British Ration Week Episode 1: Introduction
Run time (10:39)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5993lPFEwaE
Run time (10:39)
VIDEO British Civilian Rationing Program of the Second World War - In Range TV
British Ration Week Episode 2: Food for the Week
Run time (10:29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnjVXXuTavs
Run time (10:29)
British Ration Week Episode 3: Creative Cooking
Run time (7:48)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kqcfzWy3E0
Run time (7:48)
Thanks, Housecarl...I love history like this - and who knows...this could be our future!
We had rationing here too.
Yes we had rationing in the US during the Second World War, but not to the degree seen in the UK.
I have a number of wartime cookbooks, and when I read them I think, you could eat pretty well on this, BUT.... What I did not get until recently was, stuff was just not available. There was practically nothing in the shops. You could queue, for your meat, your groceries, your veg, etc, all at different shops. No supermarkets, and still come home with only half of what you needed, even if you went for your 5th substitute option.Nowadays, most of us go, I haven't got that, I will substitute something else, but in WW2, you could not get substitute, 1, or 2, or 3 or 4, and so on.
There was only a thin selection of goods in the shops, thinly spread between, the first 10 customers to arrive. After that tough luck. OK I have only watched the first episode, but this man makes it sound like you turned up to the shops, and bought what was on your list. Even if there was meat available, obviously he has never heard of wartime chops. Meat was sold by weight, so chops were all bone, and no meat. And things like Lamb's tails were sold. As the war continued, meat, along with everything else, became scarcer, and scarcer. Some weeks, you turned up and there was nothing. You simply did not get your ration for that week. Tough luck. And rations decreased as the war went on.
And off ration stuff was frequently out of stock. We are talking veg, fish, rabbits, flour, oats, etc. Yes they wanted you to eat potatoes, but you might get a few pounds a week per family. Lots of recipes were based on oats, Filling and nutritious, and you might get a couple of pounds a month for a family. If oats are your main food, for a family of 4-6 people, how far would 2lbs of oats go? Yes bread was unrationed, but try, and buy more than one loaf per family per day! You would be out of luck.
So yes, if you could get supplies, you ate well. But in WW2, in Britain, most stuff was unavailable, even the basics. Rations, got smaller and smaller, and you were lucky to get those too. Petrol disappeared completely for about 18 months.
This makes it sound like people ate well, but in truth, most went hungry.
I will watch the rest, but this person needs to understand, how little food the Britain had.
WestGardener
Senior Member
Wow, thank you for posting this. I plan to watch the rest of the videos.
The other 2 aren't as bad. First one drove me nuts. I kept pausing it thinking the music was coming from my kids room or elsewhere in the house.
jward
passin' thru
Lots of interesting information and points made in your post. Certainly underscores why we prep eh.
Thanks for sharing!
In several WW2 British movies I've watched, you would have at the least been shamed and maybe arrested for hoarding if you had food put away.
There was always the black market though if you weren't the type to go along with govt orders.
A person should have plenty of whiskey and cigs put aside to trade along with alongside other necessities to avoid going without.
There was always the black market though if you weren't the type to go along with govt orders.
A person should have plenty of whiskey and cigs put aside to trade along with alongside other necessities to avoid going without.
catskinner
Veteran Member
I'm a huge fan of Carolyn Ekins over at the1940sexperiment.com. I've been following her for a few years now.
While I enjoyed the videos, I'm not sure how much research he did into it. Some of what he said was way off base. I consider myself a student of history and I particularly focus on the WWII era. He allotted himself 1 onion a week. Really? Onions were all but unheard of and were often raffled off they were so rare. I'm not going to pick him apart. Like I said I did enjoy the videos...except for the music. I just think he should have put in a little more time in on research.
I will say that if you are interested in that time period, you should check out Carolyn's blog. Lots of information there.
While I enjoyed the videos, I'm not sure how much research he did into it. Some of what he said was way off base. I consider myself a student of history and I particularly focus on the WWII era. He allotted himself 1 onion a week. Really? Onions were all but unheard of and were often raffled off they were so rare. I'm not going to pick him apart. Like I said I did enjoy the videos...except for the music. I just think he should have put in a little more time in on research.
