Download February 2011 - Bite Magazine

BiteFeb2011:Layout 1 27/1/11 18:41 Page 2626Off The Trolley: TabletI’ve always been a bit curious about tablet.At first, I wasn't sure what to make of it.Like fudge but sweeter and grainier, itmade my teeth hurt. I found a recipe and wasshocked by what looked to be instructions toboil a bag of sugar with some condensed milkand while it has become one of my favouritetastes, I’d never tried to make it.However, a friend recently learned from hergrandmother how to make tablet, and sharedthe results. My three-year-old son had a tasteand was in heaven (exact words: “We getMORE, mummy. You go to the kitchen andget MORE.”) And so, I snagged hergrandmother's recipe, and decided to give it ago.In preparation, I quizzed another tabletmakinggran, who makes some of the besttablet. I told her that I’d bought a sugarthermometer. She raised an eyebrow. Sheasked if I had a recipe, then told me shedoesn’t work from one. She uses instinct.Tablet instinct is not something I possess. Tomake up for it, I decided to stir my boilingsugar and condensed milk with a spurtle.Whether this made any difference to thetaste I can’t say, but I did feel at least thetiniest bit Maw Broon. The result? A light,golden colour, slightly too soft. To some, thiswas exactly right. Others thought it shouldbe darker and more crumbly.And herein lays the mystery of tablet.Everyone you speak to will claim his or hergran has the best recipe. Everyone has aremembered taste from childhood: with orwithout vanilla, crumbly and dry or soft andveering towards fudge. The ingredients oftablet may be the same throughout thecountry, but the subtle nuances in tasteswould test even the finest whisky-noser.Tablet is the stuff of church fetes, bake sales,and grandmothers. And, as I learned, makingtablet is a bit of a hit-and-miss game. Youcan’t really go wrong with sugar andcondensed milk, but I imagine it takes alifetime to create the ideal – or, moreaccurately, idealised – form of tablet. Don'twait that long. Befriend a grandmotherinstead. (R. Edwards)I imagine it takes a lifetime to create the ideal – or, moreaccurately, idealised – form of tablet. Don't wait that long.Befriend a grandmother