G'day all,

Bob Billings' reference to "rock soup":

> Have you ever heard the story Stone Soup?  It's as old as
> storytelling.  Fellow has a "magic stone" that can make a soup with nothing
> but it and water.

This reminded me of an old Australian yarn (= amusing story of doubtful
veracity) about the recipe for cooking galahs.  Galahs are raucous pink and
grey cockatoos which are very common here and disliked by many farmers
because of their habit of descending in large numbers on ripening crops and
totally stripping them.  They are reputed to be tough eating and the only
way to cook them is to put a stone in the boiling water with the plucked
bird.  When the stone is soft, the cooking is done, and you then throw the
galah away and eat the stone.  Needless to say, I haven't tried this recipe!

  Some of you might like to suggest local alternatives for the galah.

Happy eating,

Darrell,
Adelaide, Australia