by Susie Hodge
Vegetable hotpot
Peel and slice about a pound of mixed vegetables – carrots, parsnips and a small swede make a good variety, with a leek or an onion if possible. Do the same with 1lb potatoes. Melt 2oz dripping in a casserole, add all the vegetables, season well and fry lightly. Make ½ pint of stock by dissolving one dessertspoonful of Bovril in boiling water. Pour over the vegetables and cook for about 1½ hours in a moderate oven.
Among many other things, in the 1940 book 101 Things to Do in Wartime, by Lillie B. and Arthur C. Horth recommended keeping a stockpot going, using any bones, trimmings and other leftovers, covered with boiling water and boiled up each day, to use as a base for other dishes. The authors suggested that vegetables were not put in the stockpot or they might turn the liquor sour. Suggestions for flavourings in the book included celery seeds, tied up in muslin; with pulses including peas, beans and lentils, added for extra protein.
The mother of invention
Despite the restrictions, shortages and monotony of the ingredients available, several dishes were invented out of necessity during the war that have since become classics, such as fruit crumble, which replaced full pastry cases for fruit pies and carrot cake when carrots were used as substitutes for apricots and sugar.
Dry bread and dried eggs
Before the war, white bread had been a British staple, usually spread lavishly with butter and jam. From 1942, difficulties in obtaining white flour created a crisis – white bread could no longer be provided for everyone in the country. In its place, a standard wholemeal loaf made with “national wheatmeal” flour of 85 per cent extraction with added calcium and vitamins was introduced. In March, Lord Woolton announced that no more white bread would be sold after 6th April 1942 and instead the national wheatmeal loaf would take its place. This coarse, grey, hard-crusted loaf was so unpopular that people nicknamed it “Hitler’s Secret Weapon”. In truth, the wholemeal bread was far more nutritious than white bread, particularly when butter was in such short supply as well.
In terms of restrictions and rationing, 1941 was the most difficult year of the war. The individual adult meat allowance dropped to one shilling per person per week, fish escalated to over four times its pre-war price, cheese became rationed (although vegetarians, miners and farm workers were allowed extra) and even onions became scarce. In June of that year, eggs were rationed too. Each adult was allowed approximately three eggs a month, with children under five, pregnant women and nursing mothers allowed double that. The following summer, controlled supplies of powdered egg were made available, easing things a little. One packet of dried eggs, equivalent to 12 fresh eggs, was allocated to each adult approximately every eight weeks. Dried egg, which arrived from the USA, was greeted with mixed feelings. Most disliked the rubbery texture, but it was another shared element that gave people further opportunities to bond with each other. The Ministry of Food War Cookery Leaflet No. 11 gave instructions for reconstituting dried egg, plus several dried egg recipes. Although many complained about them during the war, once dried eggs had disappeared after the war, even more people protested that they wanted them back! An article in Good Housekeeping magazine in November 1943 with the baseline: ‘The Ministry of Food has approved this article,’ was called ‘Dried Eggs’. Written by Nora Ramsay, it began:
“Dried eggs are one of the best foods that wartime rationing has brought us. Always available, always fresh and ready to use, they help the cook in a hundred ways. More than that – they provide every member of the family, from one year old up, with valuable body-building extras for the winter months.”
The article gave instructions for reconstituting dried eggs, by mixing the powder to a smooth cream with a small amount of water, then stirring in further water to make a runny consistency. Recipes included:
Egg and potato fritters
1 large raw potato
1 dried egg
Dripping or bacon fat (for frying)
1 tablespoon flour
Salt and pepper
Milk if necessary
Put the flour, egg and seasoning into a basin and mix thoroughly. Peel the potato, then shred with a coarse shredder into the flour. Make a hollow in the centre of the ingredients and, if necessary, stir in milk to give a thick batter. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture into hot bacon fat or dripping, and fry gently until browned, then turn and fry the other side. Serve immediately. Diced cooked bacon or cold cooked sausage can be added to the fritters if available.
Sadie Belasco used dried egg to make her simple cheese omelette:
Sadie’s cheese omelette
4 dried eggs made from 4 level tablespoons dried egg and 8
tablespoons water
Salt and pepper
2 oz grated cheese
½ oz margarine
Reconstitute the egg and add seasoning. Heat the fat in a pan, pour in the egg and work the mixture with a fork. As the egg is setting, sprinkle in the grated cheese and cook for one minute longer. Fold and serve hot with a garnish of watercress or other fresh green vegetable.
