KEY POINTS:
Our appreciation of food can be greatly influenced by our experiences growing up.
My father went to boarding school. Boarding school food has never had a good reputation. Stomachs need to be filled and that's that.
Maybe these days the food is more inspired but in Dad's day everything was thoroughly overcooked or covered in custard.
There were highlights though, memories of sponge puddings cooked in huge baked bean tins; tapioca or frogs' eggs pudding - cold and gluggy and heavy on the prunes. The wee lads had to be kept regular, I suppose.
The only pudding fondly remembered was the jam roly poly. This is basically sweet scone dough filled with raspberry jam, rolled, baked and served with custard or cream - thank the Lord they had something to keep their spirits up!
This Father's Day I thought it would be a good idea to rework some of this food to prove that previously abused ingredients can be delicious when cooked properly.
Substituting the smaller sago for the tapioca then cooking it slowly with milk, cream, vanilla and nutmeg produced a delectable, creamy pudding.
It was a hit with Dad, who practically licked his plate as he declared tapioca had never tasted like this. May have had something to do with the plump juicy prunes cooked in orange juice and drizzled with caramel.
Take the opportunity to get together with your Father this weekend, bake a roly poly for afternoon tea or make a pudding or two.
I will be spending some time paying respect to a man who has always taught me to strive for the best - puddings and all.
CHEF'S TIP
A combination of tinned and frozen berries works well in the roly poly recipe, but fresh would be even better. Some syrup is needed though, so use half fresh and half tinned.