Cooper's cookbook
Sir: Roger Cooper's proposed jail cook- book (Leading article, 22/29 December) has an earlier precedent. Civilians interned in Changi during the Japanese occupation dulled their hunger to some extent by remembering their favourite dishes and how to cook them. Their collected choices were published locally after the war. I had a copy and think the compiler was a Mr Newington. Unfortunately my copy has not survived the frequent moves of a colonial administrator's life.
In 1950 I spent a year in the Cocos- Keeling islands in the indian Ocean. It was about as remote as one could get with two supply ships a year. My only neighbours on Home Island were the estate manager and his assistant. We used to gather in the evening sitting on the edge of the lagoon with our duty-free whiskies and watch the local boats out fishing in the moonlight. A
`Take it from me — shampoo and con- ditioner combined.' favourite topic was the menu we would have for dinner in the grill room of Raffles Hotel when we finally got back to Singa- pore. We would be brought back to harsh reality when summonsed to our respective simple suppers of fresh fish, 'limn hijau' straight out of the lagoon.
I look forward to Roger Cooper's early release and return to gastronomic reality. I shall also look forward to adding his cookbook to my library of 200 cokbooks not bad for a bachelor.
Roderick MacLean
4/8 Belhaven Place, Morningside, Edinburgh
Previous page