I will say that if you are interested in that time period, you should check out Carolyn's blog. Lots of information there.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
What other's said, I haven't watched it yet; but I have also made a study of old cookbooks and information (along with watching WWII house) etc on both sides ot the Atlantic, as well as questioning my MIL who grew up on a farm during the War (in the US).
Along with the "Nothing is for sale" problem in the UK (and to some degree in the US) there is also a bit of "revisionist" history when it comes to how "healthy" people were in the UK (where rationing went on for 10 years after the war); they may have been healthiern thab those today who binge on junk food and processed garbage but the sheer number of "Jam sandwiches" that were considered a "healthy lunch" for children suggests that people were being kept alive often with carbs and sugar hidden in perserved fruit.
Sugar was hard to get but was used as a preservative, my MIL said their farm got a "ration" of a 50 pound bag of sugar from the government because they were "putting up food" in the UK similar things were done but a lot of the "jelly" and "Jam" went to the troops; which is why it had to be 50 percent sugar (or why Brits and Irish now like there jam super-sweet) that came directly from the elderly lady cook that in her youth during the war had to go around and teach local UK housewives how to make it with 50 percent sugar so it wouldn't spoil without modern canning methods.
Basically, you are making candy; and in a world mostly without candy (there's a cake recipe in one of my WWI books using sodium saccharin as a sweetener because sugar was so expensive or used for the war effort) I'm sure the jam on whole wheat bread stretched out with sawdust was a lovely treat, but healthy as a staple for kids it was not.
Anyway, I'll try to take a look at this later, but it sounds like he was wildly optimistic about what people actually had to cook with.
Along with the "Nothing is for sale" problem in the UK (and to some degree in the US) there is also a bit of "revisionist" history when it comes to how "healthy" people were in the UK (where rationing went on for 10 years after the war); they may have been healthiern thab those today who binge on junk food and processed garbage but the sheer number of "Jam sandwiches" that were considered a "healthy lunch" for children suggests that people were being kept alive often with carbs and sugar hidden in perserved fruit.
Sugar was hard to get but was used as a preservative, my MIL said their farm got a "ration" of a 50 pound bag of sugar from the government because they were "putting up food" in the UK similar things were done but a lot of the "jelly" and "Jam" went to the troops; which is why it had to be 50 percent sugar (or why Brits and Irish now like there jam super-sweet) that came directly from the elderly lady cook that in her youth during the war had to go around and teach local UK housewives how to make it with 50 percent sugar so it wouldn't spoil without modern canning methods.
Basically, you are making candy; and in a world mostly without candy (there's a cake recipe in one of my WWI books using sodium saccharin as a sweetener because sugar was so expensive or used for the war effort) I'm sure the jam on whole wheat bread stretched out with sawdust was a lovely treat, but healthy as a staple for kids it was not.
Anyway, I'll try to take a look at this later, but it sounds like he was wildly optimistic about what people actually had to cook with.
There are several really good re-creations of WWII lifestyles..........just search YouTube and find 'em......there's a good multi-program one which shows what they ate and how it was prepared...it was tough for avg. housekeeper but rural folks made out much better.........they could hunt, fish and forage...now it's forbidden in many areas like it was in feudal days.......sheesh........
IMO WWII England was a massive scale eugenics experiment..........
IMO WWII England was a massive scale eugenics experiment..........
British Ration Week Episode 4: The National Loaf
Run time (4:31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_3PZw7756Q
ETA: The guys over there at InRangeTV have also been "testing" foreign military combat rations (Finnish and Russian) as well as Native American cooking and WW2 era German Fanta soda...makes me wonder which idea for videos came first....
Run time (4:31)
ETA: The guys over there at InRangeTV have also been "testing" foreign military combat rations (Finnish and Russian) as well as Native American cooking and WW2 era German Fanta soda...makes me wonder which idea for videos came first....
Anyone who thinks the wartime loaf was anything like even a low quality wholemeal loaf of today, clearly has not studied history. For starters food was so precious, it could not be wasted, so the loaf had about 5 times the amount of salt we have in bread today, to stop it going mouldy. And some health experts think bread baked today, has too much salt in it, and should be reduced! Also it often had other stuff in it, to "stretch" the wheat floor. Nothing that was going to cause you harm (probably), but certainly some unpalatable stuff.
