The Enid Blyton Society

Five on a Treasure Island is available as an audiobook narrated by Mel Giedroyc and I enjoyed listening to this interview with her:

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Apparently Mel's favourite Enid Blyton series is Malory Towers, she loves ginger beer and she was a tomboy as a child, leading her to identify with George from the Famous Five books. She's also a fan of Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce and the What Katy Did series by Susan Coolidge.

Thanks Anita.That was great. Mel mentioned The Famous Five eating tongue and also Aunt Fanny's plum pie. I'm now trying to think of which books they feature in?

Is this of help, Pete?
Five on a treasure island, Chapter 4:
"George said nothing, but went on eating her plum-pie. She hadn’t said a word all through the meal. Her father had not appeared at the table, much to the children’s relief."
Five run awaqy together, Chapter 17:
"They had a fine breakfast of tongue, tinned peaches, bread and butter, golden syrup and ginger-beer."
Five go off to camp, Chapter 13:
"‘Hm! Salad. Hard-boiled eggs. Slices of tongue. And what’s this - apple-pie! My goodness! Don’t tell me you cooked that here, Anne.’"
Five get into trouble, Chapter 18:
"Aggie silently put the remains of a plum-pie on the table. ‘There’s your supper,’ she said." Not Aunt Fanny's though .
"Five fall into adventure again, Chapter Two:
"‘Why, last holidays I left a meat pie and half a tongue and a cherry tart and trifle sitting on the shelves for the next day’s meals - and when I came back from my half-day’s outing there wasn’t a thing to be seen.’"
Chapter Three:
‘Cold ham and tongue - cold baked beans - beetroot - crisp lettuce straight from the garden - heaps of tomatoes - cucumber - hard-boiled egg!’ recited Anne in glee.
Five on a hike together, Chapter 10:
"„Come your ways in,“ said the plump old lady. „Now you’ll have to take what we’ve got. I’m busy today and haven’t had time for cooking. You can have a bit of home-made meat-pie, or a slice or two of ham and tongue, or hard-boiled eggs and salad. Bless you, you look as pleased as Punch!
Five go down to the sea, Chapter 10:
The larder was so crammed with food that it was difficult to get into it. Meat pies, fruit pies, hams, a great round tongue, pickles, sauces, jam tarts, stewed and fresh fruit, jellies, a great trifle, jugs of cream - there was no end to the things Mrs Penruthlan had got ready. She laughed when she saw the children peeping there and marvelling.
Chapter 19:
They very nearly did! Ham and tongue and pies went on the table.
Five have a myster to solve, Chapter 6:
"She read the names on them. ‘Fruit salad. Tinned pears. Tinned peaches. Sardines. Ham. Tongue.’"
Chapter 7:
"‘We’ll open a tin of tongue,’ said Anne, ‘and there’s plenty of bread left, and lettuce, which I left in water. And tomatoes. And heaps of fruit.’"
Chapter 13:
Soon they had opened a tin of tongue, two tins of fruit, and a large tin of baked beans.

Brilliant Wolfgang! Thank you.
I was not sure I remembered the plum pie - but there it is in book one.
They loved their tongue too didn't they!

Regards

Pete

I've never liked tongue, ever since I was about 6 at a friend's birthday party. I was eating a tongue sandwich, blissfully unaware, when her mother came up and offered me another "You do like your tongue sandwiches, don't you?" she smiled. I wanted to spit it out straight away. I remember I dropped the other tongue sandwich on the floor or maybe hid it somewhere so I didn't have to eat it! The thought of an animal's tongue being in my mouth was sick-making.

Even though I eat other meats - I've somehow never warmed to tongue since that day!

When I first read the Famous Five as a child and there was mention of tongue I didn't know what it was! I'd never heard of it before then and thought it was some ham or corn beef type thing with a different name. I remember feeling horrified when I was told what it really is and quite upset that my favourite characters could happily eat something so vile. I've always found meat awful anyway but tongue has an extra level of revulsion

As a child we never ate 'offal' - including tongue. My dad, (coming from a farm where as a five year-old he was wringing chicken's necks) is almost a vegetarian, and eats very, very little meat, while my mom had never been brought up to eat offal, even though her mother cooked it for her father and it was pretty normal for people to do so back in the 1940's.

As an adult I've tried liver...not a fan...and I don't even like steak and kidney pie. Hearing family stories from my great aunt about eating cows heels and tripe broth and cows brains etc, has made me decide I could never be that much of a meat-eater!

Is Tongue regarded as offal then?

yes - according to information online - "The term covers items such as the heart, liver and lungs (collectively known as the pluck) plus kidneys, brains, head, feet, tongue, intestines and tails."

Thanks for the info Rob.

I can’t eat offal at all. The mere thought makes me feel sick. My mum used to eat liver when I was young and the smell used to revolt me.

I'm the same with Liver. Ych afi!

I quite like the smell of liver cooking - especially fried liver in breadcrumbs - but I hate the taste of it!

I like some of it, including tongue and headcheese. My husband ordered lamb fries at a restaurant once. He enjoyed them, but got a funny look on his face when I told him they are lamb testicles.

I'd love to hear Mel and Sue narrate Enid Blyton books, adding their own funny asides and commentary!

Wayne Pyer wrote:I'm the same with Liver. Ych afi!

I've sometimes wondered how that wonderful Welsh exclamation was spelled! I used to hear it quite often when I lived in Cardiff.