The Food of WWII

An idea for a thread has been simmering away in the back of my mind…..

I’d like to start a discussion here about the food and rationing of food during the Second World War.

Napoleon’s old adage, "An army marches on its stomach” still rings true today, and food was a factor in the success and failure of armies during WW II. Moreover, the Second World War was a “total war” affecting civilians and soldiers alike. Food shortages affected everyone, and everyone had to adapt. Leningrad comes to mind as an extreme example.

I’m curious about how that was accomplished on the plate. In an effort to understand what rations and rations were like during the war, I thought it would be interesting and educational to dig up and try out the recipes of the day.

I hope members here will chime in with recipes, perhaps handed down from older generations or gleaned from other resources, and pass on the knowledge of a significant part of the experience of World War II.

To start off, I dug up a copy of the US Army TM 10-405 from 1941.




This field manual details the setting up of a kitchen, but then also gives recipes for food to be made. A recipe for Meatloaf caught my eye:




I've made many a meatloaf in my day, but this one seemed a bit austere:




Now, there was no way I was going to make 40# worth of meatloaf, so I scaled it down to a more reasonable size:

1.5 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1/2 clove of garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 slices bacon

I made the referenced "batter" from beef stock and flour. I've never seen this done before.....and am not sure I want to see it done again......

After the requisite 2 hour bake at 230ºF, the loaf looked a bit pale and I cranked the heat up to 425º for a few minutes to brown it a bit.




OK, not a food shot to win a spot in Gourmet magazine, but this meatloaf turned out to be surprisingly good! I served it with some ketchup and a side of green peas.




I can't say that I was 'transported' back to 1941, but I will say this meatloaf was fairly good. Compared to other meatloaf recipes I've used, it was a bit dense. Nevertheless, despite the lack of herbs and spices, it had a very nice flavor and was fairly moist, too. Mrs Jack really liked it: "I'd eat this again."

I'd say the Army had a decent thing going here with this recipe; worth trying.

 

Give this a crack...

 

I think that's a popular dish in Kentucky, still. Served as a sandwich. Hard to find brains in these parts....uhh....no pun intended.

Source for that?

 

Long detailed thread on food rations of the Japanese armed forces during WW2.
Food rations in the Japanese forces - Axis History Forum

 

Thanks!

 

British food was driven by rationing. Here are some wartime civilian recipes
182 Wartime Recipes
British wartime food was light on meat and heavy on vegetables with soya replacing meat in sausages. It was a very healthy diet by modern standards and pretty much what your doctor would recommend.

There are Army and navy cookbooks.

You can buy Navy cook books. These include well known delicacies such as...
S**t on a raft
Train smash
Cowboys
Cheesy Hammy Eggy topside
Babies Heads
Prairie Chicken

Some of the C19th Army recipes were included in Garnett Wolsey's pocket book. 1886 The soldier's pocket-book for field service : Wolseley, Garnet Wolseley, Viscount, 1833-1913. n 50051751 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive This includes recipes for company sized portions for
Meat soup
Irish Stew
Beef and mutton pudding
Plum pudding
Vegetables - including Nettles - Wolsey was a fan of greens

The British Army did not have a specialist catering corps until 1941. Cooks were assigned within units. The poor quality of food provided by regimental cooks. Here is an example of a hand written recipe book. Culinary secrets of Desert Rats revealed in World War Two cookery book

 

That notebook by Cpl James Harrison looks fantastic. I hope it gets digitized at some point.

I found the 182 Wartime Recipes site while cruising around the interweb. It looks quite promising, however, my one concern is that none of the recipes have a reference. Where do they come from, I have to wonder.....

Still, they look fairly 'right'.

Thanks!

 

Reminds me of a Darwin night back in the 80s...having a big party, the tables set up outside...everyone had brought a plate of amazing food and they covered the big table...just before everyone was about to tuck in the fluro light above explodes and sends tiny shards of glass into everything...they had to turf every plate : (

 

So this is a thread that goes right to my stomach. Some might know me from my different groupings of WW2 collections but most don't know me a retired classically trained Executive Chef. One part of my collection is finding home front cook books and see what our women had to do to keep the families fed. Below are some of my favorite.
Cooking for Victory! Little Johnny and the American Flag made from Apples


This says it al. Delicious Wartime Meals. I had some of my "Chef" friends over one time and actually followed a few of the recipes a true as possible. Fortunate for me I had some very good IPA's and plenty of Jameson to wash it down. I explained to everyone that we were not in war time and that affected the taste. I tried contacting the College of Home Economics, Cornell University- I guess they have moved on from that department




I asked my wife for "Double Duty" for Victory and needless to say I lost




Does anyone even know what Okra is anymore? Who need Kelly Green glace icing when you have spinach.



If anyone would like some recipe please let me know. I am more than happy to share. I think we should have a contest. You have to follow the recipe and even follow the Ration Cards allotment. Remember-People eat with their eyes before they taste.

 

I love okra!

And, yes, post up a recipe or two.....or more. I've already got a few more in mind to test out and try. I'll be posting the results.......

 

I made a strawberry okra tart once and my staff stared at me as if I just landed from another planet

 

So here are the first recipes that I am putting out to try. I thought since we are having a special dinner we should begin with some appetizers. The first recipe seems rather simple in the fact that it just seems to be Cheese and olive canapes on bread. Well in this house we will start by making a sourdough bread that comes from a 5 year old sour strain that I have. Now I do not expect others to follow but during war time we must think outside the box to keep the family happy when it comes to food. and taste.


One of my biggest weaknesses in lfe is Foi Gras and I was so excited when I saw this recipe...….until I saw that it was made with chicken livers. Well I will admit that I have used chicken livers when making pate, just never called it Foi Gras. So here goes appetizer #2 for those who would like to try.


I also added a little incentive for those who might need help with a pretty picture of appetizers from a war time cook book.. Bon Appetite!

 

That's some fancy wartime feasting!

I'll give the cheese and olive canapé recipe a shot. Haven't seen chicken livers in the market recently. They must be going out of fashion.

 

..I read where lobsters were not rationed in the UK during WW2 ..so I guess there was an abundance of them....?

 

What was also interesting that the lobster population was decimated in Germany because of British Bombing.