It wasn't nicknamed, not so affectionately, as "Hitler's Secret Weapon", for nothing.
Anrol
PS And during the war, who made up Cheese sandwiches? A person only got two ounces of cheese per week. It was used to make veg, oats and pulses, etc, more interesting. It would not be squandered in a sandwich. And Tomatoes were difficult to obtain, not as rare onions, but hard to come by. They were used in main meals to add flavour, preserved for winter. Again few would make a tomato sandwich. What an extravagance!
I have not watched the video, but if his lunchtime sandwich was *ONE* slice of bread, cut in half, covered with grated carrot, and folded up, I would believe him. No, I mean absolutely no, butter or marg. It was far too precious. It was used for puddings, baked goodies(rare), or "pastry". I use the term "pastry" in the loosest possible sense. "Pastry" was one part fat, one part flour, and 3 parts potato, and most people upped the potato content.
I was thinking of watching more videos, but this guy is has made so many basic errors about what food was like in WW2, I would go as far to call him an idiot. How can I learn anything from someone who cannot get the basics right.
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Fair use.
These are links to an 8 part BBC series "The Wartime Farm". I loved it. - OGM
Wartime Farm
TheFarmvids
Published on Jan 3, 2013
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn face up to the challenges of the biggest revolution ever seen in the history of the British countryside as they turn Manor Farm back to how it was run in the Second World War. When Britain entered the war, two-thirds of all Britain's food was imported - and now it was under threat from a Nazi blockade. To save Britain from starvation, the nation's farmers were tasked with doubling food production in what Churchill called 'the frontline of freedom'. This meant ploughing up 6.5 million acres of unused land - a combined area bigger than the whole of Wales.
In this first episode, the farmers find themselves in a new location, a new time period and with a new team member. There is a new farmhouse to modernise, strict new rules to abide by and air raid precautions to contend with.
The team begin by reclaiming badlands to grow new crops. Peter works with a blacksmith to design a special 'mole plough' to help drain the waterlogged clay fields. Ruth and Alex get to grips with a troublesome wartime tractor - and must plough through the night to get the wheat crop sown in time.
On top of farmers' herculean efforts to double food production, their detailed knowledge of the landscape also made them ideal recruits for one of the war's most secret organisations - the 'Auxiliary Units', a British resistance force trained to use guerrilla tactics against German invasion.
Wartime Farm was produced by the BBC in partnership with The Open University.
Link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsU5s0ofYo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2atkQAiQbFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxztuX3fGVM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnkSPB-9BmQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33DJk4-sMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyGdRw6vK8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBR4ejMbnHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwBD9gRZLTE
These are links to an 8 part BBC series "The Wartime Farm". I loved it. - OGM
Wartime Farm
TheFarmvids
Published on Jan 3, 2013
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn face up to the challenges of the biggest revolution ever seen in the history of the British countryside as they turn Manor Farm back to how it was run in the Second World War. When Britain entered the war, two-thirds of all Britain's food was imported - and now it was under threat from a Nazi blockade. To save Britain from starvation, the nation's farmers were tasked with doubling food production in what Churchill called 'the frontline of freedom'. This meant ploughing up 6.5 million acres of unused land - a combined area bigger than the whole of Wales.
In this first episode, the farmers find themselves in a new location, a new time period and with a new team member. There is a new farmhouse to modernise, strict new rules to abide by and air raid precautions to contend with.
The team begin by reclaiming badlands to grow new crops. Peter works with a blacksmith to design a special 'mole plough' to help drain the waterlogged clay fields. Ruth and Alex get to grips with a troublesome wartime tractor - and must plough through the night to get the wheat crop sown in time.
On top of farmers' herculean efforts to double food production, their detailed knowledge of the landscape also made them ideal recruits for one of the war's most secret organisations - the 'Auxiliary Units', a British resistance force trained to use guerrilla tactics against German invasion.
Wartime Farm was produced by the BBC in partnership with The Open University.
Link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUsU5s0ofYo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2atkQAiQbFg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxztuX3fGVM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnkSPB-9BmQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33DJk4-sMw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyGdRw6vK8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBR4ejMbnHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwBD9gRZLTE
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Fair use.
