Good Food Blog

War on waste

Posted at 11:30AM, 30 September 2008 by Carol Wilson - food writer

I have a fascinating collection of wartime food pamphlets issued by the Ministry of Food. Some of the ideas are definitely not to today's tastes (and possibly not even then either!) - powdered milk and sugar sandwiches anyone?

Food was rationed, so nothing was ever wasted; everyone made preserves, bottled fruits and salted vegetables, and to supplement their quota, many people kept hens in back gardens and grew vegetables in allotments, gardens and even window boxes. The Ministry of Food issued lots of newspaper and magazine advertisements, recipe leaflets and radio broadcasts with practical information on how to make the best of what was available and make ingredients go further.

There were some excellent recipes given out in a booklet and a radio programme called 'The Kitchen Front'. Alongside recipes for 'mock marzipan' (cooked sieved haricot beans, ground rice, almond essence and margarine), 'mock cream' (margarine and milk) and 'mock oysters' (sardines, mashed artichokes and breadcrumbs), there were also more appetising recipes that we'd find appealing today - chestnut soup, savoury charlotte (made with lots of fresh vegetables and bacon), potato and sausagemeat pancakes and apple custard pie, for example.

Many of the money-saving hints and thrifty tips are also just as useful nowadays, especially in the current credit crunch. For instance, store potatoes with an apple to prevent them sprouting; freshen up stale bread by brushing it with water, wrapping in foil and heating for 10 minutes in a moderate oven; refresh stale crackers or breakfast cereals by spreading them on a baking tray and putting in a moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Open quotationDon't heat air when you're cooking! Make sure the cooker ring matches the size of the panClose quotation

Bacon rinds and vegetable trimmings (such as pea pods) and the cooking water can be made into soup and meat bones into stock; if short of eggs for a cake recipe, substitute 1 tablespoon vinegar per egg; use honey or syrup instead of sugar (1 tablespoonful for each 55g sugar) for making cakes; to stop jam tarts from boiling over during cooking, sprinkle with a few drops of cold water before cooking; to prevent sausages bursting, dip them in boiling water before frying; add a little cider or wine vinegar to the water in which you boil ham to improve the flavour; don't heat air when you're cooking! Make sure the cooker ring matches the size of the pan and put a lid on the pan so it heats more quickly.

I tried out some wartime recipes for a week on my family - they not only loved the interesting, tasty dishes, but - even better - I saved lots of money on the food bill too!

Has anyone else come across interesting wartime recipes or money-saving tips?

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Comments

  • Binder photo AdrianB
    1 October, 1:57PM

    AdrianB

    Open QuoteThis is a timely blog coming right after Mr Oliver's own Ministry of Food had its first airing last night. Trying to save money on your food bill is tough if you want to keep the ingredients healthy. But I think there's an argument for buying 'generic' supermarket own label brands when it comes down to essential basic products. Tinned tomatoes are pretty much tinned tomatoes aren't they? The 17p ones are just fine. You don't need to buy the 80p variety with added basil if you have a basil plant in your garden - or even a carton of the dried variety. I sometimes pad out seafood tajines and stews with pollack. As long as you have some good stock and some good fish too - there's no problem with this. I've even heard of padding out fancy crab dishes with, dare I say it... Ocean Sticks. It works - apparently. AdrianB

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  • Binder photo smitty
    3 October, 7:26PM

    smitty

    Open QuoteI always use teabags twice and put coffee grounds on my roses its a great fertiliser.

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  • Binder photo Sally
    4 October, 1:01PM

    Sally

    Open QuoteIt's amazing what you can do with leftovers, and at this time of the year my thoughts turn to bowls of warming and comforting soup. You can rustle up a quick lunch or hearty supper out of the most unlikely ingredients. Leftover Cottage Pie and vegetables make a fantastic soup, as does curry and rice. All you need to add is some good stock, simmer for a bit and then blitz it all together. Vegetable trimmings are also good for soups or for making stock. Also, never throw out margerine tubs. They are perfect containers for freezing your homemade soup in!

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  • Binder photo Sarah
    10 October, 7:33PM

    Sarah

    Open QuoteWell, I had a big fridge clear out this week and knocked up a huge amount of miestrone soup for the freezer (Add the pasta when reheating) which I have stored in a large plastic celebrations chocs tub, some lentil and bacon soup and some leek and potato soup. The minestrone will easily feed 16 of us as part of our halloween party meal and there is enough soup for the three of us for another 6 meals. All from stuff that needed using up.

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