Delia's Frugal Food - anyone have the older version?

angeltreats

I borrowed this from the library yesterday and have just flicked through it and it's great! It's full of the sort of unfussy, simple food that my DH loves and I fancy buying a copy for myself.

I was wondering if anyone has the older version that was published in the 90s because I can find it very cheap. Does anyone know if all the recipes are the same or if there have been any new additions/removals for the updated book?

thriftlady_2

I have the old version which was actually published in 1976 originally and reissued in the 90s. There are a few differences between it and the new big hardback edition.

Off the top of my head the newest edition doesn't contain any rabbit recipes. No idea why-cheap, tasty and healthy meat, we eat it a lot.

I think IIRC that the newest edition doesn't contain the yogurt recipe either which also seems strange. Might be wrong about that though as I don't have the new edition any more.

The other thing I like about the old edition is that the measurements are in imperial (with metric in brackets) and the new one doesn't have imperial at all.

Other than that the recipes are the same, although I think there's some nonsense about replacing lard and dripping with olive oil mentioned at the beginning of the new edition.

There are no new recipes in the latest edition, so you actually get more with the old one. Go for it if you can find it cheap.

angeltreats

Thanks, that's exactly the advice I was after!

I do get a bit cross when measurements are only given in metric as my mind definitely thinks in pounds and ounces, so that alone would make the older book a better option for me. I like the idea of making yoghurt too and you're right, there's nothing about that in the new book.

I can get it for a penny on Amazon, plus £2.75 delivery, so think I'll snap up a copy.

Re rabbit - I've never had it. Can you actually buy rabbit meat from the butcher?

x-cupcake-x

I'm in my 20s and I work in lbs & ozs - I think because that was how mum weighed things out when she was teaching me to bake.

angeltreats I've seen rabbit advertised in a couple of butchers in my town.

This book sounds good, I might buy myself a copy on payday

angeltreats

I found it for £2.49 including delivery on play.com, hurrah :T Hope it arrives soon.

x-cupcake-x I am the same, I'm only 29 but my mum is 70 so she always worked in imperial and so that's how I learned to cook. I can pour out 4 oz of flour or cut a couple of ounces off a stick of butter just by eye but I have no idea what 150g looks like and find it confusing to work in such large numbers.

Wonder if a rabbit pie would be nice. I imagine it would taste quite gamey, I'll have to pop into the butchers and see if they have any.

thriftlady_2

angeltreats wrote: »

Re rabbit - I've never had it. Can you actually buy rabbit meat from the butcher?

Depends on your butcher. I use a Q Guild butcher and he usually has
wild rabbits in though not in the spring when they are breeding. They're genrally sold whole, skinned and without the head. One rabbit feeds 3-4 and costs about £4-5.

Illustrated Rabbit Pie with suetcrust pastry.

maman

angeltreats wrote: »

Wonder if a rabbit pie would be nice. I imagine it would taste quite gamey, I'll have to pop into the butchers and see if they have any.

Agree about the differences in editions. I, too, got the old one out of the library. Personally I think rabbit tastes more like chicken than game perhaps a bit stronger.

I noticed in France before Christmas they were selling rabbit at 15 euros per kg in a farmers-type market:eek:. I'd always thought of it as a cheap meat, my nana used to cook it for high tea on a Saturday (when it wasn't stuffed hearts or cockles & laverbread!).

THIRZAH

It's odd that there are no rabbit recipes as I would have thought it was probably more popular now than in the 1970s -many people stopped eating it in the 1950s and 60s because of the myxomatosis epidemic.

MIL took us to the pub for lunch today and rabbit pie was on the menu and she said she's seen it on a few menus lately.I'm sure I've seen Hugh F-W cooking it on some of the River Cottage programmes

Ladyhawk

angeltreats wrote: »

Re rabbit - I've never had it. Can you actually buy rabbit meat from the butcher?

I've seen it in Waitrose... not often but it was defintely rabbit.


I'm the opposite of the other posters - I was brought up metric so find imperial very confusing when just trying guage things by eye

maryb

Haven't seem rabbit for ages but last time I had it was from the frozen food section in Sainsbury's. Lovely in a casserole with a cider and mustard sauce and lots of mash, yum yum

morganlefay

My OH won't eat rabbit even if (as I once did) I tell him it's chicken, he spotted it immediately so I never did that again. My Mum used to make a wonderful rabbit casserole and I remember it being very tasty but even if I can get wild bunny now I don't think it tastes the same which is very sad.