Wartime Farm Christmas Special
TheFarmvids
Published on May 4, 2016
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologist Peter Ginn are returning to Manor Farm in Hampshire to recreate the conditions of Christmas 1944.
1944 saw the sixth Christmas at war, and shortages were biting deeper than ever. Added to this, Britain's cities were in the grip of the worst German attacks since the Blitz of 1940. Unmanned flying bombs - the dreaded V1 'Doodlebugs' and V2 rockets - rained down, stretching morale and services to breaking point.
Having been set the target of doubling home-grown food production by the government, Britain's farmers had already ploughed up six and a half million additional acres in the drive for additional crops (an area equivalent in size to the whole of Wales). Now, in addition to maintaining food production, it fell to Britain's farmers to come to the aid of the nation's urban dispossessed in their hour of need. Many rural women joined the one million-strong Women's Voluntary Service to provide food, drink and gifts to lift the spirits - especially at Christmas. Ruth finds out how the WVS operated the government's National Pie Scheme.
Beer was seen as so essential to the nation's morale that it was never rationed - but a vital ingredient, barley, was in short supply, so substitutes were needed. Peter calls upon rural crafts expert, Colin Richards, to brew some improvised potato beer for Christmas. Meanwhile, Ruth comes up with innovative presents for children, and ingenious festive decorations made from scraps.
After enjoying a Christmas church service for the community at Manor Farm, including German prisoners-of-war who, along with Italian POWs, accounted for one in five of the farming labour force in Britain by Christmas 1944, and had become surprisingly well-integrated into some rural communities. Following in the footsteps of many wartime rural farmers, Peter and Ruth transport their gifts, food and beer on a vintage wartime steam train to Chislehurst Caves - 10 miles outside London - where they discover what Christmas was like for some of the 15,000 people who sheltered in the caves.
Following recipes and guidelines issued by the government and the WVS, Ruth cooks an improvised Christmas meal, relying chiefly on rabbit and a glut of carrots from the farm. And the Salvation Army bring musical cheer to the occasion as the team reflect on the impact of what was to be the last Christmas of the Second World War
link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR74VHAFhl8
Wartime Farm Christmas Special
TheFarmvids
Published on May 4, 2016
Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologist Peter Ginn are returning to Manor Farm in Hampshire to recreate the conditions of Christmas 1944.
1944 saw the sixth Christmas at war, and shortages were biting deeper than ever. Added to this, Britain's cities were in the grip of the worst German attacks since the Blitz of 1940. Unmanned flying bombs - the dreaded V1 'Doodlebugs' and V2 rockets - rained down, stretching morale and services to breaking point.
Having been set the target of doubling home-grown food production by the government, Britain's farmers had already ploughed up six and a half million additional acres in the drive for additional crops (an area equivalent in size to the whole of Wales). Now, in addition to maintaining food production, it fell to Britain's farmers to come to the aid of the nation's urban dispossessed in their hour of need. Many rural women joined the one million-strong Women's Voluntary Service to provide food, drink and gifts to lift the spirits - especially at Christmas. Ruth finds out how the WVS operated the government's National Pie Scheme.
Beer was seen as so essential to the nation's morale that it was never rationed - but a vital ingredient, barley, was in short supply, so substitutes were needed. Peter calls upon rural crafts expert, Colin Richards, to brew some improvised potato beer for Christmas. Meanwhile, Ruth comes up with innovative presents for children, and ingenious festive decorations made from scraps.
After enjoying a Christmas church service for the community at Manor Farm, including German prisoners-of-war who, along with Italian POWs, accounted for one in five of the farming labour force in Britain by Christmas 1944, and had become surprisingly well-integrated into some rural communities. Following in the footsteps of many wartime rural farmers, Peter and Ruth transport their gifts, food and beer on a vintage wartime steam train to Chislehurst Caves - 10 miles outside London - where they discover what Christmas was like for some of the 15,000 people who sheltered in the caves.
Following recipes and guidelines issued by the government and the WVS, Ruth cooks an improvised Christmas meal, relying chiefly on rabbit and a glut of carrots from the farm. And the Salvation Army bring musical cheer to the occasion as the team reflect on the impact of what was to be the last Christmas of the Second World War
link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR74VHAFhl8
I love all the "Farm" series. We have watched all of them and they are very well done.
