Ration Book Cooking - Tuesday 6th November

After day one of living on WW2 rations, I have found that what I miss most is coffee!  I did notice it wasn't listed in the rations, so went looking for some information and this is what I found out:

Sugar and coffee are imported from South America and the Caribbean.  In addition to the hazards of shipping by sea, the military needed great quantities of these ingredients.  Shortages of European sources being cut off meant that Britain only had access through the US adding additional strains on the supplies and the tonnage lost to the war in the Atlantic also added to the shortages.  My husband's uncle was a Gunner for the Merchant Navy and worked on the convoys, including the Arctic convoys to help bring vital supplies to the troops and the Home Front.

1940

The shortage of imported coffee in WW2 led to a rise in the use of Camp Coffee; a concentrate made from just 4% coffee with chicory (a vegetable) as the main ingredient.  I can remember visiting an elderly lady and being offered Camp Coffee in hot milk, I am no fan of warm milk in any drink and the combination of the milk and the, rather treacly, Camp Coffee was not to my taste!

And while we are on the subject of beverages,  I've realised the benefits of drinking my tea black, no milk and no sugar.  I stopped taking sugar in my tea when I was about 12 and stopped taking milk when I was a student with no fridge (students of today please note: no fridge, no phone, no computer or laptop, no central heating or washing machine - we went to the launderette) however, I digress, where was I?  Oh yes, black tea is going to allow me to make some kind of pudding with my milk and sugar rations - result!

Menu for Tuesday

Breakfast
Two slices of toast (National Loaf) with 1 tsp jam 
Lunch
Leek and Potato Soup (see Monday)
Supper 
Haricot Beans, Baked Boston Style  (from Vegetables for Victory by Ambrose Heath) serve with Carrots and Potatoes

1943

This little book belonged to my gran, who must have worn out the cover, recovered it with brown paper and stuck the picture back on the front!  I think she used it well into the 1950's as there are some newspaper cuttings of Elizabeth David recipes tucked between the pages.

The Haricot Bean recipe is currently cooking in the oven ready for tomorrow, so I will post the pictures and recipe later.  In the meantime I'm going to give you the recipe for the National Loaf.  Over at Lavender and Lovage, Karen tells you more about how this came about.

NB: butter spread pre-rationing!

Wartime loaf

600 ml (1 pint) of warm water
5 teaspoons of quick rise yeast
couple pinches of sugar
2 lb of wholewheat (wholemeal) flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon rolled oats (for top)
 drizzle of vegetable oil

Method

Place flour in large bowl
Mix in all dry ingredients except the rolled oats
Drizzle in vegetable oil
Pour in warm water
Mix thoroughly
When dough comes together knead for 10 minutes until dough is silky
Place back in bowl and cover
Let dough rise somewhere warm until doubled in size
Knead dough briefly again
Place dough into 4 x 1/2 lb tins (or 2 x 1 lb tins) that have been floured
Brush top with a little water and sprinkle on some rolled oats
Leave to rise for around 20 minutes
Place in oven at 180 0C for around 30-40 mins (depending on the size of the loaf)
Remove from oven
Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting

 I cheated a little here and used the bread maker to make the dough, then baked it in a tin in the oven.


So how are we doing with the rations?

WW2 Rations 1940 for three people

Butter 150g (6oz)  75g Butter

Bacon or ham: 300g (12oz)  bacon in the Haricot Bean dish

Margarine: 300g (12oz)

Cooking fat/lard: 300g (12oz) 200g lard 190g lard (tsp of veg oil)

Sugar: 675g (1lb 10oz) 650g (25g black treacle used)

Meat:  1350g (3lb)

Milk: 9 pints occasionally dropping to 8 pints 8 3/4 pints

Cheese: 150g (6oz) rising to 675g  (1lb 10oz)?

Eggs: 3 fresh eggs per week  0 fresh eggs

Tea: 150g (6oz) 130g 110g

Jam: 150g (6oz) per week 125g

Dried Eggs 3 packets  (36 eggs every four weeks)   9 eggs for one week

Sweets: 262g (3oz) per week.

Remember to check out how Karen and Fiona are getting on in their Wartime Kitchens.