They may not be ‘true blue' but these Anzac biscuits are truly delicious
300g (2 cups) plain flour
135g (1½ cups) desiccated coconut
200g (2 cups) rolled oats
80g (½ cup) sesame seeds
2 tsp ground ginger
95g (½ cup) soft brown sugar
95g (½ cup) dark muscovado sugar
250g salted butter, chopped
2 tbsp date syrup
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
80ml (⅓ cup) boiling water
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 150C fan-forced (170C conventional). Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Put the flour, coconut, oats, sesame seeds, ginger and both sugars in a large bowl and mix with your hands to combine.
Heat the butter and date syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat until melted and stir to combine. Put the bicarbonate of soda in a small bowl, add the boiling water and mix well. Add this to the melted butter mixture in the pan, it will fizz up a little, then pour it over the dry ingredients and stir to combine well.
Roll the mixture into balls about the size of an egg, then place them on the prepared baking tray. Use the palm of your hand to gently press down on the biscuits to flatten them.
Bake the biscuits for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Allow them to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. I like a crisp Anzac, but if you prefer a chewy Anzac do not flatten them as much and cook for 12-15 minutes.
Makes 20
This is an edited extract from Pranzo by Guy Mirabella (Hardie Grant Books), RRP $60. Available in stores nationally. Photography by Guy Mirabella.
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ABC News
24-05-2025
- ABC News
Amid 'terrible' POW conditions in Italy, these WWII Anzacs made a daring alpine escape
When Simon Tancred left Australia to guide hikers through Italy's medieval mountain trails, he never expected it would lead him to a little-known chapter of Australian military history. But when the family of World War II gunner Carl Carrigan approached Simon to retrace the 100-kilometre Italian escape route used by Anzac prisoners of war (POWs), he became fascinated by a story of survival and endurance. After enlisting in 1940, brothers Carl and Paul Carrigan and their two mates, Ron Fitzgerald and Lloyd Leadingham — all from Moree, in country New South Wales — were deployed to Libya in northern Africa. After four days in the trenches, the men were taken prisoner near Tobruk and shipped to Italy as POWs. As winter closed in, the men were held in harsh conditions in Campo 57 in northern Italy among 5,000 other Anzac POWs. "They nailed together these pretty, shabby temporary accommodations … and the winds from Eastern Europe would sweep through," Simon told Richard Fidler on ABC Conversations. Under the sadistic fascist leadership of Colonel Vittorio Calcaterra, food was scarce in the camp and summary executions were the norm. "Just out with a gun and [the guard would] shoot someone there and then," Simon said. After two and a half years, the situation for the Moree men improved when they were relocated to Vercelli to work in the rice fields where they were treated sympathetically. "Conditions were a lot better because in that part of Italy, they weren't fascist sympathisers. In fact, there was a lot of anti-fascism," Simon said. A few months later, when the Italian leadership signed a treaty with the Allies, the POWs were freed, but danger still loomed as Germany seized control of Italy's north. The boys from Moree joined a group of 100 POWs and were led into the mountains by Italian partisans — members of the resistance. The group scattered when a patrol of German soldiers arrived, and the boys hid in a barn near Vermogno, where they were helped by a young woman, who spoke no English, to board a blacked-out tram through Nazi-occupied Biella. Still in their prison uniforms, and feeling they "stuck out like sore thumbs", the men nervously followed the woman's instructions. "[The tram] went through Biella, which by then had been locked down by the Nazis," Simon said. "Carl actually mentions in his memoir that he peeped out the window, and the place was full of Germans, which must have been absolutely terrifying." The woman then smuggled the men into her apartment. "[Her] mother freaked out, of course, but they fed them," Simon said. "They had the best feed they'd had in three years. "They had wine and they slept the night on the floor." The next day, with no maps or guides, the men set off on an eight-day hike to reach the safety of Switzerland. Simon, using Carl's memoirs and old military maps, retraced their journey. "I was experiencing