The Wartime Taste: Recipes and Rations

Only the Necessities When we imagine a cook book or recipes, a chatty, opinion based style comes to mind. However, the Ministry of Food’s approach to cooking is simple and to the point: ‘wash and dice the vegetables. Fry the leek or onion and carrots in the fat, add the lentils.’ (18). The sentences are short and snappy and the entirety of the instructions usually consist of 10-12 lines. The recipes are rather non-descriptive, presenting the food as something essential to survival rather than a pleasure for the taste buds! The tone of the recipes lack character and are instead just instructional. The majority of the enthusiasm appears to be places into pictures and poster propaganda such as: Potato Pete and Doctor Carrot. These were vegetable caricatures designed to promote healthy eating (posters shown below).  Potatoes, Potatoes, Potatoes Despite, the lack of conversational tone, the Ministry did attempt to make uninteresting dishes appear delicious or appealing. Vegetables we

"Is it Available?" The recipes in the Ministry of Food leaflets readily included food substitutes.   It was the ministry’s job to devise recipes that could make-up for the lack of certain food favourites amongst the population. The Imperial War Museum’s book Victory in the Kitchen: Wartime Recipes , showcases some of these recipes, taken straight from their archives. Many of these curious recipes are “mock” recipes including: ‘Mock Haggis’ using oatmeal and bacon ends (31) and ‘Mock Cream’ using household milk and sugar (67).   This introduces the Ministry’s effort to imitate much loved recipes at a time when certain ingredients were unattainable. The leaflets also appear to advocate eggless recipes such as: ‘Eggless Fruit Cake’ on page 73. Moreover, honey, marmalade and syrups are implemented as a supplement for sugar. The recipe for Meat Curry is a good example of this: ‘1 tablespoon chutney or vinegar, 1 tablespoon marmalade, 1 teaspoon black treacle or sy

This post is set to introduce you to the realities of the war-time kitchen! Britain relied heavily on imports of raw materials, produce and other supplies being shipped in from outside the country. Without imports during the Second World War, Britain had to devise a plan to sustain the stomachs of its people, without the supplies from other countries. As, I have suggested in previous posts the British people were encouraged to cultivate land for food production, promoting self-sufficiency. However, self-sufficiency was also promoted in the kitchen. Fig. 1:Victory in the Kitchen: Wartime Recipes, p.6  Food rationing was devised in 1940, with a purpose of distributing food evenly amongst the population, preventing food shortages and potential famine. Ration books were issued to each individual within a household, providing people with access to the limited quantities of produce. People were required to register at their local shops, altering the experience of food shopping.