Wartime recipes, substitutions and other related austerity hints

VintageLady

Something I like about the wartime recipes is hoe they used potato as a substitute for pretty much everything. Just watching Wartime Farm and Ruth was making a tray bake which was essentially two different types of potato and jam ��

My favourite are the pastry recipes as potatoes were used to eek out the fat ration (which also makes it nice and cheap too!) And there's nothing so old school as a suet crust pudding.

Mix together 4oz plain flour, a pinch of salt and 2 tsp baking powder. Add in 1oz suet, 1oz grated raw potato and enough water to mix to a stiff dough. Roll out to line your basin, pop in filling (I like leek or fruit), moisten edge with water and pop on the pastry lid. Cover and steam for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

You could also add extra water or milk to make it to a dropping consistency and steam as a sponge pudding (though this I have never tried).

This makes a very nice, light suet crust and you can't tell that there's potato in there.

I hope you all enjoy.

PipneyJane

VintageLady wrote: »

PipneyJane - sorry for late reply. I have very limited access to Internet since I moved house. I do use those reprinted patterns, I buy them online or from the pattern books in a local hardware shop.
Thank you for the link to the knitting patterns. I do knit but have been using my wartime knitting books so far.
The gingerbread is very sturdy. I don't think there's a way round that. And actually we quite like it. It's very filling.

I hope you are very happy in your new home.

The gingerbread had a lovely flavour. Is it less tough after a couple of days? (It didn’t last long enough in our house to find out.). I’m wondering whether adding a little oil or, maybe, an egg would soften it up.

- Pip

VintageLady

PipneyJane - thank you, we love it.
I'm afraid ours didn't last long enough either. Though I should think egg would lighten it up as they used to use egg to make cakes rise before raising agents.

monnagran

Vintage lady, I ran a forties evening at a church a few years ago. I typed out lots of wartime recipes and everyone had to choose one, make it and bring it along. It was our food for the evening.

It was great fun and an eye opener to a lot of people.

I made my famous mashed potato pastry bakell tart. Ground almonds replaced by semolina and almond favouring, a la my mum's recipe. Someone said it was the best Bakewell tart she had tasted. I think that was a bit of an exaggeration. No. It was a lot of exaggeration, but people were surprised at how inventive housewives were then.

VintageLady

Monnagran - that's a great idea for catering! I would love the full recipe for that bakewell if you have it.

Primrose

Reverting back to the original purpose of this thread I,ve been realising that Imported lemons and lemon juice were almost impossible to obtain during the war and immediate post war period and wondering what could be used to substitute them.

I have a vigorous sorrel plant in my garden. Its leaves have a lemon-like background flavour and I was wondering, as an experiment how they could be used to provide a citrus like flavour?

If simmered they just go brown and mushy.. Could the leaves be dried and crumbled in some way. Has anybody ever use this plant for flavouring in any way?

Incidentally I'm currently reading "Voices from the Home Front" by Felicity Goodall which is compilation of many wartime diaries and narratives with odd bits about food, recipes and the difficulties of rationing thrown in.

[Deleted User]

I'm pretty sure that sweet things were flavoured with essences, certainly lemon essence was used in making lemonade syrup/squash, not made from fresh fruit either but a synthetic flavouring. I don't know how successful it would be in savoury dishes but I guess in times of rationing and general shortages anything would have been given a try. I have a recipe from WW2 for cheese moulds actually set with unsweetened custard powder so perhaps people experimented to see what would and wouldn't work with the things they had in the cupboard.

monnagran

Vintage lady. Sorry, I have just caught up with this thread. I will certainly post the recipe for Bakewell Tart, but it will have to wait until all my possessions are released from storage. I'm in the middle of moving.
If I should forget, please give me a reminder after Christmas.

VintageLady

Monnagran - not to worry. Having just moved myself I understand!

Wednesday2000

I was watching a YouTube video earlier where the woman (from the US) was discussing an article she had read about house dresses.

I remember when I was a young child that my grandmothers both had specific dresses that they would wear inside the house but would never wear outside. I had forgotten about that!:)

https://dustyoldthing.com/house-dress-history/