Whatever happened to the ritual of giving away tins of assorted biscuits at Christmas time? Those were golden days when we hovered around the tin hoping to nab our favourite biccie.
My grandma would save the empty tins, then bake all her favourite recipes from a tattered, food-smudged book passed down from her mother, and store them inside - on a cupboard shelf well above our greedy reach.
Afternoon tea in our household was often the highlight of the day. Does it bring back memories for you? It's something most of us have in common - recipes passed down and treasured by the family.
This month there's a chance to share those treasured recipes, or try those of other families in a national online competition.
The competition has four categories - baking and desserts, main meals, snacks and light meals, and starters and extras - each offering $1000 in prize money for the recipe voted the best. The overall winning recipe will win $5000 cash. It could be anything from your tingling citrus marmalade through to a salivating seasonal dish of whitebait fritters with parsley aioli and lemon.
So, to get the ball rolling, let's think about New Zealand tastes over the decades. Influenced by our British heritage, there has been every imaginable size and flavour of scone - some even aerated with L&P and cream.
Others are the Tupperware-shaker mayonnaise made with condensed milk, the crunch of Anzac cookies, home-smoked fish pies and creative variations on macaroni cheese.
It's fascinating to gaze through cookbooks of the 1950s and 60s, such as Davis Dainty Dishes, with its recipes using powdered gelatine - a modern ingredient in those days - and Hints for the Busy Housewife. And let's not forget the Edmonds Cookery Book, which last year celebrated its centenary edition.
Your favourite recipe should be one that is foolproof, full of flavour, achievable and has a track record of standing ovations. My mother, for instance, makes these Chinese meatballs enriched with ginger and soy finished in the electric wok with shredded cabbage. It's a fantastic dish.
In recent years I have reworked childhood tastes and textures into my menus, in the hope I can ignite similar memories in my diners. I leave you with the Eskimo ice cream sandwich - pavlova wafers fused together with lemon curd.
Family favourites (+recipes)
Mum's chinese meatballs and cabbage is a dish with a glowing track record. Photo / Ian Jones
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