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World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?

283 replies

StoatofDisarray · 19/11/2023 18:32

My partner has bet me I can't follow the UK world war 2 ration for November 1943 for a week.

I've just done the shopping for it and it seems like too much food. I can't work out what I'm doing wrong. Has anyone done this?

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StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 08:50

pickledandpuzzled · 23/11/2023 08:45

Oil in the eighties… Dad walking round bleeding radiators, turning them down, sucking his teeth…

The terrific banging and gurgling when they needed bleeding! I also remember in the winter when the (coal) fire was lit being able to sit in the bedroom reading with my back against the radiator (protected with a thick towel): bliss!

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pickledandpuzzled · 23/11/2023 09:08

Those were the days… 😂
Tripe, oxtail or sweetbreads for dinner.
Chilblains. Oh those chilblains.

RoseAndRose · 23/11/2023 09:11

FiL's family were all farmers so were well fed and had their dads around (none seemed to fight)

Yes farming was a reserved occupation, as food supply was a critical national issue. But farmers - as the pool of able bodied young men - were trained secretly as SOE operatives in case of invasion - something that was only made public comparatively recently

Britain’s secret resistance plans | The Past (the-past.com)

Supply of doctors was also considered a critical national interest, and everyone's career was taken over by the ministry - most young men were sent directly to the forces, but some were ordered to stay (know someone whose father was sent to London and worked in a hospital there in the Blitz) because it was important to national morale that there was proper treatment of casualties here and as good a service for everyone else as possible (GPs were largely those to old to be deployed to war, some back out of retirement, women, or those with injuries or a medical condition that ruled out military service)

Medicine supply by and large held up, but there could be interruptions, and so there was a great deal of stoicism and people tended to seek treatment only when they were really not coping

Women were not conscripted, but men were. So nearly all teachers were women (only the men unfit for other war occupations remained in schools). As the schooling of children was held to be in the national interest, so women teachers were not sent off to war industries, land work or nursing.

Britain’s secret resistance plans | The Past

The British authorities were preparing for a brutal underground war in the event of German invasion and occupation in 1940.

https://the-past.com/feature/britains-secret-resistance-plans/

BonjourCrisette · 23/11/2023 09:37

I actually really like both oxtail and sweetbreads. My brother and I counted sweetbreads among our favourite dinners in the 70s when we were children. My mum used to cook them with sherry and they were absolutely delicious. They're hard to find now but I buy oxtail regularly as it makes better stew than just about any other cut of meat.

StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 09:39

BonjourCrisette · 23/11/2023 09:37

I actually really like both oxtail and sweetbreads. My brother and I counted sweetbreads among our favourite dinners in the 70s when we were children. My mum used to cook them with sherry and they were absolutely delicious. They're hard to find now but I buy oxtail regularly as it makes better stew than just about any other cut of meat.

I love oxtail but I've never had sweetbreads (although I have eaten brains). How do you cook them?

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BonjourCrisette · 23/11/2023 09:53

They are a tiny bit fiddly! You have to blanch them briefly and then cool. Then you need to peel off all the membrane parts which is the fiddly bit. After that, just dredge in seasoned flour and fry (5 or so mins each side until golden brown). My mum's recipe then involves fried onions and a good slug of sweetish sherry which is bubbled up to glaze the sweetbreads with a thick, sticky, sweet and savoury sauce.

pickledandpuzzled · 23/11/2023 11:31

I like oxtail but refuse to pay the going rate for something that’s mainly bone!
Sweetbreads… no thank you. I find the sight of them soaking before peeling unpalatable!

Now tongue I can manage!

fruitpastille · 23/11/2023 14:00

Marcus Wareing did a sweetbreads skills test on Masterchef. He didn't blanch them but removed the sinew/ membrane and dredged in flour before frying. He made them look delicious! There was a sauce too though.

NotSoLittle · 23/11/2023 18:48

WhatWouldJeevesDo · 23/11/2023 06:10

I suppose if the gasworks ran out of coal the pressure would gradually go down.

According to the link I posted earlier the gas wasn't turned off completely ( as you said it would be dangerous), but the pressure was turned down so much that it sounds like it was just enough to keep the pilot light going. Electricity would be a power cut.
@StoatofDisarray Thanks for starting this thread - it's very interesting - I'm glad you're having the Snoek and not me :)

StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 19:29

Two things lifted my spirits tonight: pan fried cottage pie with cauliflower and the arrival of my dried egg!

But the stodgy carby food is really getting me down. Even though I’m walking about 7km a day I feel sluggish and heavy and my jeans are getting tighter. I miss good coffee, eggs and meat. I don’t have a sweet tooth so having to eat sugary things like the fruit crumble and rice pudding just to get through my rations is a bit of a slog, even though they’re quite nice.

Anyway, it’ll be scrambled fried eggs on toast for breakfast. I can’t wait!

World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?
World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?
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StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 19:30

StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 19:29

Two things lifted my spirits tonight: pan fried cottage pie with cauliflower and the arrival of my dried egg!

But the stodgy carby food is really getting me down. Even though I’m walking about 7km a day I feel sluggish and heavy and my jeans are getting tighter. I miss good coffee, eggs and meat. I don’t have a sweet tooth so having to eat sugary things like the fruit crumble and rice pudding just to get through my rations is a bit of a slog, even though they’re quite nice.

Anyway, it’ll be scrambled fried eggs on toast for breakfast. I can’t wait!

