Recently I dug out the first issue of Delicious Magazine that I ever bought.  The October 2002 edition.  I did this because I wanted to see how much has changed foodwise since I arrived in Australia nearly 13 years ago.  It might seem like quite a random thing to do but recently I received the 80^th issue of Donna Hay Magazine and I thought it called for a stroll down memory lane.  And so off we go!

October 2002 doesn’t seem like that long ago on one hand, but on the other hand it is a lifetime ago.  In October 2002, I had been in Australia for less than 4 months, I lived in Bondi, I didn’t work.   I had my days relatively free to study and cook.  I don’t think I did that much cooking back then, but to be honest, it’s hard to remember now.  What do people do when they don’t work—what did I do all day when I didn’t work?  I suppose it’s then that 2002 seems like a long, forgotten time ago.

Looking back at the magazine, 2002 really was ages ago.  First of all, the magazine was $4.95- it’s now $7.50.  There’s an ad for Jamie Oliver’s book, “The Return of the Naked Chef” and he looks like a child.  He’s thin, he’s young, he’s the Jamie Oliver that everyone loved before he discovered his soapbox.

The food itself is- well, it’s not too different but it’s clearly from a time before Masterchef.   The ingredients are all pretty straight forward, as are the techniques.  There’s a recipe for White Wine Spritzer and for Asparagus on sticks.  It’s approachable- unlike this month’s magazine where many recipes should be started a day in advance and the phrase “you will need a kitchen blowtorch” appears at least once (I’m looking at you mile high chocolate meringue pie and “Caramelised White chocolate ice cream and brownie sandwiches.)

The celebrity guest of the magazine is Ainsley Harriott- who according to his Wikipedia page, hasn’t done much recently but who you may remember from Ready Steady Cook in the UK.

Most interesting to me, was the section on Jelly (jell-o for the American readers!)  It was only just before the Mom left that we were talking about my grandmother making elaborate Jello moulds involving all sorts of ingredients and how you never see them anymore.   How fortuitous then, that I’ve happened across a 13 year old magazine with an article on jelly moulds.  It must mean that it’s time for a jelly (jell-o) revival!  The only question now is which will I choose- the somewhat tame Fresh Strawberry jelly?  Chocolate Jelly with Praline?  Mango and Vanilla Marble Jelly?  Honeycomb Jelly?  Gin & Tonic Jelly with Macerated Fruits?  Or the Tia Maria Jelly with Chocolate Cream?  My first choice would be the Tia Maria, however only one of us likes coffee in the house it looks like we’ll be going for the fresh strawberry jelly or the chocolate jelly with praline.

Unfortunately, the culinary delights of 2002 are a bit lacking and there aren’t too many things that I’m jumping out at me to cook this week so I’ve decided to fast forward back to this month’s Delicious to find a main course!  There actually is a lot to choose from, but for some reason the Pollo Tinto (Red Wine and Chocolate Chicken) stood out for Sunday dinner….I think it will pair nicely with the Chocolate Jelly and Praline!

To stay with the theme of old and new this week, I’ll also be making Oven Roasted Sriracha Pork Chops with Asian Greens from this month’s Donna Hay and Pan fried Veal with soft polenta and blue cheese from my earliest edition of the magazine—June 2007!