Turning the tables….

A few weeks ago, we joined our neighbours for breakfast at a local establishment – a favourite spot for all four of us.  As breakfasts do, they come with the ubiquitous toast and preserves but, as we all went on to note, not always with the appropriate cutlery.  Consequently, one ends up having to spread butter and sweet preserves on a virgin slice of toast with a knife contaminated with bacon and egg.

Needless to say, the conversation turned to the days when going to a restaurant included tables set with all the cutlery one might need as well as the now apparently universal use of steak knives. Regardless of the menu.  I recall ordering fish somewhere, and having to eat it with, yes, a steak knife.

Although my parents came from working class stock, along with table manners, table settings were a non-negotiable part of our growing up.  The table was properly set every evening – knives, forks, side plates and napkins (we never spoke of serviettes), as well as spoons and forks if there was pudding.

Among my parents’ prize possessions was a canteen of silver, Mappin and Webb cutlery which had been a wedding gift from Mum’s aunt.  After her long leave in England, Mum went back to Uganda, with the canteen of cutlery in a raffia picnic basket (which I still have, but alas, not the cutlery), in her hand luggage.  This lot all weighed a ton, but she swanned off the plane at Kampala airport as though the basket was “as light as a feather” and swiftly handed it to my Dad, telling him that it would not be heavy!Mum_Dad_JustMarried_22Jul1961This week, my parents would have celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary.  They were married in All Saints Anglican Church in Kampala on the 22nd of July 1961, at noon.Mum_Dad_Reception_22Jul1961Both on colonial service, they had met in the club:  Dad, a Kew-trained horticulturist with the Parks’ Department and Mum, secretary to the Superintendent of Makerere Hospital.  There was not much money for either a wedding or a reception.  Dad did Mum’s beautiful bouquet – but more of that another time – and the reception was a buffet lunch hosted by a chef friend, in his home.  Quite a party, we were told.

Our home is filled with many beautiful things that were either wedding presents or part of Mum’s trousseau.  I grew up these and they form some of the foundation for my delight in setting the pretty tables around which we enjoy spending time with our friends.

100_3125On a Sunday, when Mum inevitably served a roast, setting the table was the children’s job.  I would often ask if we could “use the silver”.  When Mum said yes, I wouldn’t stop there. I’d haul out the place mats and coasters that she and my granny had embroidered – Mum did the cut work and Granny the little roses – all in single thread satin stitch.100_3117a

Always a little over the top, the table would not just get the cutlery required for that meal – I’d go the whole hog, pretending that we were in a hotel, where the table would have been set for a table d’hôte menu!

On high days and holidays, I’d be allowed to go into the display cabinet (which we also still have) and bring out the Roland Ward wine glasses.100_3120aThis set, which is partnered with a set of high ball glasses, is still complete.  One of the highball glasses broke when my parents returned to the UK in 1962.  All the rest have survived a return trip to Africa; their numerous moves, and then once I inherited them, numerous moves with us.  All stories for another time….

So, a lovely breakfast, good company and part of the great conversation, got me thinking about one of the many lessons I have learned from my parents:  what cutlery to use, for what and when.  This is why, when establishments don’t get table settings right, I do get a bit tetchy!

Small dinner parties

We have had occasion, this month, to host two very different dinner parties.  One was a birthday for a friend of ours and her teenage daughter, and the other for new-ish friends into whose home we have been warmly welcomed.  The birthday celebration was mid-week and relatively impromptu, while the other was a little longer in the planning and coincided with the Easter long weekend.  I thought I’d share with you how these two, rather different dinners were put together – from the planning to the table setting.

First off, most of our entertaining is with food that doesn’t take us away from our guests.  What is the fun in having people to share a meal with you if you’re banished to the kitchen because the what you’re cooking demands all your attention?

Simple does, however, require some planning and advance preparation. One of Pearli_Weber_2014the easiest meals to produce with the minimum of fuss is a roast:  a lot can be done beforehand and, depending on what you’re roasting, it’s looking after itself when (and for a while after) your guests arrive.  We always do our roasts on the Weber which has two benefits – you can roast your vegetables under the meat which also has the most wonderful smoky flavour.

Tom and I are a great team in which there is good division of labour:  he looks after the fire, and the nyama (the Nguni word for meat) and the vegetables that are cooked in the juices that run out of the meat as it cooks.  The menu is also usually a joint effort and its planning takes into consideration our guests and the time we have at our disposal.  Entertaining during the week and with little notice can be a challenge.  It’s not a 10-minute trip to the local supermarket or butcher to get something that’s not in the pantry cupboard, nor is there a premium food store from which one can select items to make up a gourmet meal in the blink of an eye.  Then, I admit that I an my own worst enemy:  I work until late-ish, so time is at a premium and then, to make matters worse, I’m not good at taking short cuts.  So, acknowledging that I make the rod for my own back, I cope by doing careful planning which starts a couple of days (or more) before the event, itself.

The birthday dinner

Table_April2014As her birthday was on a week night with school and work the following day, this was a simple, two course meal with a Brut Methode Cap Classique from Lords, a local winery, as an aperitif. We did a topside of beef on the Weber with fresh, creamed spinach from the garden.  Of course, there was gravy made by deglazing the pan in which the roasted potatoes and butternut and had been cooked.  Potentially the most complicated part of the meal (partly because I’m not a great fan of desserts) was the berry crisp:  a relatively healthy dessert made with frozen mixed berries and topped with a butter and oat crisp, and which was baked for an hour or so in the oven.  The great thing about this dessert that it must rest for an hour or so, which makes it good to do in advance (I did it as soon as I came out of the office, and it went into the oven while everything else was being prepared).  Serve it with cream or Greek yoghurt.

So, in addition to South Africa’s answer to a good Champagne, this simple meal was special because I set a table that was different, and which included items that are special to us, and have their own stories to tell.

 

 Long Weekend Get-together

Since moving to the village, we have been fortunate to meet new and interesting people.  Not all live permanently in the village, so getting together can be tricky, and we were delighted to discover that over the Easter weekend, our respective calendars were included the same free evening.  Wanting to 100_2836reciprocate their hospitality, we decided to stick to our tried and trusted recipe and have a roast – leg of pork – on the Weber, with the usual suspects happily cooked underneath it.  This time we had wine braised leeks (leeks are to be the subject of another post…) and the traditional apple sauce and gravy with the roast.2014-04-13 18.23.03Because it was a holiday weekend, we decided that we needed three courses, and in South Africa, it is traditional to eat pickled fish over Easter.  The thing about pickled fish is that you cannot make it today, to eat tomorrow – it must pickle – so I made it the weekend before.  People think it’s difficult to make, partly because it’s often deep fried before being placed into the pickling sauce.  I don’t do this:  I don’t like deep fried anything, so the fish is baked (a tip from a Cape Town local) and then the warm sauce is poured over it.  Allow this to cool and then store in the fridge.  Because of the vinegar and sugar content, pickled fish can be kept comfortably (in glass rather than metal or plastic) for as long as three months.  If you have the fridge space and you like pickled fish, make a big batch!

The dessert was also something typically South African:  pureed brandied peaches whipped into Greek yoghurt and topped with cream.  Both the dessert and the starter were plated, which, along with a pretty table, added to the sense of occasion.

100_2839

So, two quite different dinners that were variations on single menu:

To begin – MCC or pickled fish
The main bit – Roast beef or pork with seasonal vegetables and the traditional accompaniments
To end – Mixed berry crisp or Brandied peach whip

And the best part: because quite a bit was done before people arrived, we spent virtually all our time actually with our guests!