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Those wartime Brits could teach a thing or two or three to just about anyone who is starting to prep. They are a national treasure.
Have you seen the others? Tales from the green valley, Edwardian Farm, Victorian Farm and Tudor Monastary Farm.
and he also speaks low at certain points, leaving the word he used... gone
Very interesting post.
I watched the series Foyle's war and (while not the focus) the food rationing was a minor thread (occasionally) through out.
And they didn't put up with anybody who got caught breaking the rules.
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British Ration Week Episode 5: Woolton Pie
Run time (10:13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-6aZD-VpDE
Run time (10:13)
Melodi
Disaster Cat
One thing all those "Brits were healthier under rationing" articles that crop up in the UK press every time the government wants to play Nanny State forget to mention is that by dragging things out for ten years after the war (on various pretexts) the created a boomerang effect in the generation of children who endured it.
For many, as soon as the restrictions were lifted they dug into the new over-processed, over-sugared, overly-sweet "junk-foods" of the middle 1950's and going on into the 1960's.
Home cooking started to go the way of the Do-Do bird within a few years, people wanted the "New and Easy" foods and associated "Home Cooking" with endless (and boring dishes) made with carrots, potatoes, and bread composed partly of sawdust (The National Loaf).
"Foods" like canned or tinned as they say over here, "rice pudding" and chocolate snack bars became the rage; a whole generation grew up without even knowing how to cook "proper food" (again as they say over here).
All the food they had seen their Mom's cook (or learned to cook themselves) had been the endless messes made of substitutions and scarcity; it is no surprise that as older teens and young adults, they were delighted with the new "tins" of pre-made beef stew - "hey, look it has meat in it and you don't have to mess with making it!," tinned "meat pies" tinned soups, etc, etc...
You can't really blame people, but if you look at the favorite foods or comfort foods of many folks in the UK over 50; you will find tons of this stuff, yes they still often know how to bake a birthday cake or make a "roast dinner" those also became popular after rationing was dropped; but they tend to be "special eating."
Those even younger, well they eat fast and processed food like Americans; not much difference there.
But my point is that how much of that "healthy" created by rationing also created a backlash when people deprived for so long just ate, and ate and ate as much sugar, fat and meat as they could get; and I don't blame them.
The fact that processed/convenience foods came in at the same time, made that a bigger problem for over-all health than it probably would have been otherwise.
For many, as soon as the restrictions were lifted they dug into the new over-processed, over-sugared, overly-sweet "junk-foods" of the middle 1950's and going on into the 1960's.
Home cooking started to go the way of the Do-Do bird within a few years, people wanted the "New and Easy" foods and associated "Home Cooking" with endless (and boring dishes) made with carrots, potatoes, and bread composed partly of sawdust (The National Loaf).
"Foods" like canned or tinned as they say over here, "rice pudding" and chocolate snack bars became the rage; a whole generation grew up without even knowing how to cook "proper food" (again as they say over here).
All the food they had seen their Mom's cook (or learned to cook themselves) had been the endless messes made of substitutions and scarcity; it is no surprise that as older teens and young adults, they were delighted with the new "tins" of pre-made beef stew - "hey, look it has meat in it and you don't have to mess with making it!," tinned "meat pies" tinned soups, etc, etc...
You can't really blame people, but if you look at the favorite foods or comfort foods of many folks in the UK over 50; you will find tons of this stuff, yes they still often know how to bake a birthday cake or make a "roast dinner" those also became popular after rationing was dropped; but they tend to be "special eating."
Those even younger, well they eat fast and processed food like Americans; not much difference there.
But my point is that how much of that "healthy" created by rationing also created a backlash when people deprived for so long just ate, and ate and ate as much sugar, fat and meat as they could get; and I don't blame them.
The fact that processed/convenience foods came in at the same time, made that a bigger problem for over-all health than it probably would have been otherwise.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Oh, another legacy of UK War rationing is in the baked beans seen until recently as a vital part of breakfast (and some other meals) and one of the first popular products that people bought in "tins" even before the war.
Before the War, like the US version, it had salt pork or bacon in it; during the war, the canned beans became vegetarian and have stayed that way ever since.
