Edith Cooke Subiaco Sunday Times Recipe Winner... (1900-1909).
During the early years of the Western Australian colony newspapers invited readers to send in their favourite recipes. The recipes competed for prizes and many were published.
During 1908-1909 Subiaco resident Miss Edith M. Cooke of 316 Perth-street, Subiaco sent in recipes to various newspapers including the Sunday Times and Daily News. Post Office Directories of Western Australia in 1908 list her as the resident and she was not married.
While Edith did not win any first prizes, she did win second and fifth prize and received some honourable mentions and had her recipes published. While the rules of the contest state women entering could send in recipes from cooking books or they had invented it is difficult to know where these come from. They provide a wonderful insight into what women were interested in cooking and the resources available to them.
The articles are from Trove, the database of National Library of Australia. No copyright infringement intended.
Sunday Times, 3 May 1908.
HONOURABLE MENTION
Miss E. M. Cooke, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco.
PRESERVED FIGS
Six lbs. of figs not too ripe, four and a half lbs. of white sugar, a quarter of a lb. of bruised ginger, two large cups of water.
Mode : Put ginger and sugar into pan on fire until it boils, gently drop figs into boiling syrup. Boil two hours or until they look clear.
Sunday Times, 22 November 1908.
SECOND
Second prize is awarded to Miss Edith M. Cooke, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
COTTAGE TEA LOAVES
Ingredients : Half a pound of flour, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder, one egg, two teaspoonful of sugar, quarter of a cup of milk, a little salt.
Mode : Sift flour, salt, and baking powder, rub butter in flour, then add sugar, pour in egg and milk. Mix into a nice dough; turn on to a floured board, knead lightly, divide into six pieces and cut a third off each: sprinkle flour on a clean oven sheet, and put large pieces on; brush over with egg, then add the smaller pieces to the large ones; put finger through so as to form loaves. Bake in hot oven from eight to ten minutes.
Sunday Times, 6 December 1908
HONOURABLE MENTION
Edith M. Cooke. 316 Perth-street, Subiaco.
SWEET PICKLE
Ingredients : Seven pounds of plums, four pounds of preserving sugar, a pint of good vinegar, one blade of mace, a small piece of cinnamon, and three cloves.
Method : Skin and stone the plums, and lay them in the preserving pan with alternate layers of sugar; bring very slowly to the boil, then add the vinegar and spices and boil gently for five minutes. Take put the fruit, with the aid of a skimmer, drain each piece carefully, and set out on a dish to cool. Then pack it closely in jars. Boil up the sugar and vinegar again until it thickens, skimming carefully. When ready, pour it boiling over the fruit, cork tightly, and store in a cool, dry place. Examine the jars frequently during the first month, and should any sign of fermentation, appear uncork them, place in pans of water, and heat until they are scalding hot.
Sunday Times, 21 February 1909.
SECOND.
Second prize is awarded to. Miss E. M. Cooke, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
APRICOT TRIFLE
Ingredients : Three dozen or more finger biscuits, three ozs. of castor sugar, one and a half pints of apricot pulp, one and a half gills of cream, one and a half gills of gelatine.
Method : Cut rough finger biscuits into long triangles to form a rosette at the bottom of a Charlotte mould. Stamp ont a small round in the centre, and put a crystalised cherry or half an apricot. Trim the sides and ends of many biscuits as may be required to line the whole of the mould, and place the biscuits closely together in an upright position. Bring the pulp to the boil, sweeten with sugar, dissolve the gelatine and add to the pulp, tub through a hair sieved and let cool for a while. Whip the cream, sweeten with sugar, and mix with the pulp. Fill up the lined mould with this, but not until it commences to set. And put the mould in a cool place. When thoroughly set, turn out on to a serviette: and serve. Any other fruit will do, or layers of jam. Make a good boiled custard and pour over just before serving.
Sunday Times, 21 March 1909
SECOND
Second prize is awarded to Miss E. M. Cooke, 318 Perth-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
FILLETS OF BEEF A LA SICILIENNE
Ingredients : Half a pound of raw beef steak, quarter of a pound of raw ham, two ounces of fresh, white bread, crumbs, one raw and one bard-boiled egg, two teaspoonful of chopped parsley, half a gill of stock, a small piece of glaze, salt, pepper, nutmeg, half a pint of tomato sauce, half a pound of potatoes.
