Book on World War Rationing ?

sophiesmum_2

The Ration Book Diet was pretty interesting to read for the background info about the time period, but I was a little disappointed at the recipes.

The marguerite Patten books are great.

sophiesmum

thriftlady_2

I bought this book at Waterstone's last week, it's a facsimile of a real wartime recipe book.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Eating-Suggestions-Wartime-Telegraph/dp/0230014348/sr=1-1/qid=1168240564/ref=sr_1_1/202-4560088-2422211?ie=UTF8&s=books

Some really tasty sounding recipes like baked rabbit and jugged steak, along with some less appetising ones like curried tripe and chocolate truffles made out of mashed potato and cocoa.

rosy

THIRZAH wrote:

Another excellent book which may not be in print is Nella Last's War - a true diary of a housewife in Barrow in Furness during the war. She describes the meals she makes, her work on a hospital committee, in a Red Cross shop and in a canteen.My copy was published by Falling Wall Press in 1981.

Victoria Wood did a drama on TV over the Christmas period based on the diaries of this lady - I really enjoyed it! It's available on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nella-Lasts-War-Diaries-Housewife/dp/184668000X/sr=11-1/qid=1168263183/ref=sr_11_1/026-5196395-7498814

I also saw the Marguerite Patten books on a visit to the Imperial war museum, wish I'd bought them. Also can be had on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_b/026-5196395-7498814?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Marguerite+Patten+&Go.x=9&Go.y=14

thriftlady_2

I got Nella Last's War for Christmas. It is a great read, thoroughly recommend it. The telly drama was good too.

carbonel

Or..............how about asking the people who were there?
Check out WI, Mothers Union and similar groups in your area, lots of members who are older, or who have Mums who remember.
Or...........be really good and take yourself off to a local Residential Home and ask the ladies and gents living there. They will LOVE it, and you will learn sooooooooo much.:A

filigree_2

carbonel wrote:

Or..............how about asking the people who were there?
Check out WI, Mothers Union and similar groups in your area, lots of members who are older, or who have Mums who remember.
Or...........be really good and take yourself off to a local Residential Home and ask the ladies and gents living there. They will LOVE it, and you will learn sooooooooo much.:A

My gran was different, she said she'd lived through two world wars and didn't think they were entertaining. She never watched war films and I think she would have been appalled if I told her I collect this sort of book as a hobby The only tales she ever told me were awful.

Trust my gran to be awkward :rolleyes:

Queenie

Aww, filigree, such a shame your gran felt that way.

My parents would see the funny side in many of the things which happened during the war/s. That's not to say they "enjoyed" the experience or would wish it on anyone else - on the contrary! - but by seeing the humour in things most definately kept them sane.

Clearly, there were definately certain aspects were there was no humour to be found and it would have been deemed disgraceful and shameful to even attempt it; yes, there were many times when things were so very hard they could have wept (and probably did!), but overall, keeping a sense of humour kept many going.

THIRZAH

One of my Dds had to do a project on "Life in World War 2" once and I remember asking my mother for her memories.

She said that rationing wasn't too much of a problem for them- my Grandfather was a farmer-they kept pigs and chickens and grew all their own veg and fruit. Apparently agricultural workers got some kind of extra ration each week too-often cheese and I think a bit of battering went on too.


She could remember having to give up sugar in tea so it could be saved for jam and going picking rose-hips with the school.

My great grandmother used to unravel old jumpers and knit them up into socks. Mum could remember my grandmother making her a coat out of an old one.A family friend once told me that all the girls in the village were jealous of my mother as my grandmother was so skilled at sewing and knitting and Mum always had lovely clothes.

The one thing that did really stick in her memory was that every time they had a pig killed she had to carry the innards in a bucket around to her grandmother's house.

groatie_queen

The recipes are American, there are some great ones.... I was looking for a recipe my Mum used to make (still looking! Corned Beef Pie, made with corned beef, tomatoes,a white sauce, grated onions and hard boiled eggs, in a pie crust, baked in the oven, served cold for picnics - sound familiar to anyone?), and found this ebook in the Project Gutenberg archives

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15464/15464.txt

Title: Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them (1918)
Author: C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss
Release Date: March 25, 2005 [EBook #15464]


The entire book is online as a text document for scrolling through.

I'll be going back for a more detailed read, but it's a (to me) fascinating glimpse into the American domestic war efforts of early 20th C. I also like the way the book's divided into wheatless, meatless, low sugar etc. - very OS and may help peeps with dietary restrictions.

PS the corned beef in my Mum's pie was cubed, and she also put a layer on tomatoe ketchup on top of the filling before she put the pastry lid on. I'm fairly confident I can make it from memory. She's no longer here for me to ask, but it started as a wartime recipe originally and I think she tweaked it when rationing stopped.

amyandoli

english heritage have a couple of great thin a4 books on rationing (history, what they received, recipes, further info links), also one about times of change in the kitchen which has more cheap recipes in. i also have a couple of their a5 books on 18th and 16th century food with recipes-some nice things actually, and really interesting!