Mawnan Women's Institute
10:30am Tuesday 17th April 2012 in Mawnan Smith
April is the start of the new programme for 2012/13 and what better way to begin than to invite experts from our own membership to inspire us to use local ingredients and our Cornish culinary history.
We had a treat in store! Ann Benney had persuaded her daughter-in-law, Emma, to demonstrate how to make Cornish Splits; she let us into the secret that warmth is the key – lucky Aga owners!
The next in line was Marion Collins, who in the past has produced the village pantomime. She added a theatrical touch by emulating a certain TV chef by pouring herself a glass of wine before showing us how to make Gingernuts.
Another thespian followed: Margaret Lugg entertained in her chef’s hat whilst making what we now call Heavy cake. Her handy tip was to grate the butter which had been kept in the freezer.
Finally, Anne Matthews created that essential holiday experience enjoyed by 3.5 million tourists every year: the Cornish Pasty. Her speed at crimping amazed us all.
We also learned about the history of these foods and, most importantly, we were able to sample everything which we had seen being cooked.
The competition was to bake a Cornish dish using local ingredients if possible. Jenny Ragg took first place with her vegetarian Leek and Camembert Tart; Ann Birch’s Fish Pie came second and Ailsa Yates received third for her Cornish Fairings.
We are looking forward to welcoming back David Barnicoat on May 10 when he will be talking to us about the History of Falmouth Docks. Maybe we won’t have to worry about the calories so much, but we may be seen with our cameras in Falmouth trying to take the iconic photograph for our next competition. We hope that members of other WIs and visitors will join us for what promises to be a most informative and interesting evening.
