I’m loving

Everything old is new again, not that Matt Preston is complaining, as he gives five old-school culinary classics a modern twist.

Matt Preston’s riding the retro recipe bandwagon.

WE LIVE OUR LIVES tied to an invisible bungee cord; no matter how hard we run towards the future, there is a constant pressure pulling us back to the past. And even worse, it seems we love it.

Look at the current success of TV shows like Stranger Things or Riverdale, which are loaded with retro references. Look at music’s long-running desire to sample the hits of the past to make the hits of today, whether it’s Ray Charles’ ‘I Got A Woman’ popping up in Kanye’s ‘Gold Digger’, or Deadmau5 sampling Chopin. Look, too, at fashion, which seeks to reinvent everything from ’80s shoulder pads to the LBD – constantly.

Food is no different. Chefs constantly seek inspiration in the past, and food websites are bombarded with requests for recipes from the ’70s, ’80s or even earlier. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s us searching for the reassurance of what, through rose-coloured glasses, seemed like a simpler time, but when I launched my last cookbook, inordinate attention was paid to its retro recipes. So, what are the top five retro classics we should revisit…

THE VOL AU VENT I’ve made it a crusade over the past couple of years to bring this compelling combination of crispy, buttery puff pastry with a rich filling back from the dead (mushroom and thyme… ham and cheese… chicken and leek… sigh!). Forget the dust-dry pre-baked shells and make your own full-sized maincourse vol au vents, as heroed by French culinary superstars Alain Ducasse and Alain Passard. Load the fillings with fresh herbs and a little acidity to balance the richness and avoid gluggyness. The modern vol au vent filling should be light and bright.

CHOW MEIN This dish so beloved by our earliest Chinese restaurants has faded from view since the arrival of a wok in every home and the ubiquitous Tuesday-night ‘stir-fries’ of whatever is in the crisper drawer. Bring it bang up to date by frying your noodles so they are nice and crispy before you start cooking your veg and sauce. Nod to those pioneering Chinese restaurants by ‘velveting’ chicken for your chow mein by marinating it in a mixture of 1 egg white, 1 tbs cornflour and 1 tbs rice wine for half an hour before cooking in batches in the wok. Make sure both the noodles and chicken are then only added back to the wok at the very last moment before serving, to ensure that velvet texture remains.

RISSOLES Not since the The Castle debuted has this meatballburger hybrid been celebrated. Derided… yes, belittled… yes, but not celebrated. Remind yourself that rissoles can be made sexier by using your favourite mince with matching seasonings – pork with five-spice powder, lamb with chopped mint and mashed peas, or chicken mince with chopped coriander (roots, stems and leaves) and tender lemongrass. Then, when cooked, glaze them in the pan with a syrupy combination of orange juice, rice wine and sugar; red currant jelly and red wine vinegar; or palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice, respectively.

MEATLOAF Meatloaf has burst forth from its dull and grey chrysalis like some sort of tasty mince butterfly. If you need convincing that meatloaf can be a thing of beauty, try making a chicken version glazed with onion jam loaded with mustard seeds, or my cheesy Mr Kransky’s meatloaf from last year. You’ll find the recipe at delicious.com.au. Warning: it’s not a classy dish.

SWEET AND SOUR The greatest retro sauce ever made IMHO was this Chinese takeaway classic. For a modern version, dump the battered fried pork in favour of serving it sparingly over barbecued chicken thighs or pork meatballs. Like so many great ’60s and ’70s sauces, it all starts with half a cup of tomato sauce added to a coarsely chopped and fried onion and, similarly treated, a red and a green capsicum. Stir in a 225g can of pineapple chunks with the juice, 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar, 1 tbs caster sugar and 2 tbs soy sauce. Slowly bring to the boil over medium-low heat, then simmer for five minutes. RETRO GINGER SNAP CREAM CAKE SERVES 6-8 Begin this recipe 1 day ahead.

1 cup (250ml) sweet sherry 1/ 2 cup (125ml) ginger cordial (from good grocers) 600ml thickened cream 250g ginger snap biscuits 100g white chocolate, melted Thinly sliced candied ginger, to serve

To make the ginger syrup, place sherry and cordial in a saucepan over high heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk cream to stiff peaks, then chill until needed.

To make cake, brush base and sides of a 12cm x 17cm 1.5L (6-cup) loaf pan with some ginger syrup. Reserve and chill 1/2 cup (125ml) whisked cream for final layer. Brush both sides of enough biscuits to line base of prepared pan with syrup and use to cover base completely, overlapping slightly and breaking to fit where necessary. Top with 1/2 cup (125ml) whisked cream, smoothing top with a palette knife. Repeat layering process with biscuits, syrup and cream until pan is almost filled, finishing with the reserved chilled cream. Smooth surface with a palette knife, then chill overnight for biscuits to soften.

To make the chocolate shards, spread a very thin layer of chocolate across a piece of baking paper. Cover with a second piece of baking paper and, from a short end, roll into a cylinder and loosely secure with an elastic band. Freeze overnight. The next day, unroll chocolate (it will break into shards) and top cake with shards. Scatter with candied ginger to serve.