Today in Ireland or the UK you can pay EXTRA (like nearly twice as much) for beans with bacon/salt pork in them, otherwise, the standard is the WWII vegetarian version; today most adults here think the Americans are "weird" for putting meat in their baked beans, not realizing that used to be "the way" it was done.
Before the War, like the US version, it had salt pork or bacon in it; during the war, the canned beans became vegetarian and have stayed that way ever since.
Today in Ireland or the UK you can pay EXTRA (like nearly twice as much) for beans with bacon/salt pork in them, otherwise, the standard is the WWII vegetarian version; today most adults here think the Americans are "weird" for putting meat in their baked beans, not realizing that used to be "the way" it was done.
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
Fair use.
Here is another BBC series Coal Wartime house. Modern era families attempt to live in the manor of WW II families, facing similar technology, clothes, jobs and issues. Not all episodes are available on Youtube. Run times are about 27 minuets.
Coal House at War
episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkJv1HgA-0A&t=41s
episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwJNHLTzDfo&t=8s
episode 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whr_zM6CAxM
This is a separate documentary. The title describes the video. It also includes information on how food was preserved. (Sulfured apple rings) - OGM
Fair use.
The Wartime Kitchen & Garden
traceynorthernstar
Published on Oct 24, 2011
I DO NOT OWN THIS CONTENT! This footage was sent to me by the CREATOR on a disc and this is the most I can't get off the disc as I do not have the correct software. I have uploaded this for fans to view & enjoy as this programme is not purchasable or viewable anywhere now to date.
The first 2 episodes (in one) of The Wartime Kitchen & Garden
Link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EeIQcWex5w
run time 55:27
Yes. Very well done.
Here is another BBC series Coal Wartime house. Modern era families attempt to live in the manor of WW II families, facing similar technology, clothes, jobs and issues. Not all episodes are available on Youtube. Run times are about 27 minuets.
Coal House at War
episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkJv1HgA-0A&t=41s
episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwJNHLTzDfo&t=8s
episode 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whr_zM6CAxM
This is a separate documentary. The title describes the video. It also includes information on how food was preserved. (Sulfured apple rings) - OGM
Fair use.
The Wartime Kitchen & Garden
traceynorthernstar
Published on Oct 24, 2011
I DO NOT OWN THIS CONTENT! This footage was sent to me by the CREATOR on a disc and this is the most I can't get off the disc as I do not have the correct software. I have uploaded this for fans to view & enjoy as this programme is not purchasable or viewable anywhere now to date.
The first 2 episodes (in one) of The Wartime Kitchen & Garden
Link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EeIQcWex5w
run time 55:27
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What you also have to remember is that before the war, there were the Haves and the Have-nots. Before the war the Haves, had food, and ate meat - for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A meal was not a meal without meat. They had extravagant puddings based on cream and sugar. The Have-nots, did not enough to eat, and ate what they could, when they could.
In some senses everyone's diets improved, The Have-nots had enough to eat, and they were given access to meat, eggs, and cheese, something they rarely ate before. The Haves, stopped eating meat, cream and sugar all the time, and started eating more vegetables, and whole foods. But Food was boring.
Practically no one had used herbs before the war, to make vegetables, or grains and pulses interesting. And spices were pretty well unavailable in the war, and would have been expensive, even before the 100% tax that was placed on luxury ( non essential) goods. Food was tasteless. People used what little that could to make it more interesting, meat, cheese, tomatoes, and those goods were in short supply. Not sure salt and pepper were freely available either.
These foods must have been seen as the most delicious thing most people had ever tasted. To us they seem, junk, but to the people of the 50's and 60's, most of whom had been eating a diet of boiled veg, or boiled grains and pulses, these foods must have seemed like manna.
When rationing ended stuff did not magically appear in shops. In the first video, the man talked about how the government agreed to supply you a set amount of food each week. OK in the war the supply often broke down, and when you could get it, it was of poor quality, but more often that not, when it came to rationed foods, people got something. Once rationing ended, the first to the shops, sometimes got something, the rest, got nothing. My mum used to tell about the end of sweet rationing, sweets effectively disappeared from the shops.
