Margaret Fulton’s recipes for ABBA-style food
Women's Day 7 March 1977
The music phenomena of the 1970s – ABBA, the four from Sweden who have turned
the pop world upside down – will be touring Australia in March. It could well be
called ABBA-month. And to get you in the mood, ABBA-style, Margaret Fulton has
found out the favourite dishes of Agnetha and Björn, Frida and Benny and she
gives you the recipes. Also, top astrologer Richard Sterling plots ABBA’s
future.
Agnetha, the lissome blonde singer of ABBA, loves Chinese food; her husband
Björn likes Chinese but says French food is his real favourite…the salads, onion
soups, lamb, quiches and the cheeses.
Frida, the coppery red-head of Money,
Money, Money fame, first had her soul food (the food beloved of the American
black people – chicory, chick peas, black-eyed peas, spareribs) on the group’s
promotional tour of the States and is now an addict. She loves it.
Benny, on the other hand, says his gourmet tastes lie in the Pacific with the
Polynesians – raw fish, sweet potatoes, seafood.
Margaret Fulton has devised these recipes for each of the four’s favourite
foods.
For Agnetha, she has a delicious Chinese recipe for
Steak with Black Bean Sauce; for
Björn with his French taste she presents
Gigot d’Agneau a la Bretonne (leg of lamb with haricot beans).
For Frida there’s a tasty recipe for
Barbecued Spareribs; and as Benny loves Polynesian food Margaret gives a
superb recipe for an island favourite-salade
Tahitienne.
Try the ‘ABBA food’ – you’ll love it.
Agnetha:
Steak in Black Bean Sauce
Ingredients: 500g (1lb) rump
steak, ½ tspn salt, 1 egg white, 1 tblspn cornflour, 1 tblspn dried black beans,
2 cloves garlic, 1 onion, oil for frying.
Seasoning: 1 tblspn dry sherry, ¼
cup water, 2 tspns soy sauce, 2 tspns sugar.
Shred steak and mix with salt, egg white and cornflour. Soak beans in cold
water to cover for 2-3 hours. Drain and rinse well. If using canned beans, rinse
under cold running water only. Drain the beans thoroughly and dry on paper
towels. Pound to a paste with peeled garlic. Slice onion finely and combine
ingredients for seasonings. Heat 4 table-spoons oil in a wok or frying pan and
cook beef over high heat, turning constantly until brown. Remove. Add onion to
pan and cook until golden, then set aside with the beef. Add another 1
tablespoon of oil to pan and dry bean paste, stirring for 1 minute. Return meat
and onion, then add seasonings and mix well. Cook 1 to 2 minutes and serve
Björn:
Gigot d’Agneau a la Bretonne.
Ingredients: Roast lamb: 2kg (4lb)
leg of lamb, salt and freshly ground black pepper, Haricot beans: 500g (1lb)
dried haricot beans, two large onions – quartered, bouquet garni, 1 clover
garlic, 1 tspn salt, a few peppercorns, 30g (1 oz) butter, 4 shallots – chopped,
2 tblspns chopped parsley.
Roast Lamb: Wipe lamb and season.
Cut a few small incisions between the skin and flesh. Shred garlic and insert
into these. Place in a baking dish, preferably on a rack. Put the water, butter
and large pinch salt in the dish. Bake in a moderately hot oven (190 deg C – 375
deg F) for 1¼ hours, basting every 15 minutes. The flesh should be still quite
pink, the way the French prefer it.
Haricot Beans: Soak the beans
overnight in water to cover, drain. Place in a large saucepan with fresh water
to cover, onions, bouquet garni, garlic, salt and peppercorns. Slowly bring to
the boil, skim and cover. Cook gently for 1½–2 hours or until tender. Thirty
minutes before lamb is due to finish cooking, melt the butter in a heavy pan.
Add the shallots and cook gently until softened. Drain the cooked beans and add
to the pan, shaking to toss them with the butter and shallots. Add a half-cup
lamb juices from the dish. Cover a simmer gently for a further 15 minutes. Place
lamb on a serving platter and strain the juices from the dish into a sauce boat.
Toss the beans with parsley and serve separately.
Frida:
Barbecued Spareribs.
Ingredients: 2 onions finely
chopped, 1 cup tomato sauce, ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup white wine vinegar, ¼ cup
worcestershire sauce, 1 tspn dried mustard, 2kg (4lb) pork spareribs, 2 tspns
salt freshly ground black pepper, 2 lemons - cut into ½ cm (¼in) slices.
In a large saucepan, combine the onions, tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar,
worcestershire sauce, mustard and tabasco. Bring to the boil, stirring
constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes or until onions are soft.
Trim excess fat from the spareribs and cut into 2 even pieces. Arrange on a rack
in a shallow roasting pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread ½ cup of the
basting sauce evenly over the spareribs and lay the lemon slices on top. Bake
uncovered in a hot oven (200 deg C – 400 deg F) for 1½ hours or until tender,
brushing the ribs 3 or 4 times with the remaining sauce. Arrange the spareribs
on a heated platter and serve at once.
Benny:
Salade Tahitienne.
Ingredients: 1½kg (3lb) fish
fillets (any firm fleshed fish), juice of 3 lemons, salt and pepper to taste, 2
medium onions - finely sliced, 2 cups Cocunut Cream.
Remove all skins and bones from fish and cut into 1cm (½in) dice. Place in a
glass or earthenware bowl and pour over lemon juice. Cover and chill at least ½
hour or until flesh is white, turning occasionally with a plastic spatula or
wooden spoon. Avoid using a metal spoon or any metal utensils in the preparation
of fish. The lemon juice will turn the fish white and opaque, and it will look
and flake like cooked fish. Squeeze out all liquid by placing fish in a colander
or strainer and pressing with a plastic spatula or wooden spoon. Put into a
clean bowl, and onion slices and seasonings. Stir in the Coconut Cream, toss to
coat well. Serve cold.
Coconut Cream: For every 2 cups
desiccated coconut, add 1cup milk. Put into a saucepan and bring slowly to the
boil. Cool then put in electric blender for a few seconds on high speed. Strain
through muslin-lined strainer and squeeze out milk. Or, after cooling, turn into
fine strainer and push through as much milk as possible using a wooden spoon.
Keep in refrigerator and skim off creamy top for the salad. (The remainder can
be used for making curry.)
