Maggie’s Kitchen

by Caroline Beecham

  CARROT COOKIES

  Together with Potato Pete, Doctor Carrot was introduced in 1941 to promote eating more vegetables since they were high in vitamins and were not rationed foods. The Ministry of Food’s War Cookery Leaflet No. 4 contained many recipes using carrots and these cookies are still a tasty treat with your cup of tea and great for kids since they combine the delicate crispness of biscuit and the soft crunch of carrot, with no artificial ingredients—and you can even keep the key ingredient secret! They will be at their best within the first three days; keep them in an airtight container.

  40g/1½oz butter

  80g/3oz sugar

  A few drops of vanilla, almond or orange flavouring

  180g/6oz carrot, grated

  180g/6oz self-raising flour

  ½ cup slivered almonds (optional for extra crunch)

  Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy then beat in the flavouring. Stir in the carrot and almonds, then fold in the flour. Spoon dessertspoons of the mixture onto a greased baking tray and sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Bake for 20 minutes. Makes 20 cookies.

  CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE

  Birthdays would not be the same without cake and cakes would not be the same without chocolate. Children celebrating during the Second World War had to make do with all sorts of mock meals and eggless puddings, but when it came to cake, there was still Bournville cocoa.

  55g/2oz butter

  55g/2oz sugar

  Few drops vanilla extract

  1 tbsp golden syrup

  140g/5oz self-raising flour

  ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

  30g/1oz Bournville cocoa

  2 eggs

  Milk or water to moisten

  1 cup grated beetroot*

  Jam, for filling

  Icing

  2 tbsp icing sugar

  2 tsp butter, melted

  1 tbsp Bournville cocoa

  1 tbsp golden syrup

  Few drops vanilla extract

  Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract and warmed golden syrup. In a separate bowl, sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and cocoa. Gradually add eggs to the creamed mixture, beating well between each addition. Then slowly add the flour mixture, stirring in enough milk to bind the ingredients. Gently fold in the beetroot and divide cake batter between two 18cm/7-inch greased and floured cake tins and bake for 25 minutes. Test with a metal skewer to check they are cooked. Combine ingredients for icing and set aside. Once cooled, sandwich cakes together with jam, then spread icing across the top of the cake.

  *The combination of chocolate and beetroot is delicious, and since it was one of the staple vegetables of the wartime garden it seems appropriate to use it still.

  GINGERBREAD

  This favourite can make a great comeback with the addition of chopped stem ginger added to the batter, giving the gingerbread unexpected bursts of flavour. And with another added extra—lemon icing . . .

  55g/2oz butter

  55g/2oz black treacle or golden syrup

  170g/6oz self-raising flour

  1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

  1 pinch salt

  1 tsp ground ginger

  1 tsp ground cinnamon or mixed spice

  55g/2oz sugar

  1 egg

  2 tbsp milk

  6 tbsp water

  2 oz stem ginger, roughly chopped

  Icing

  1 tsp lemon juice

  ½ cup icing sugar

  Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Line an 18 x 10cm/11 x 7 inch cake tin with baking paper. Melt the butter and treacle or syrup in a saucepan. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, then pour butter mixture over. Whisk egg and milk together, then add to bowl and mix well. Place water into empty saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to make sure no ingredients are wasted, and then add to mixture.* Stir well to combine then pour into tin and cook for 50 minutes. Mix lemon juice and icing sugar to desired consistency and drizzle over the gingerbread once it has cooled.

  * This stage of the recipe can be omitted and the water added with the butter and syrup; it was important during wartime to make sure nothing went to waste.

  DRIED FRUIT

  A great way of using windfalls or blemished fruit such as fallen apples or bruised pears.

  Preheat oven to 65°C/150°F. Wipe the fruit and remove the cores. Peel apples, cutting out any blemishes, and slice into rings about 1cm/½ inch thick. Peel and cut pears into halves or quarters and steep all fruit in water containing 30g/1oz of salt to every 2 litres/3½ pints of water for 10 minutes. Thread the rings on wooden skewers or spread on trays and dry in the oven for an hour, turning once or twice during cooking.

  ROSE PETAL JAM

  The traditional Polish recipe would have only combined rose petals and sugar and used a pestle and mortar to bruise the petals and release the oil. English recipes use liquid and lemon juice to make jam with a set consistency more like a jelly.

  500g/18oz rose petals

  500g/18oz sugar

  Juice 2 lemons

  1 litre/1¾ pints water

  Place petals in a large bowl and sprinkle over half of the sugar, bruising the petals lightly as you turn them. Cover and store in a cool place or refrigerate overnight. The following day add the rest of the sugar and the lemon juice to the water and bring to the boil, then add the steeped rose petals and simmer for 20 minutes. If you like a thicker jam then boil for a further 5 minutes on a higher temperature. Test it is at setting point* and then spoon into sterilised glass jars, wait to cool and label clearly.