Scrambled DRIED eggs. Typo there!

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Itisyourturntowashthebath · 23/11/2023 19:40

FFS you need to store your sugar for preserving things. Th long slow slog is what gets you there.

We tried to live off the allotment for a year, Yes it can easily provide about a third of requirements, to go further leads to insanity.

StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 19:57

Itisyourturntowashthebath · 23/11/2023 19:40

FFS you need to store your sugar for preserving things. Th long slow slog is what gets you there.

We tried to live off the allotment for a year, Yes it can easily provide about a third of requirements, to go further leads to insanity.

I've only got a week!

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Itisyourturntowashthebath · 23/11/2023 21:13

StoatofDisarray · 23/11/2023 19:57

I've only got a week!

So swap three quarters of your sugar for a bit of chutney.

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 09:50

I'm starting the day right with dried eggs on toast. Weird stuff: when it's cooking it smells really odd, like wet paper: I was thinking, I'm never gonna get this down. But once it's on the toast with salt and pepper on it, it wasn't too bad, like really cheap hotel breakfast scrambled egg.

(realisation OMG maybe the cheap hotel breakfasts I've eaten with scrambled eggs like this were using dried egg!)

And it's filling! A mug of work coffee machine coffee and I'm set for the day.

World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?
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Girlontherailreplacementbusservice · 24/11/2023 11:53

My granny was bemoaning the lack of powdered egg until her death in the mid 90s. She was obviously a big fan. Mind you are culinary skills were, ermmmm interesting.

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 12:29

Girlontherailreplacementbusservice · 24/11/2023 11:53

My granny was bemoaning the lack of powdered egg until her death in the mid 90s. She was obviously a big fan. Mind you are culinary skills were, ermmmm interesting.

lol! Care to share some examples?

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faffadoodledo · 24/11/2023 12:34

I think questionable culinary skills were common among that generation. My granny's favourite treat to feed us after school was lettuce scattered with vinegar and loaded with Demerara sugar. It was surprisingly delicious actually. But she would have struggled to knock together a basic cake.

And my dear mum (wartime baby) was quite proud of the fact she couldn't cook. Her favourite was an all purpose veg soup with no herbs or spices - just whatever she had in and chopped up. We called in Pondlife Soup because it would lurk in the fridge for days, getting ever more murky.

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 13:21

faffadoodledo · 24/11/2023 12:34

I think questionable culinary skills were common among that generation. My granny's favourite treat to feed us after school was lettuce scattered with vinegar and loaded with Demerara sugar. It was surprisingly delicious actually. But she would have struggled to knock together a basic cake.

And my dear mum (wartime baby) was quite proud of the fact she couldn't cook. Her favourite was an all purpose veg soup with no herbs or spices - just whatever she had in and chopped up. We called in Pondlife Soup because it would lurk in the fridge for days, getting ever more murky.

Blimey! I can't even begin to imagine what that lettuce thing tastes like.

My grandma and my mother were equally (un)skilled cooks. My mum's speciality was the cheapest tomato soup available with ice cream scoops of mashed potato floating in It.

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faffadoodledo · 24/11/2023 13:55

@StoatofDisarray we regarded it as a treat! And it was rather nice!

It makes me laugh when I hear politicians and other public figures banging on about cookery lessons in schools. And how the good old days were better. My mum and granny would have had them and were rubbish! And I learned nothing in own 1970s/80s lessons. Although can, I think cook quite well due to my own efforts.

EBearhug · 24/11/2023 15:58

Lettuce with vinegar and sugar is nice, as I remember. Haven't had it for years though.

Girlontherailreplacementbusservice · 24/11/2023 16:33

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 12:29

lol! Care to share some examples?

Salad was everything chopped so finely it was grey mush, vegetables were boiled for hours, sponge cakes were so dense matter was sucked into them like a black hole. She was just a terrible cook bless her.

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 17:05

I skipped lunch because I knew the fish and chips was going to be a heavy one. Scored a portion at the local chippy (established 1939) for £12.30 and pretty much inhaled the fish and a few chips. The batter was greasy but crispy and the fish was fresh but it’s not sitting well. I haven’t had a fish and chip supper since before Covid for a reason.

I dunno. This week has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. More labour intensive for a start: I work and I live alone, but unlike people like me on the ration in central London in 1943, I don’t have access to British restaurants for an (unrationed) evening meal so all I have to eat is the batch cooked rationed food that I managed to buy at the market on Sunday(see https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/history/british-restaurants). Meals are repetitious and lacking in protein and flavour. Most wartime ration recipes are designed to feed a family and cater to the palates of people of that era.

I’m grumpy and stuffed full of food I didn’t enjoy eating.

There are positives though. I’m excited by the thought of cooking something as simple as a bean soup or a rich casserole. I’m positively drooling at the thought of real eggs on toast. Hmm. That in itself is interesting.

Tomorrow, snoek!

World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?
World War 2 Rationing Challenge: too much food?
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BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 24/11/2023 18:37

@StoatofDisarray your egg calculation is off. You got 12 dried eggs per month, not per week.

StoatofDisarray · 24/11/2023 18:39

BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn · 24/11/2023 18:37

@StoatofDisarray your egg calculation is off. You got 12 dried eggs per month, not per week.

Yes, you're right. I realised that and adjusted my meal plan accordingly. I had my three dried eggs this morning :-)

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