the same big climbs, the same rocky scrambles. It's very exhilarating," he said. Fearing capture by the Germans, the men kept to the overgrown but safer mountain trails. The terrain was unforgiving — granite peaks, glaciers, and plunging valleys — and the men, weakened by years of imprisonment, had no food and inadequate gear. When they arrived in Riva Valdobbia in the upper valleys of the Alps, after days of brutal climbing at high altitude, the men were "absolutely shattered", Simon said. "They hadn't eaten for three days. They'd slept outdoors," he said. "They were debilitated anyway — they had two and a half years in prison camps." However, the valleys were anti-fascist so considered "friendly country" and the men were warmly welcomed. "School kids came out and cheered them," Simon said. "They set up tables in the square, and they gave them … lots of delicious macaroni and wine." They were given a lift by road workers to Alagna at the foot of Monte Rosa — home to one of the highest peaks in western Europe — and a local shepherd led them to his hut to sleep for the night. "Carl was very strong and fit, and he could keep up with this guy, but the other three were really suffering, they were really debilitated and quite weak, but they eventually made it up there," Simon said. After leaving the shepherd's hut, the men zigzagged their way to the top of the Turlo Pass, to an altitude of 2,700m, skirting the eastern flank of Monte Rosa. Far from the goat track he expected, when Simon walked the trail, he found an engineered military-built road that was constructed in the late 1920s to protect against a possible threat from Germany and Austria. "Mussolini, in his paranoia, was worried that the Germans might attack," he said. "He had these stone roads built up at these strategic mountain passes so the Italian army could get cannons up there to hold off the Germans." Ironically, it was never used by the Italian army — only by partisans, allied POWs, and Jewish families fleeing Nazi persecution. From the summit, Simon looked down into the pine forests of the Quarazza Valley below. "It's the most wonderful view," he said. "There's a little emerald lake at the very end, and then a big wall of mountains and these jagged ridges — and that's Switzerland." After the men's arduous journey through the mountains, there was just a one-day "final climb" up the Monte Moro Pass to reach the protection of Switzerland. "You can imagine these guys after two and a half years in POW camps, and then this enormous hike that's taken eight days," Simon said. "But of course, they could see the end. So that would have been what kept them going." In the valley below, they met a teenage boy, Angelo, concealed among the trees who offered to guide them to the border in exchange for their watches and winter coats. Angelo took the men over the river and around the village, which was occupied by the Germans, and up the steep, 1,800m track to the Monte Moro pass. "It was a long, hard climb," Simon said. "Carl was able to keep up with the guide, but the other guys were really falling behind … and were at the end of their tethers." But, out of fear of being seen by soldiers in the village below, Angelo stayed under the cover of the pine forest. "His brother had been killed by the Germans a short time before that … leading other soldiers to their safety," Simon said. "So it was extremely dangerous. As they reached the edge of the tree line, the boy hung back. "He said, 'Switzerland's up there … I can't go any further'." It was a steep, hard hike with a 1,000m climb, but the men reached the border and crossed into Switzerland, where they were greeted by Swiss guards. It was October 1943 and the men were among about 500 Anzacs who were able to escape into Switzerland before winter descended and the route was shut down by the Germans. "By the arrival of March, they'd locked the whole thing down so that it was no longer an escape route," Simon said. "So these guys got over just in the nick of time." Once inside the borders of Switzerland, the men learnt to ski, were able to work, and many Anzacs fell in love, returning to Australia with Swiss brides. For Carl, after just under a year of freedom in Switzerland, he and his brother and their two mates returned to Australia. "Carl married … he had 10 children, and then he moved to Armidale so that his kids could have a good education," Simon said. "He had a number of grandchildren, and he died at 77, which is a little young, but he had a very fulfilled life." Listen to Simon Tancred's full interview on the Conversations podcast on the ABC listen app.