  * You can test your jam is at setting point by following some simple steps: place an empty saucer in the freezer for 5 minutes and then place a spoonful of jam on it and return it to the freezer for a further 2 minutes. If it wrinkles and feels like gel then it is set.

  RHUBARB JAM

  This jam is a real star to have in the pantry as a delicious compote for porridge in the winter, as a rich fruity jam on scones or toast, and as a tantalising spread on the sponge for Maggie’s trifle. Certain people (who shall remain nameless) have even been known to dip a spoon into it for an instant sugar hit!

  900g/32oz rhubarb, washed and roughly chopped

  450g/16oz sugar

  Zest 1 lemon and/or 1 dstsp root ginger, grated

  Stand ingredients together for 24 hours then boil for 15 minutes in a few tablespoons of water. Once cool enough, spoon into sterilised glass jars and label with date. Store in a cool place and then move to the fridge once opened.

  Acknowledgements

  This is a work of fiction and combines historical facts with both real and fictional events. I have used several references during my research, and where the original sources have been used directly or quoted from, the sources have been attributed. Specifically, these include material from the Ministry of Food held by the National Archives in the United Kingdom, which contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, and The Times digital archive.

  One of the reasons that I wanted to write this book was because of an interest in how and why British Restaurants evolved during the Second World War and how they are still relevant today. They were created to solve problems surrounding food supply, food safety and the health of the nation; issues that societies are still concerned with now. I also noticed that there was renewed interest in ‘paddock to plate’ or ‘nose to tail’ eating, perhaps because of concern for our health, our environment and our animals, but it is how they ate during the war out of necessity. As we continue talking about the health and economic issues surrounding food, it seems worth exploring our past and seeing what we can learn from it; if we look closely at how they evolved a whole new way of eating, what they ate and how much they ate, then maybe we can find ways to help us in the future.

  The recipes are an amalgam of many recipes from the archives and the popular dishes of the time, with a new twist from Maggie, some tested in my kitchen; thank you to my family for bein
g willing guinea pigs.

  In addition, the following books were used for background reading and research:

  Isabella Beeton, The Book of Household Management [London]: Ward, Lock and Tyler, 1869

  Richard Broad and Suzie Fleming (eds), Nella Last’s War: The Second World War diaries of housewife, 49 [Great Britain]: Profile Books, 2006

  Gill Corbishley, Ration Book Cookery: Recipes and history [England]: English Heritage, 1985

  R. J. Hammond, Food, Volume II: Studies in administration and control (History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Civil Series), [London]: H. M. Stationery Office and Longmans, Green and Co., 1956

  Brian Lavery, The British Home Front Pocket-Book 1940–1942 [London]: Conway, 2010

  Eating For Victory: Healthy home front cooking on war rations. Reproductions of official Second World War instruction leaflets, foreword by Jill Norman [Great Britain]: Michael O’Mara Books, 2007

  David Notley (ed.), Wartime Recipes: A collection of recipes from the war years [Great Britain]: Jarrold Publishing, 1998

  Marguerite Patten OBE, in association with Imperial War Museum, Victory Cookbook: Nostalgic Food and Facts from 1940–1954: [London], Chancellor Press, 2002

  Nicholas Webley (ed.), A Taste of Wartime Britain [London]: Thorogood Publishing Ltd, 2003

  Good Fare: A Book of Wartime Recipes Produced by the Daily Telegraph [United Kingdom]: Macmillan, 2008

  And some cooking tips from:

  Reader’s Digest, What Our Grandmothers Knew: Hints, recipes and remedies of a bygone age [London]: Readers’ Digest Association Limited, 1979

  Writing this book was a communal affair, a lot like Maggie’s Kitchen, so I would like to thank all those who contributed information and support. In particular, the archivists for the fascinating research that gave kindling to the idea, Peter Thompson for advice, John and Anne Whaite for help with recipes, and Daniel Puskas for sharing his chef’s secrets. My grandmother, Mary Ellen Taylor, who was in the Land Army during the Second World War and provided great detail on life at the time. And to my parents, Jackie and Alan, for always being there and for cooking the offal dishes that I couldn’t!

  Thank you to Kathryn Heyman who helped start me on the novel-writing journey, and also to James Bradley and Sophie Hamley. Sincere personal thanks to Annette Barlow for believing in Maggie, and I am deeply grateful to the team at Allen & Unwin, especially Christa Munns and Ali Lavau, for their work on the book.

  Finally, for the men and women who, like my grandmother, have shown bravery in the most unlikely of places . . .