Based on experiences in Edgware, north London in the 1940s
Poster encouraging everyone not to waste food.
Photographed in Bushey Lincolnsfields Centre.
In what follows on meals in the
rationing an austerity of 1940s and early 1950s
Britain in and after World War Two, do remember that the descriptions are often of complete meals, not
side dishes. Gastronomic delights were not possible because so many
ingredients were unavailable or in short supply.
Potatoes, vegetables and more vegetables
Potatoes and vegetables that grew in Britain were not rationed during the
war, although
they were not always available to buy. After the war, when shortages
were even more severe, potatoes were rationed for a year.
So people grew their own potatoes in their
back gardens, and women became quite innovative at using them as a base for
family meals.
No doubt everyone's health benefited.
'Oslo' was a salad, served on hot toast, consisting
of grated raw vegetables and salad stuff, We used to have it for breakfast
or for tea.
John Cole
Mashed potato with grated cheese mixed in was a regular
meal.
Marion Cole
No-meat shepherds pie was mashed potato on a base
of either Bisto or Oxo made very thick with water on the bottom of a baking tray.
It was baked in the oven until it the gravy was judged to have gone
solid.
Peter Johnson
As a child in the summer holidays my lunch was
often sandwiches with cooked runner beans inside. The runner beans came
from our garden. There was of course no
butter, and our very little margarine was saved for cooking.
However the moisture in the cooked runner beans did stop the bread from
being dry.
Jane Bartlett
After the head of a cabbage had been harvested, a cross
was cut into the top of the stump with a sharp knife. The stump was left
in the ground and from the cuts grew new green leaves. These were called
'spring Greens'.
Peter Johnson
Although I remember very little about meals at home during the early 1940s,
I do remember complaining, "I'm sick of greens!", as if it was my mother's fault.
She never explained, presumably because she thought I was too young to understand
that she had to make use of what whatever was available and waste nothing.
"A pound of spring greens please", was her regular purchase at the greengrocers. 'Spring greens' were very dark green leaves, obviously
from some sort of cabbage, and in later years I often wondered what they were
because they were no longer on sale or in seed catalogues. I am pleased that
Peter Johnson was able to tell me.
Fruit
As no fresh fruit was imported we ate what was in season,
either fresh or cooked: apples with custard, apple pie with custard, apple fritters, etc. There was also rhubarb
which
which grew in most gardens, and was either boiled with custard or put in a pie
with custard. Even with plenty of
sugar - which was of course on ration - it still made teeth feel funny.
Now and again there were dried figs, peaches and prunes
that came in large wooden boxes, but they were on ration. They were soaked
in water overnight, and boiled the next day. Then on went the custard.
Peter Johnson
Meat
Hungarian Goulash was a tasty way of eking out meat
with a lot of seasoning and vegetables. We seemed to live on it for a while!
John Cole
Pearl barley was used a lot to pad out stews.
Marion Cole
A type of shepherds pie could be made with mashed potato and scraps of
meat, like the odd rabbit and pigeon that we caught. Meat from this source was not easy to prepare but we were used to it.
My mother would get some fresh lard from the butchers
and mix it with flour and water, mould into a round tennis ball shapes and
drop into the stew to fill us up. The results were known as dumplings.
Horse meat and whale meat were available from time
to time. I have eaten both.
Spam was a precooked meat product which came from
America in tins which were opened with a metal turn key. It could be eaten straight from the tin, sliced with chips or a salad. The best way to eat it,
in my view, was cut into slices, dipped in flour and water a deep fried.
(Incidentally English girls who went with American soldiers were also known as Spam.)
Peter Johnson
There was hardly any meat, except for the occasional rabbit, if you were lucky enough to get one. If you 'heard of one going, you immediately set off to get one, perhaps walking miles. My mother used to go on her bike with my sister strapped into a seat on the back. Nothing was thrown away.
After the occasional chicken, there was chicken soup for several days afterwards. I still can't bear chicken soup!
Michael Sullivan
Although I don't remember any meat from the war years, after 1945, when my father was back
from the army, we had a roast
on Sundays, which always seemed to be a half shoulder of lamb from New Zealand.
