CHOCOLATE AND COMFORT FOOD - MARGARET TANNER

COMFORT FOOD – MARGARET TANNER

Comfort food what is it? Of course, food that makes you comfortable, happy and content. A reward for doing something well, or a panacea for all the trials and tribulations you have had to put up with? No matter what excuse we use, and I have used them all i.e. if something good has happened to me, I reward myself with chocolate. On the other hand, if something bad has happened to me and I need cheering up, I reward myself with a chocolate.

What is my favourite food you might ask? Well, being a chocaholic, you know what I am going to say -  Chocolate, closely followed by biscuits (or as American’s say, cookies). My hips bear witness to this addiction of mine.

My favourite chocolate is milk chocolate, followed by dark chocolate, (which scientists are now saying is good for you, I could have told them that), and white chocolate. I have to confess I am not a great fan of white chocolate, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I find it too sweet and sickly.

I prefer a plain chocolate bar, but I do enjoy a chocolate bar with peppermint or honeycomb in it.

Now biscuits. I enjoy most of them, particularly chocolate coated biscuits, but my favourite are ANZAC biscuits.

In 1915, these biscuits were baked by mothers and sisters and sent in food parcels to troops serving on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.  The soldiers were members of an expeditionary force, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS). Four of my novels are set against a background of World War 1.

ANZAC BISCUITS:

Ingredients:

125g (4 oz) butter, 1 tablespoon golden syrup, 2 tablespoons boiling water, 1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking powder), 1 cup rolled oats, ¾ cup desiccated coconut, 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar.

Method:

Melt butter and golden syrup over low heat. Add boiling water mixed with bicarbonate of soda.  Pour into mixed dried ingredients and mix well.

Drop teaspoonfuls of mixture on to greased baking trays, leaving room for spreading.

Bake in pre-heated slow oven (150C/300F) for 20 minutes. Cool on trays for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool.

Store in an airtight container.  Makes about 45.

DARING MASQUERADE:

When Harriet Martin masquerades as a boy to help her shell-shocked brother in 1916, falling in love with her boss wasn’t part of the plan.

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