We'll eat again

Watched Giles Coren and Sue Perkins surviving on War Time Rations, with all the stuff you would expect from such a

programme.

Potato Pete, and jokes about snoek, and 'mock' foods of all kinds. Why did she have to look SO grubby all the time, though? Surely their soap wasn't rationed that much!

The doctors concluded at the end of the week that the pair of them were actually healthier - and that Brits ended the War as a generally fairly healthy nation [that's the ones who didn't lose their lives because of it, of course] The Wartime diet was low in fat and sugar, high in fibre, and generally Good For You. Perhaps, Bob said, WE should live on rations for a week?

This was perhaps not a wise comment, from the man who put this book in my Christmas stocking! It is a collection of all the government wartime food information pamphlets. I plan to try out some of these nourishing recipes over the next few days. It's also probably not wise of me to blog about it - we have some very generous church members here, and if they suspect I am not looking after the Pastor properly, they may turn up with clothing coupons and Woolton Pie for him on Sunday!

I think I would find it hard to manage on just the basic rations of the 1940's. So much of our regular everyday food wasn't dreamed of then - well, certainly not by 'ordinary' families. Yogurt, sweetcorn, red peppers, croissants, muesli - things I buy every month. 

When they refurbished and re-opened the Cabinet War Rooms a few years back, Marguerite Patten gave a lecture on Wartime Food. Liz and Steph arranged tickets and the three of us had a fabulous evening. MP was almost ninety then - but she stood for an hour and a half and gave a really entertaining lecture. Her book is also full of wonderful recipes.

My friend Marie commented that my lack of gardening ability might cause a problem regarding the supply of vegetables - but I think that I would just have to barter skills  [I will sew you a winter coat from your old blankets, and knit your socks, in exchange for onions and tomatoes from your garden...]

The key principles seem to be 'plan ahead, use what you have, and avoid any waste' - which is generally my kitchen strategy anyway. So tonight's meal involves individual ham and egg flans [using left over scraps from the ham joint we had at the weekend] boiled potatoes, and salad, followed by 'coffee creams' [made with coffee left over from breakfast] All the books extol the virtue of salad, and the extra vitamins which you gain by not cooking veg, but eating them raw.

According to my book, the rations [which did vary throughout the War] were approximately these [for one person for one week]

bacon/ham - 100g

meat - to the value of 1s 2d [6p!]

butter & cheese - 50g of each

margarine and cooking fat  - 100g of each

milk - 3 pints, plus one tin 'National Dried' per month

sugar - 225g

preserves - 450g every 2 months

eggs - 1 per week plus equiv 3 dried eggs

tea - 50g [those aged 70+ got an extra tea allowance!]

sweets - 90g per week

PLUS 16 food points - to exchange for 1 can meat/fish, or 900g dried fruit, or 3.6kg split peas/pulses etc

vegetables and fruit were not on ration - assuming you could find them in the shops [dig for victory, grow your own!]

This doesn't seem like very much food to me. I think I really do take the stuff in the fridge, freezer and cupboard for granted sometimes. The habit of saying 'Grace' before meals is a good one - it means I am constantly reminded of God's Grace in providing my daily bread - and my responsibility to be a good steward of the world's food resources.