It seems there is no end to condensed milk in this lifetime

So, hands up those who weren’t paying attention when C8 said yesterday that condensed milk as a subject was at an end? That would be almost everyone, it seems, as the C8 inbox is full again with condensed milk stories. Why is the sticky allure so strong? Whatever the answer, C8 will, perforce, have to continue - the people have spoken.

Jennifer Coleman of Indooroopilly in Qld asks, “Where are the condensed milk sandwich memories? Soft white bread cut from a warm loaf from the corner shop, butter and condensed milk.”

Pamela Kerr of Moonta Bay (SA) remembers, “Sitting atop St Mary’s Peak, on the last day walking Wilpena Pound, eating the last of our rations: marshmallows and tubed condensed milk. Then, there was the first year I lived in China, when I found tinned condensed milk in the supermarket, which satisfied my homesickness spoonful by spoonful for a year.”

Another use comes from Marjie Williamson of Blaxland, who says that, “My husband, a Type 2 diabetic, carries a tube of condensed milk with him as a fast pick-me-up if he feels a ‘low’ in the offing when he is out.”

C8’s ophicleidist-in-waiting, Sue Bradley of Eltham (Vic), notes, “You’ve forgotten the best condensed milk brand of all – Tongala. It was so common that, as a new chum in the 1970s, I actually thought that ‘Tongala’ was Australian for condensed milk.”

John Adamson of near-flung Caringbah South wonders, “I cannot understand why nobody has yet brought up, so to speak, the sheer ambrosial delight of a teaspoon of cocoa powder in an egg cup, into which a decent glug of condensed milk has been stirred. A family favourite in the 1950s.”

Back to the post-World War II years with Adrian Bell of Davistown, who tells that, “Coffee was virtually unavailable in Australia – even though rarely drunk compared to tea – along with Bonox, Milo and Ovaltine. Commonly used was Nestle’s condensed milk with coffee flavour. Just add water. Also available was Gibson’s Green Label Coffee and Chicory for the non-tea drinkers.”

Asking the question that C8 has in mind is Llieda Wild of Eastwood, with, “Enjoying the memories of condensed milk this week leads me to wonder if any Col8ers have developed diabetes in their later years? I have. I can also lay blame at the small cake shop near our school in West Ryde that made the most delicious cream eclairs, buns and vanilla slices.”

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