West Australian
02-05-2025
- West Australian
Thousands of West Aussies attend services and events across regional centres for Anzac Day
Thousands of West Australians across regional Western Australia have attended Anzac Day dawn services and other commemorative events to remember the sacrifices of those who have served the country. In Geraldton, about 4000 people came out in force on a chilly morning for an emotional and poignant Anzac Day dawn service, making it one of the biggest turnouts in WA. Diggers and dignitaries witnessed proceedings, which included the main address from Warrant Officer Class 2 Rebecca Murphy. On the day which marked 110 years since the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli, she told the crowd: 'The Gallipoli campaign did not achieve its military aims, but it gave birth to something that would shape our national identity, the Anzac spirit, a legacy of courage, loyalty and looking after your mates. 'Anzac Day is not just about Gallipoli. It is about honouring all Australians who have served in every conflict, every peacekeeping mission and in every theatre of war.' Afterwards, Geraldton RSL barkeeper Gillian Sharp was on hand to serve up a gunfire breakfast, as she has done for decades. In Narrogin, veterans, families, emergency service volunteers, school and community groups joined for the troop march which circled the memorial, led by returned veteran Tom Beyon. More than 300 onlookers placed their hands on their hearts and bugle player Emily Ballantyne delivered the Last Post which was followed by a minute's silence. Wind and rain did not deter locals and visitors from making the pilgrimage to Albany's Desert Mounted Corps Memorial on Mt Clarence at dawn. The site overlooks King George Sound, from where the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand troops left for Gallipoli in 1914. Bethel Christian School student Allegra Palmer shared the life of Pte William Albert Betts, a farmer from Tenterden who served in the 10th Light Horse Regiment in World War I, before wreaths were laid in front of the memorial by special guests, servicemen and members of the community. Meanwhile, in Broome, residents paid their respects at a poignant dawn service ceremony at Bedford Memorial Park. Lt-Col Craig Bruhn, who attended the Broome dawn service on behalf of the Australian Defence Force, delivered a powerful address. 'It was ordinary Australian men and women who were prepared to make personal sacrifices to ensure our quality of life and the freedom we enjoy today,' he said. 'The spirit of Anzac is as relevant today as it was all those years ago. 'We maintain their sense of commitment, courage, perseverance — and the need to look after each other. 'We remember their service. We remember our comrades who have lost their lives on operations whether conflict, peacekeeping, or humanitarian missions.' After the service, attendees gathered at the Broome RSL Club for a traditional gunfire breakfast, reflecting on the stories of those who served — from Gallipoli to the jungles of Vietnam and recent operations in the Middle East. And as night faded into dawn in Boulder, the Last Post echoed throughout Loopline Park. In Moodiarrup, a crowd of campers paid their respects during the dawn service at Lake Towerrinning. The service began with the reading of the Ode, followed by the the Last Post and a minute's silence, then the raising of the flag to the Rouse, then ending with the national anthem. In Waroona, the community was out in full force on Anzac Day morning, with a huge crowd gathering at the Railside Park war memorial to honour those who landed on the Gallipoli peninsula 110 years ago. Veteran Barry Andrews — who delivered the Anzac Requiem — said the sacrifice of servicemen and women of Australia and New Zealand 'enrich the nation's history' with their hope for the freedom of mankind. 'You look at Gaza and the war in Ukraine and you wonder, do we ever learn,' he said. Brunswick Junction's Anzac Day ceremony saw an enormous crowd attending the event, with hundreds from across the Harvey region coming to pay their respects. This year's service had a record number of wreaths laid at the war memorial next to Brunswick town hall, with more than 30 floral tributes laid by various members of the community. Meanwhile, more than five thousand people gathered in Bunbury to pay their respects, lay wreaths, and remember loved ones as the sun rose over the city. The day's ceremonies than shifted to East Bunbury for a second service at the Rathmines War Memorial in East Bunbury. Around 100 people gathered around the cenotaph on Austral Parade to honour the 25 people listed on the memorial from Rathmines who served in World War I. In Collie, it was Collie-Cardiff Returned and Services League president Gary Benton who spoke at the 30-minute service in Soldier's Park. There was another huge turnout at the Busselton War Memorial, where more than 5000 people gathered before sunrise for the dawn service. Bridgetown honoured the 110th anniversary of Australian and New Zealand soldiers landing before dawn on Turkish shores with a parade and service in town. Manjimup RSL president Wayne Hughes said it was a 'bloody beautiful crowd' that came together in the South West to remember.
Sydney Morning Herald
29-04-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘A love letter to your future self': Make-ahead meals you'll be excited to eat
Put the oil in a stockpot and place it over medium heat. Once hot, throw in the onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the guanciale and garlic and fry until fragrant and the guanciale is crisp. Add the meat in batches and brown thoroughly on all sides. Add the tomato paste and cook until it has darkened and it looks like it is coming away from the edges of the pot, about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes along with 250ml (1 cup) of water, the herbs and the parmesan rind. Simmer uncovered for at least 3 hours, but 5 hours is best, giving it an occasional stir. You can add more water if it looks too thick or if you are concerned it has reduced too rapidly. Alternatively, if your sauce doesn't appear to have thickened, turn up the heat slightly and cook a little longer. Remove from the heat and take out the bones. I find it easiest to fish the pork ribs out, pull the meat from the bones and chuck it back into the pot, stirring well. Using a couple of forks, shred all the meat in the sauce – you are looking for a ragu-style consistency. Season with a pinch of caster sugar, salt and pepper. I like to leave the parmesan rind in – it's like a love note to the meal about to be devoured. Serve with pasta. Serves 12 This is an edited extract from Kitchen Keepers by Katrina Meynink. Photographs by Katrina Meynink. Published by Hardie Grant Books. RRP $40.