So the end of rationing did not mean people could rush out and buy what they wanted. Most stuff was largely unavailable, and people relied on vegetables, or grains and pulses, boiled of course for sustenance. Fats were still difficult to obtain, and vegetable oils are actually a modern invention. People fried in lard in the 50's and 60's, and animal products were still difficult to obtain.
Also after the war, Britain had huge debts. Britain's war loans were not finally paid off until the 70's(?). I remember my parents telling me, that Britain had finally paid off our last war loan! As Britain had massive debts, the government placed import controls, and foreign exchange restrictions on the population. No one could import stuff, or take money out of the country, *without* a permit from the foreign office. There were some exceptions, but the government tried as hard as possible to stop money leaving the UK.
Those import controls / foreign exchange restrictions stayed in place till 1970, when the UK joined the EU. So no one was going to import spices. OK the explosion of curry houses in the 60's meant curry powder was available, but not the individual spices. And the sweet spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and so on for baking were available, but the plethora of spices, or Asian, or tropical flavours, or whatever, we take for granted were unheard in the 50's and 60's, and I would say the 70's and 80's as well.
I remember being in Belgium in the early 2000's, and trying to buy cumin, cardamom etc. to make my own curry spice. I simply could not buy them. And there were certainly no oriental / tropical/ whatever flavours out there either. And Belgium was not that far behind the UK.
So for those living in the 50's, 60, and 70's, fast food, prepared meals, tinned stuff, etc., tasted wonderful compared to boiled veg/grains/pulses, they were eating at home. And you did not have to cook them!
IMO, I have to look at the social context, to understand, why people snapped these foods up. I think the world has changed out of all recognition in the last 30 years. Some of it is fantastic, and some not so good. But I am not sure the "Good 'Ol Days" were actually that good.
Anrol5
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Melodi
Disaster Cat
Quote...Practically no one had used herbs before the war, to make vegetables, or grains and pulses interesting. And spices were pretty well unavailable in the war, and would have been expensive, even before the 100% tax that was placed on luxury ( non essential) goods. Food was tasteless. People used what little that could to make it more interesting, meat, cheese, tomatoes, and those goods were in short supply. Not sure salt and pepper were freely available either.- Unquote
That you, I was aware of a lot of that but it is complicated and you said it better than I could - there's a great piece by Stephan Fry about running to the sweet shop the day rationing of sweets ended as a child and crying when he found out that not only were they not giving them away they didn't have any.
I quote the part above, because the lack of herbs and spices, especially in "Have" cooking; was a result of the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century; before then (from the High Middle Ages onward) food was highly spiced and many herbs were used but the main influence on cooking for "Haves" and "Wanna-Bees" (aka the budding professional and merchant classes when they had extra cash) as FRENCH.
It was FRENCH cooking, I have cookbooks from this period (early and later as well) and the 17th and 18th centuries are full of herbs, garlic, "exotic spices" etc and many dishes would say "cooked with garlic in the French manner" or the "Italian Manor."
During the Napoleonic Wars, it was suddenly unpatriotic to copy "the Garlic Eaters" so "good plain English food" was "encouraged;" of course, this was provided you had the money to afford any (or anything other than what was grown in your cottage garden or bare bones bread you subsisted on from the local baker - working class and below).
This filtered down through all levels of society so by the early 20th century most "proper" British Food, even for "Toffs" was plain and people had forgotten what a garlic bulb was, much less using "exotic" herbs like oregano.
I have a 1930's "Traditional English" cookbook that goes through all that and also explains that "even today" (1930's) the older cooking methods that made plain food taste better like spit roasting or real charcoal grills could "only be found in occasional rural inns."
It also has a great chapter on "have-not" food, with tidbits like Yorkshire Pudding/Toad in the Hole originally having been made with bits of lamb (not beef) that were left over scraps (either other meals or the dregs from the butcher) baked into a mass of flour-water-lard pastry.
Today both of these include a lot more meat (beef or sausage) and Yorkshire pudding is more often a side dish rather than the intended filler of calories.
It took until the 2000's for the UK to really recover the use of herbs, spices and garlic (although curry powder never totally went away); and it was often done is some rather horrifying ways (at least to an American who likes their food); in some ways living there in the early 1990's was easier, because you knew the score; later when traveling "darling" old pubs would be serving the most hidious miss-mashes of what they "thought" Italian, Mexican, Indian or Chinese cooking was - often combining them in less than satesfactory ways.
