Meat in the bush was often tough. For your own needs, you killed only the beasts that were no good for selling. So people devised ways of making the meat easier to eat and easier to store for periods when there was no fresh meat.

So camp pie was born. Commercial versions of this recipe used a lot of sodium nitrate to break down the meat fibres, I think - fairly horrible stuff!!

• 700gm shin beef.
• 250gm bacon.
  
• 1 teaspoon salt.
• mace.
  
• cayenne pepper.
• ½ teaspoon mustard.
  
• 1 tablespoon gelatine.
• 1 egg, beaten.

1. Mince the beef and the bacon, then add the salt, a little mace and cayenne pepper, the mustard, and the gelatine.
   
2. Mix in the beaten egg to hold the mixture together and pack it tightly into a billy can.
   
3. Cover with buttered paper and put the lid on.
   
4. Steam for 2½ hours.
   
5. Then take it from the fire, remove the lid and put a weight on the camp pie until it is firm - and cold.
6. Serve sliced, with bread and butter and salad, or on sandwiches.