Down Mincing Lane

Photo © Rob Jones

I like long weekends ….

Easter especially. It’s a time for thinking about life, the universe and everything.

It’s a time for sorting. Sorting helps me think.

Today’s target was the kitchen drawers, which had become a haven for anything I didn’t know what to do with. Screws, paperclips. clothes pegs, 25 knobs (????), fuses, tooth picks …. and a mincer.

Last used, probably by me some 45 years ago, after Sunday lunch. It was my job to gather together all the left-over bits of the Sunday Lunch, and mince like a thing possessed. The results would end up in rissoles on the Monday - which were truly delicious.

Do people mince anything these days? I mean by themselves?

Not sure you get the same texture by putting things through a blender.

Rissoles Recipe … (I may be repeating myself on this one.)

This is the basic recipe my Mum used.

In a bowl - beef or lamb mince (minced by hand by young Robert), an onion finely chopped. A teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce. Salt and pepper.

That’s it really. Roll them into fat burger shapes in the palm of your hand … dip in beaten egg, and then in those bright orange breadcrumbs that came in a packet. Do they even make them anymore?

Fry in lard, which was kept in a brown crock on top of the Aga cooker.

You could add mashed roasties, some garlic, and any veg that were left over, but not essential.

Eat with Brown Sauce and bread and butter.

R

(Note: Mincing Lane is in the City of London, and in the 19th Century was the centre of the Tea and Spice Trade. It was often mentioned in Round the Horne on the BBC Home Service for comedic purposes. It’s also mentioned by Dickens in ‘Our Mutual Friend’ and was used as a location in 101 Dalmatians.)