The lend-lease agreement
After 1941, the British navy managed to destroy more German U-boats and the “lend-lease” agreement with America came into effect, making food availability a little less strained. After Churchill had made the plea to the US of: “Give us the tools and we’ll finish the job” the lend-lease agreement began; a system whereby the USA sent munitions and food parcels to Britain, the latter containing such things as tinned sausage meat, cheese, soya flour, corned beef, Spam (which stood for Supply Pressed American Meat) and dried eggs. Payment for this was deferred until after the war. Although extremely welcome, the lend-lease scheme was not without problems. Corned beef, Spam and dried eggs had not been sold in Britain before and housewives were not sure what to do with them and it was not easy to ration the food as the amounts sent varied and arrived in Britain erratically. Various recipes to use these unfamiliar products were published, by the Ministry of Food and by respected cooks or individuals, such as:
Grace Palmer’s Corned Beef Hash
Gently fry a large chopped onion or leek. Peel, slice and cook four potatoes and two large carrots, or some swede, and cut corned beef into thick slices. Layer these ingredients in an enamel pie dish. Make a rich gravy using Bisto or Oxo and pour this over all the ingredients. End with a layer of sliced potato and sprinkle grated cheese over the top. Bake in an oven on a low heat for 20 minutes. Serve with green vegetables or baked beans.
Corned beef pie
(from 101 Things to Do in Wartime)
Grease a pie dish and place ½ lb of sliced tomatoes in the bottom. Cut 1 lb of corned beef into dice, moisten with a little good, cold gravy, add pepper and salt to taste, place this on the top of the tomatoes and sprinkle a generous helping of chutney or Pan Yan pickle on top. Cover with mashed potatoes, with knobs of dripping or margarine dotted on top. Cook in a fairly hot oven for about half an hour.
The Ministry of Food’s Spam Fritters
12 oz can of Spam
Margarine for frying
4 oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 large egg or the equivalent of dried egg
4 fl oz milk, or milk and water, or beer
Mix together all the batter ingredients in a bowl. The mixture should be thick, to coat the Spam well. Cut the Spam into eight slices. Meanwhile, heat the margarine in a frying pan; coat the Spam slices once or twice with the batter then drop them into the hot margarine. Cook for two to three minutes on each side, turning over the fritters as required.
Jackie Watson, who lived in Kensington and Penzance during the war, remembered the large tins of American sausage meat, which cost a vast 16 ration points and was more wholesome and tastier than Spam. The meat was surrounded by a thick layer – nearly half a pound – of fat, which was invaluable for cooking and a more appetising alternative to the liquid paraffin some recipes suggested to be used for fat.
Eating out
Meals eaten away from
home, whether in expensive restaurants or industrial canteens, were not counted as rations and became a popular alternative with those who could afford them. Individuals who worked away from home and could afford to do so often ate in cafés and canteens, which meant that their rations were saved. To ensure that everyone was adequately nourished, ‘British Restaurants’ were set up by the government, in actual restaurants, evacuated schools or even church halls, where workers could get a hot meal at a modest price. Minced beef with carrots and parsnips was a typical dish. Other restaurants carried on as they had before the war. But many who were suffering the financial strains of the war resented the rich being able to continue eating in these expensive restaurants. To try to balance the situation, from 1942 the government prohibited all restaurants from charging more than five shillings a meal and no meal could consist of more than three courses, which helped, but did not stop the problem completely. Less expensive restaurants such as the Lyons Corner House chain remained accessible to all throughout the war. Dependable and reasonably priced, they became popular gathering places. With some branches still opening and providing hot meals even after extensive bomb-damage, Lyons gained the reputation that they were fighting the war and facing adversity along with everyone else, which reinforced their popularity. Numerous makeshift canteens and cafés were set up by various voluntary groups throughout the war, including the WVS and the Salvation Army and by local authorities. These cheaper and convenient eating places served members of the Forces, firemen, shift workers, the public in air raid shelters, or in particularly bomb-damaged areas. A variety of different premises were used for this, including schools, empty shops and church halls.
Festive fare
In 1943, even the sugar coating on pills was stopped. If everyday provisions seemed dull, the choices for festive fare seemed even worse and housewives inventiveness, while taking into account the government’s slogan of “waste not, want not” was stretched to the limit. As ever, the Ministry of Food tried to help, printing and broadcasting recipes that could be managed with the shortages that were deemed suitable for wartime celebrations, and each Christmas housewives were allowed some extra items in the weeks leading up to it, to help families to celebrate as best they could and to boost morale. Everyone listened to the radio carefully for announcements of what extras there would be. The Ministry of Food also ran editorial pieces in newspapers and magazines and distributed regular food facts leaflets containing recipes and encouragement, for instance in the weeks before Christmas in 1943, it stated: “We can still make Christmas fare hearty, tempting and appetising to look at. Here, with our very best wishes, are some ideas which may help you.” These were some of the ideas:
Mock Goose
1½ lb potatoes
2 large cooking apples
4 oz cheese
½ teaspoon dried sage
salt and pepper
¾ pint vegetable stock
1 tablespoon flour
Scrub and slice potatoes thinly; slice apples, grate cheese. Grease an ovenproof dish, place a layer of potatoes in it, cover with apple and a little sage, season lightly and sprinkle with cheese, repeat layers leaving potatoes and cheese to cover. Pour in half a pint of the stock, cook in a moderate oven for 45 minutes. Blend the flour with the remainder of the stock, pour into the dish and cook for another quarter of an hour. Serve as a main dish with a green vegetable.
