Friday, August 6, 2021

Cheese Savouries

The glory that is Facebook reminded me of another seventies food craze which has gone from out vernacular. The humble cheese savory, also know as savoury toast in Tasmania. 

On reposting the link to a video of the said wonderfood being made, there was a lot of traffic on my account. "Oh yes!", "They're the best." and "I'd forgotten about them. Those and a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup on a cold winter's night are the absolute bomb."

My sister says she still makes them regularly. 

My mother said she took some to a pot luck a few month ago. (I gave my mother my secret to put luck events - take fairy bread - it goes down a treat for all ages - for my not Australian readers, think cake sprinkles (100s & 1000s) on very fresh white bread and butter. )

Me, I just tend to put a bit of Worcestershire Sauce on my cheese on toast rather than make up a batch of this wonder stuff - joys of living alone, you find ways to cut corners. 

The other biff that came out of this was where the bacon goes. It appears the Tasmanians mix in the baconm finely diced, with the cheese mix, while me, being South Australian, place the bacon in a strip on the top. Swings and roundabouts. As a child, the best thing about these was pulling off the bacon and eating the toast second. And I liked them a bit crisper, not soggy, 

I called Mum tonight to get her recipe for cheese savouries (or savoury toast, if you come from Tasmania), which, in my mind, are a highlight of my childhood - along with crumbed chops, roast lamb and spaghetti bolognese made out of mince, an onion and a tin of Campbell's tomato soup. In my family, they only ever have white bread (says she who has half a loaf of multigrain gluten free bread in the freezer). I think of white bread and I always think of my family. My choice of bread, which is not white bread, makes me a bit of an outcast. 

Now we just have to get out of lockdown so I can have people over to make them. 

Here's Mum's recipe, with notes. 

Cheese Savouries (South Australian style)

1 1/2 cups of grated cheddar cheese (bog standard tasty cheedar works well, vintage is good too)

30 grams of melted butter

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce (I say 2 tablespoons, even a bit more)

1 egg, well beaten

A pinch or two of Cayenne pepper. 

Bacon - streaky works well for this. 

White bread, preferably fairly fresh. 

Butter to butter the bread. 

Method: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. 
  2. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. (If you're Tasmanian you'd mix in the diced bacon at this stage, but I'm not Tasmanian, just a Tasmanian who can swim)
  3. Butter 6-10 slices of fresh white bread. 
  4. Spread the mixture on the buttered bread in a thick paste. 
  5. As a South Australian, we cut the bread into soldiers and lay a strip of bacon on top. 
  6. Bake the cheese savouries for about 15 minutes or until they go brown. 
Best enjoyed in front of the fire on a Sunday night with a bowl of Campbell's tomato soup, and a cat to pat and a mug of steaming hot Milo, after you've had a bath and while Countdown is on the telly.


Today's song: 


Today's Cards: 


The Enchanted Map: Stuck in the Mud

Archetype Card: Angel

Cards Against Humanity: Crikey! I've nver seen....WHITE PEOPLE.. like ths before. Let's get a bit closer. 

2 comments:

  1. Whoa. That is like a grilled cheese sandwich on steroids. I must make them!!!! My favorite food growing up was grilled cheese sandwiches and campbell's tomato soup to dip them in. When you say cut them into soldiers? Like sticks? Help!

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  2. Hey there, Yes, to we Australians/English toast soldiers are when you slice your toast into three fingers. We just call them soldiers, becuase we're odd and English / Australian. Seriously, this is THE BEST. Enjoy and let me know how you get on.

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