Dinner in Akrotiri Mess
 

Could someone whose memory is better than mine help me out please?

Many years ago a feature of dinner in the Akrotiri OM was a starter made of hard-boiled eggs, sliced in half. It wasn't a traditional 'egg-nicoise' with all the assorted greenery and healthy stuff, just honest egg & mayo some rather nice spices sprinked on top .. But what were those spices? Paprika? Cayenne Pepper? Some other things?

Any ideas anyone?

CS

It must have been pretty hot because the Mess burnt down. Apparently some heroic officer rushed into the flames and rescued all the bar books.

Although I do not remember having this dish in the mess at Akrotiri, I believe it is called oeufs a la russe. I last had it on a cross-channel ferry in 1964.

My mum used to make it and she used paprika. Dad had a 4 year tour at Akro, so perhaps that's where she got the recipe from.

Was it any good?

In the words of old George: "All food in Mess for Officers very good sir, please. Yes. Please!"

Not however, the bacon. Cheap cuts from pigs fed with a large amount of fishmeal in their diet, it often tasted rather fishy...

Not having eaten there I can't speak with any authority, but, given the location, might one of the spices have been sumac? While it's mainly used in Turkish food, there might have been some cross-pollination. It's a maroon colour and has a slightly sour, lemony taste.

RAF Chefs' School:

Lesson 1

1. Boil Water in large saucepan.
2. Once boiling put egg(s) in to water - leave to boil for about two hours
3. Remove eggs, put in cold water
4. Get some small plates, sprinkle with bits of lettuce leaf (NOT cabbage)
5. Remove shell(s) from eggs
6. Slice egg in half (mind the fingers) and place on top of lettuce
7. Smother with mayonnaise (salad cream if no mayonnaise)
8. Sprinkle with Paprika and serve

Voila - egg mayonnaise!!

Mainstay of OM's worldwide for many years

PS What happened to Sambals with curry?

Never mind the eggs; who remembers the fabulous cheese savories at SHJ?

Oh yes indeed fantom, me for one. Thanks for a truly "madeleine moment".

Not only as an alternative (or let's be honest, an addition) to dessert, but also the seemingly endless trays of them which appeared at Happy Hour.

Yum!

Jeez, I remember that stuff from 280SU Troodos on 43's last Phantom APC in the late 80s. Almost put me off bacon for life, it was un-natural, to put it mildly...

I'm sure that 'bacon' was 'butchered' by the simple expedient of Chris-the-pig-slaughterer shoving a stick of dynamite up the pig's bottom, retiring to a safe distance and retrieving the smouldering off-cut remains of ex-piggy once the smoke had cleared...

I've never seen bacon cut in such a weird way other than in the Akrotiri OM.

Beagle, stop that I almost spilt my brandy sour.

At Honington in the early sixties the ration truck first went to the Sargent's Mess. It then proceeded to the Airmen's Mess followed by the Operations Wing canteen.

What was left over was thrown to the officers.

And Akrotiri Racing Chicken? Even after its pre-kitchen Olympic marathon (OK, Olympus Radar and back) it seemed to have been subjected to heat that would have made Hiroshima feel like gentle poaching liquor. Top cooking tip, leave in a fridge for 3 days to remove any trace of moisture. Before my first APC I had no idea the Cypriots had invented their own chicken-based version of Biltong.

Ah George - "of course Seer, THIS, is officer's mess!"

Pour Tu, Monsieur Cargosales!
 

Fortissimo, I always wondered what manner of beast the Akrotiri racing chicken really was. More like a flying centipede, with dozens of legs, the odd wing but no breast.

Even '****fer', our tame tortoiseshell bondhu cat, wasn't that keen on bits of racing chicken left over from APC lunch boxes.

I don't have any memories of the food in the mess at Akrotiri but I do remember sitting there having lunch with our crew one day. Our captain was the squadron boss, a rather stiffish character, who later made 4*. All of a sudden his cold eye fell upon a group of three sitting at a nearby table in flying suits, with long hair curling over their collars. Hair length was one of his things, and he was rising from his seat to go and administer a bollocking on the subject of hair length and flying suits in the mess, when one of our number quietly pointed out that they were the civilian crew of one of the target towing Canberras from FRADU at Yeovilton. I wished that he had gone across and administered his bollocking - it would have been a great scene to observe.

Lady L's was always the place for awesome hot sandwiches at Aki. Their Sausages, Fried onions and fried tomato long roll (locally known as 'Dead babies arm') was the highlight!