After leaving school, Mum studied at secretarial college and then worked in a bank. I really don’t know if her single girl social life distracted her from learning to cook under her mother’s guidance, or whether Grandma-in-Sydney didn’t welcome learners in her kitchen; but for whatever reason, by her own account Mum was not an accomplished cook when she married. As a young bride she went with Dad to his home town of Launceston, and signed up for evening cookery classes at the local tech college. By the time I was old enough to be aware of it, she was a very good cook, enjoyed trying new recipes and known for her interest in exploring foreign cuisines, in so far as Australians did so in the early 50s.
Some time between 1956 and 1960, The Launceston Examiner, northern Tasmania’s daily newspaper for 170+ years, ran a competition, sponsored by Bakers Milk, asking readers to submit their favourite recipes using milk. I have no idea what the rules were, and presumably there were categories, as you can hardly compare a blancmange with a baked souffle, I think. Anyway, whatever the rules were, Mum took second prize with her Cheese Pudding recipe. I don’t remember how much her cheque was for, who the other two people in the photo were (though I have some feeling #3 was a man) and don’t know, if I ever did, what the recipe was that took first prize. None of that mattered really, as Cheese Pudding was already a family favourite, and we were just so impressed with our mother taking second place in a recipe competition, and being in a newspaper photo of the winner collecting her cheque from a milk company bigwig. I have tried to get a copy of the photo that I remember, but so far no luck. It could even be in my own stuff in storage – but I’ll add it in here if I do ever find it.
Cheese Pudding is a marvellous recipe – you can serve it hot, on its own, with soup if you like, with an accompanying green salad – and left overs are lovely cold the next day – or you can warm them. Sister Rosemary commented that these days she’d consider it a base recipe to which could be added some other foods like chopped mushroms, sauteed onions, ham, cherry tomatoes, spinach, bok choy or small bits of broccoli – you get the idea. Though I like it just the way I’ve always made it, I think chopped ham and mushrooms would be nice. I looked about and came across this lovely site with cheese pud ideas if you wish to take this concept further – the photos look divine. One thing we can say is that this combination of eggs, milk, bread and cheese probably has an equivalent in any cuisine.
Our family recipe: if serving solo, allow 2 eggs, a couple of thick slices of bread, 3-4 oz of very tasty grated cheese and a good cup of milk per person. If serving with salad or soup probably 1 egg per person or 3 eggs per 2 people is ample. Make sure you have good tasty cheese – (best cheddar or similar: but in Uruguay I use fresh parmesan because cheddar isn’t widely known, made or demanded here) Method – Around an appropriate sized casserole dish for the quantity you’re making, rub some butter, olive oil or PAM to prevent sticking. Cut bread into bite-sized pieces, place in the dish. Beat eggs and milk together with S&P to taste, pour over the chunks of bread, and stir in most of the grated cheese (leaving a handful or two to sprinkle on top) Stir all this together making sure all the bread has been well dunked. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake in a medium oven about 40 minutes or until the top has risen and is a strong golden brown – then serve immediately.
I made it at Anna’s the other day, to be served with green salad. Searching for a suitable baking dish, I decided to try baking it in this bundt pan, with the idea that maybe it could be turned out ….
… but perhaps there wasn’t enough butter lining the sides of the pan, because the turnout left some small pieces behind. Maybe I needed a non-metal spatula, or the result from a plain sided pan could be best … anyway the turning out idea is worth trying again. Naturally it didn’t affect the eating quality of the pud at all ?