> As part of this the Women\u2019s Division also emphasised and advocated for enhanced home science education, which appears to have been a motivating factor behind this book and its other iterations, some of which the Hocken is fortunate to hold.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Notable recipes within the 1934\/1935 edition include milk soup (containing a mere 5 ingredients: milk, onions, vermicelli, salt and pepper), mock whitebait (potato flavoured with anchovy sauce), stewed lettuce, a Marmite omelette, gingerbread cookies and currant buns.[4]<\/a> However, with week one of lockdown over my bubble was craving comfort food. This led me to the recipes for macaroni soup and ginger pudding, akin to modern day macaroni cheese and a ginger cake- surely these would satisfy.<\/p>\n

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The macaroni soup recipe [New Zealand women\u2019s household guide: containing recipes and general hints] ([Wellington]: Women\u2019s Division of the New Zealand Farmers\u2019 Union (Inc.), [1934-1935?]), p.12.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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The ginger pudding recipe [New Zealand women\u2019s household guide: containing recipes and general hints] ([Wellington]: Women\u2019s Division of the New Zealand Farmers\u2019 Union (Inc.), [1934-1935?]), p.187.<\/figcaption><\/figure>So, I broke down the recipes into step-by-step instructions, converted the measurements into metric and estimated some of the grey areas (noted in square brackets).<\/p>\n

First up was the batter of the Ginger Pudding:<\/p>\n

Ginger Pudding <\/u><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/em><\/p>\n