Meat rationing extend into the 1950s, hence my aversion to the
awful
mince in my school dinners.
Fish
We seemed to have preserved fish quite often, particularly
soused herring and soused mackerel.
Fresh fish was either seldom available or rationed.
The haddock was cooked in milk and water and we children used to dip our
bread in the juice while father had the fish. (For medical reasons was not
away in the armed forces.)
John Cole
Fresh fish and fish and chips were not rationed,
were cheap and plentiful. There was always a long line of people waiting for the fish and chip shop to open.
Fish cakes of sorts were made by mashing some potatoes, mixing in some boiled fish then
forming into scone-size shapes. They were then grilled on both sides.
Peter Johnson
On Sundays in the few years of austerity after the war, a vendor used to come round the streets
with a horse and cart, selling shrimps, winkles and cockles. These were often our treat for the week.
Mike Swift
Eggs
If you stayed in hospital for any length of time you had to take your egg ration with you, your name was written on your egg and this would be boiled for your breakfast.
Peter Johnson
In those families that could
keep hens, there was a lot that the women could
do with the eggs. We never kept chickens, although I do remember my weekly egg
ration, served as a boiled egg with 'soldiers'. 'Soldiers' was the name given
to strips of bread and butter - although at the time it would have been margarine
- used to dip into the yolk of a boiled egg.
Tin of dried eggs from the USA. Photographed in
Bygones..
Dried eggs looked like custard powder. They came
from America in small thick cardboard boxes printed with the American
flag and covered in a waterproof wax coating for freshness. You put some in a bowl and added water or milk
and a pinch of salt, whisked it up and poured it into a frying pan. The result looked like a pancake.
To me it tasted wonderful.
Peter Johnson
There was also dried egg powder which came from America and could be used
in baking or for scrambled egg. An adult's ration was equivalent to three
extra eggs per week. Children were allowed twice as much. The dried eggs
came from the grocer we were registered with - in our case, Sainsburys.
Bread
Bread was not rationed during the war although it
was afterwards between 1946 and 1948 when shortages were even more
severe. Normally there was no white bread. Bread was called 'The
National Loaf' and was grey in colour, although it tasted just the same
as white bread.
Peter Johnson
My mother made me a complete slice of fried bread for breakfast every morning. That couldn't have been healthy,
but she thought it was because when she took me to the clinic as a baby,
the nurse had said, "Give her something to cut her teeth on, mother" - and my
mother carried on the practice. I didn't complain because I really liked the
fried bread. It was served by itself, possibly with my one rationed egg on
Sundays, and followed by an apple while they were in season. At Christmas and
Easter, we had bacon and fried mushrooms with the fried bread. I assume that the
mushrooms were picked from the wild, even though my mother would have bought them, as no
mushrooms today ever seem to have the same flavour. The bacon must have been in
the late 1940s when my father was back home, as I can't remember any meat during
the war.
Flour
Flour in bags was always available. This led to an
increase in home cooking. Cakes, pies, tarts, dumplings were all cooked
at home - using dried eggs in place of fresh eggs. I can't ever remember
having 'shop made' cakes or pies. Much of this grain for the flour came
from Canada at a great cost in human life for merchant seamen. If we
left anything on our plates, we were reminded of the men who had died in
getting it to us.
Spotted Dick was a regular dessert, either served with
custard or by itself. It was flour, lard and water, with some dried currents
or sultanas added if available. This was all mixed together and formed into
a long roll. It was then rolled up into a clean tea cloth and made secure
by tying it up with string. Then it was placed into a saucepan of water
and boiled till solid. If there was no dried fruit or sultanas available,
the spotted dick was made plain and served with a dollop of jam.
Peter Johnson
Custard
Custard powder always seemed to be available. It came
in a tin just marked 'Custard'. I suppose it was a way of preserving eggs.
So it was custard with everything - or nearly everything.
Peter Johnson
Drinks
Adults drank their tea, what tea there was, without
sugar, and frequently without milk.
Michael Sullivan
This website Join me in the 1900s is also known as
Join me in the 1900's and is © Pat Cryer.
The 1940s and 1950s are also written as the 1940's and 1950's.