This started happening in Ireland too; though thankfully both countries now have both a revival of traditional good plain cooking (my friend in Cambridge England couldn't even get us a reservation at a pub now serving spitroasts and traditional wood-fired pies) and real international cooking it has taken awhile.
And I agree, all that processed junk probably WAS the best thing people had ever tasted and the former "Have Nots" finally got to have full bellies, much like my cousin's family in the US from back-woods Mississippi after the same war. My uncle grew two inches after being drafted from all the "good food" served in the Navy during the War in the Pacific...
re WWII - whom this book was written for) Yorkshire pudding is used with or under a hunk of roast beef and toad in the hole is baked with sausages, not lamb bits.
That you, I was aware of a lot of that but it is complicated and you said it better than I could - there's a great piece by Stephan Fry about running to the sweet shop the day rationing of sweets ended as a child and crying when he found out that not only were they not giving them away they didn't have any.
I quote the part above, because the lack of herbs and spices, especially in "Have" cooking; was a result of the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century; before then (from the High Middle Ages onward) food was highly spiced and many herbs were used but the main influence on cooking for "Haves" and "Wanna-Bees" (aka the budding professional and merchant classes when they had extra cash) as FRENCH.
It was FRENCH cooking, I have cookbooks from this period (early and later as well) and the 17th and 18th centuries are full of herbs, garlic, "exotic spices" etc and many dishes would say "cooked with garlic in the French manner" or the "Italian Manor."
During the Napoleonic Wars, it was suddenly unpatriotic to copy "the Garlic Eaters" so "good plain English food" was "encouraged;" of course, this was provided you had the money to afford any (or anything other than what was grown in your cottage garden or bare bones bread you subsisted on from the local baker - working class and below).
This filtered down through all levels of society so by the early 20th century most "proper" British Food, even for "Toffs" was plain and people had forgotten what a garlic bulb was, much less using "exotic" herbs like oregano.
I have a 1930's "Traditional English" cookbook that goes through all that and also explains that "even today" (1930's) the older cooking methods that made plain food taste better like spit roasting or real charcoal grills could "only be found in occasional rural inns."
It also has a great chapter on "have-not" food, with tidbits like Yorkshire Pudding/Toad in the Hole originally having been made with bits of lamb (not beef) that were left over scraps (either other meals or the dregs from the butcher) baked into a mass of flour-water-lard pastry.
Today both of these include a lot more meat (beef or sausage) and Yorkshire pudding is more often a side dish rather than the intended filler of calories.
It took until the 2000's for the UK to really recover the use of herbs, spices and garlic (although curry powder never totally went away); and it was often done is some rather horrifying ways (at least to an American who likes their food); in some ways living there in the early 1990's was easier, because you knew the score; later when traveling "darling" old pubs would be serving the most hidious miss-mashes of what they "thought" Italian, Mexican, Indian or Chinese cooking was - often combining them in less than satesfactory ways.
This started happening in Ireland too; though thankfully both countries now have both a revival of traditional good plain cooking (my friend in Cambridge England couldn't even get us a reservation at a pub now serving spitroasts and traditional wood-fired pies) and real international cooking it has taken awhile.
And I agree, all that processed junk probably WAS the best thing people had ever tasted and the former "Have Nots" finally got to have full bellies, much like my cousin's family in the US from back-woods Mississippi after the same war. My uncle grew two inches after being drafted from all the "good food" served in the Navy during the War in the Pacific...
re WWII - whom this book was written for) Yorkshire pudding is used with or under a hunk of roast beef and toad in the hole is baked with sausages, not lamb bits.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
From what I have read and seen in proper re-enactment shows; like WWII house, you wanted to be either a farmer or butcher/baker/grocer in the Countryside; one with your own small cottage and rather large personal garden.
Too big and you would have been feeding "vackie" (evacuated) children from London in you back room or barn; but small you only had to help the County feed them.
Fascinating!
Walrus Whisperer
Hope in chains...
MFK Fisher How to Cook A wolf cookbook. She wrote this during the Brits Rationing time, several others equally interesting
