Saturday, February 04, 2006

A Hairy Moment

...
The mention of the delightful delicacy of pig's trotters on a talkback radio interview jogged a memory from my childhood with my brother. During school holidays Mum would take us into town - Melbourne city in the 1950's - for a treat. Those were the days when newsreels ran continuously all day in small cinemas, screening cartoons, news clips and a longer feature, and you could come in or leave at any part of the cycle. Passers-by might drop in to escape the summer heat for an hour or two, as would office workers during their lunch hour, bringing their sandwiches. Eating while watching was an accepted practice, though done reasonably discretely.

Money was tight, but Mum knew where she could buy an economical meal of pig's trotters, cooked and sold ice cold in their own jelly, and they really were delicious. Carrying one each in our own individual bag, we'd feel our way into empty seats in the dark cinema, settle, then reach into our bag to pull apart and eat our pig's trotters.

Yes, I remember very well the last time we ate pig's trotters at the newsreels. It was the time when I reached into the gelatinous treat in my bag, produced a pig's trotter, and in a clear child's voice in the dark, loudly announced to all and sundry: "
Yuk! Mine's got hairs on it!!"