Method : Wash the beef quickly dry it well, remove skin and fat and the rind from the ham, and put both beef and ham through the mincer. Next mix them with the crumbs, partly beaten egg, stock, and seasoning. Be careful that the mixing is very thorough. Spread the mixture out flat, put quarters of the hard boiled egg down the centre of it, and roll it up like a roly-poly pudding. Fold and tie it tightly in a pudding cloth, and simmer it gently in the stock pot for one and a half hours. Re-roll it tightly in the cloth and press it between two dishes until nearly cold, then brush it over with glaze, and cut it into thick slices. Heat these, in the sauce, cut out neat rounds of the fat off the steak, and cook them in the oven, and cut the potatoes into fancy shapes. Boil the potatoes until soft, and season them. Arrange the fillets on a thick croute of bread, putting a round of fat on each fillet. Pour the sauce round, and garnish the dish with heaps of the potatoes.
Sunday Times, 15 March 1908
FOURTH
Fourth prize goes to Miss E. M. Cooke, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco, for recipe for
CRAYFISH SALAD
One or two crayfish, one large lettuce, bunch of watercress, three tablespoonsful of salad oil, one tablespoonful of vinegar, pepper and salt, one egg, one tomato.
Mode : Pick all the meat from the shells of the crayfish, put the egg on to boil for ten minutes, wash and dry the lettuce and cress. Mix the oil and vinegar thoroughly in a bowl, using a fork for the purpose, adding pepper and salt. Carefully wipe the salad and mix it with the dressing: and, lastly, add the crayfish, stirring it in thoroughly. Place on a round fish dish, garnish prettily with slices of hard-boiled egg and tomato, stand in a cool place for ten minutes and serve.
Sunday Times 14 February 1909.
FIFTH
Fifth Prize is awarded to Miss E. M. Cooke, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco for recipe for
PRINCESS ROLLS
Ingredients :- Puff paste, two ounces of castor sugar, half an ounce of cornflour, vanilla essence, or other flavouring, one ounce of butter, three yolks of eggs.
Method Roll but the paste about one eighth of an inch thick, and cut it into even-sized pieces, four inches long, and two inches wide. Have ready a mixture prepared as follows : Work the sugar and butter to a creamy add the yolks of eggs and cornflour, and flavour to taste. Whisk this in a basin over a saucepan of boiling water until it begins to thicken, and let cool. Roll each piece of paste on rounds of wood previously buttered, wet the edges with a little white of egg, place them on a wetted baking sheet, edges downwards, brush over with milk or water, and sprinkle width castor sugar. Bake a nice colour in a moderate oven. Remove the round of wood, and put the rolls pf pastry to cool. Fill up with the prepared custard, and dish up on a folded d'oyley or lace paper. The baked rolls may be filled with whipped cream and flavoured with vanilla sugar in place of the custard.
Daily News, 1 February 1908
COLD RHUBARB PUDDING.
Line a pudding basin with thin slices of bread. At the bottom put a layer of well sweetened and flavoured stewed rhubarb, then a thin layer of ratafla crumbs, then more stewed rhubarb. Add a few blanched almonds here and there. Continue this until the basin is full. Place a saucer on the top and stand a weight in it, and leave for twelve hours. Turn out and serve with a nice thick custard poured over.
To make the custard, take threequarters of a pint of milk, a tablespoonful of cornflour, sugar, and flavouring to taste. If ratafia crumbs be thought to add too much to the expense of the pudding, fine white bread crumbs can take their place.— EDITH M. COOKE, 316 Perth-street, Subiaco.
Western Australian Royal Historical Society (no copyright infringement intended)
Tranby House collection: Kitchen at Tranby House, used in winter. Shows fireplace, crockery and cooking implements, clothing and furniture. 19th Century. Photograph by John Wirth.
Tranby House collection: Summer kitchen at Tranby House showing table with cooking and storage implements. 19th Century. Photograph by John Wirth.