Christmas Day Pudding
Rub three ounces of fat into three tablespoonfuls of self-raising flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Mix in one and a half cupfuls of stale breadcrumbs, half a pound of prunes (soaked for 24 hours, stoned and chopped) or any other dried fruit, such as sultanas. Add three ounces of sugar, one teaspoonful of mixed spice, one teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, then chop one large apple finely, grate one large raw carrot and one large raw potato; add to dry ingredients. Stir in a tablespoonful of lemon substitute. Mix one teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in three tablespoonfuls of warm milk and stir thoroughly into the pudding mixture. Put into one large or two small, well-greased basins, cover with margarine papers and steam for two and a half hours. This can be prepared overnight and cooked on Christmas Day.
Emergency Cream
(Most people scooped the top of the milk off and collected it to have a little cream, but this recipe was widespread for making ‘mock’ cream.)
Bring half a pint of water to blood heat; melt one tablespoonful of unsalted margarine in it. Sprinkle three heaped tablespoonfuls of household milk powder into this, beat well and then whisk thoroughly. Add one teaspoonful of sugar and half a teaspoonful of vanilla, leave to get very cold before serving.
Syrup Loaf
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Quantity: 1 loaf
4 oz self raising flour, or plain flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons warmed golden syrup
¼ pint of milk, or milk and water
Method:
1. Sift flour (or flour and baking powder), bicarbonate of soda and salt.
2. Heat syrup and milk (or milk and water), pour over the flour and beat well.
3. Pour into a well greased 1 lb loaf tin and bake in the centre of a moderately hot oven to cook for 30 minutes or until firm.
Christmas cake
½ lb margarine
½ lb sugar (brown if possible)
5 dried eggs
10 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon almond essence
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ lb plain flour
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate soda
½ level teaspoon
Salt
2 level teaspoons mixed spice
2 lb mixed dried fruit
3-4 tablespoons ale, stout, or milk
Cream the margarine and sugar, adding the dried eggs and water gradually. Beat until white and creamy. Add the essences, sift the flour, soda, salt and spices together and add to the mixture. Add the prepared fruit and lastly the liquid to make a fairly stiff mixture. Mix thoroughly and put in a cake tin lined with paper. Bake in a slow oven for three hours and leave in the tin to cool.
Icing
4 level dessertspoons sugar
6 level tablespoons dry milk powder
2 tablespoons water
Colouring and flavouring
Mix the sugar and milk together, add water and beat until smooth. Add colouring and flavouring and spread on top of the cake. Alternatively, it was suggested that eight melted marshmallows made an adequate substitute as icing for a Christmas cake.
4
DIGGING FOR VICTORY
“We want not only the big man with the plough but the little man
with the spade to get busy this autumn... Let ‘Dig for Victory’ be
the motto of everyone with a garden” ~ Rob Hudson, Minister
for Agriculture, October 1939
Before the war, Britain imported over 55 million tons of food a year. The ships delivering these provisions were some of the first targets of the German U-boats. By early 1941, shortages were at their worst when merchant ships travelling to British shores were being sunk at a rate of three a day. The slogan that had been used by the Ministry of Agriculture since 1939 to encourage people to grow their own food; “Dig for Victory”, had never been so important.
For many years before the war, gardening had been a popular pastime in Britain, especially among people who had moved out of the cities and into the new suburbs. Vegetable growing had been taken up by a few, but mainly men; women rarely became involved. Once World War Two became imminent, everyone in Britain was encouraged to take to their gardens and grow their own food. Anyone with a private garden was advised to turn it into a mini-allotment to provide essential crops for themselves and their neighbours and to help the war effort in general. Vegetable-growing was to be done by all as it was imperative that the British merchant navy changed its role and became available for t
ransporting troops and munitions rather than food. More food grown at home meant ships could concentrate on bringing in vital arms. One ad ran: “To be sure of the family’s vegetables, you must grow them yourselves – women and older children as well as men. If you haven’t a garden, ask your Local Council for an allotment. Start to Dig for Victory Now!” The message was acknowledged and within a few months, even the public parks, formal public gardens and areas of unused land in Britain were transformed into vegetable plantations. Tennis courts, cricket and football pitches and golf courses were ploughed up, although there was an outcry when it was suggested that Wimbledon’s courts were going to be dug up. The long dried-up moat at the Tower of London became an allotment; the flowers in Kensington Gardens were replaced with rows of cabbages; the Great Park at Windsor became the biggest cornfield in Britain; sheep grazed in Green Park, and Hyde Park had its own piggery. Even the soil that covered Anderson shelters was used by many to grow cabbages, marrows, cucumbers and rhubarb. In an effort to become rapidly self-sufficient, the government also encouraged people to keep a few chickens or ducks to supplement their egg rations. Some communities set up pig clubs, with groups of neighbours buying one or two pigs between them, feeding the pigs on kitchen scraps and sharing the pork when the pigs were slaughtered. It became quite a craze, as 900 pig clubs were eventually set up. Barbara Matthews remembered:
