Chard in play
There is something about this tart that reminds me of my secondary school days.
Both in good and bad ways. One of the things I was most looking forward to in my transition from primary to secondary school was the notion of a school canteen. I always had a little cash in my pocket as I had a regular pamphlet delivery round, and I was really keen to splurge on forbidden treats such as meat pies and jam doughnuts. But to my absolute horror, my school had become an early adopter of the “healthy” tuckshop model. To say that I was disconsolate was an understatement. In truth, it was an amazing thing for my school to move towards, given this was in the late 1970s. We were offered “tasty” and nutritious offerings that were good for the brains of all those “gals” who went on to become leaders in medicine, law and business. And true to form, the budding cook among the group just wanted a Jiffy jam doughnut.
One of the offerings that was always available was a Hunza pie. It would be wrong of me to cast judgement on it, as in six long years I never bought one. All I knew about it was it was a ’60s- and ’70s-style hippie thing that was largely silverbeet and tasty cheese encased in a pretty utilitarian wholemeal pastry. There was nothing about it that appealed to my adolescent self.
Fast forward a good 30 years and I am off on a lovely tour of south-west France with the wonderful Kate Hill, an expat American who has called Gascony her home for
40 years. One of the recipes she pulled out to cook after a trip to a market and the purchase of a beautiful bunch of ruby chard was a chard galette, complete with wholemeal pastry. To quote Don Henley’s song, “A little voice inside my head said, ‘Don’t look back, you can never look back’ ” and I was able to dismiss thoughts of the Hunza pie and embrace
Kate’s dish. To say I was surprised at its deliciousness would undervalue my newfound love of the combination of silverbeet and wholemeal pastry.
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of my last year of school. Many schools now have healthy tuckshops and I have grown to really enjoy a wholemeal pastry and silverbeet tart, but the treat of choice may still be a cheeky little jam doughnut, albeit a fancy one.