Tips from a wartime kitchen

In these hard credit crunch times money saving is important and it is interesting to read the foreword of one of Sharon’s favourite cookbooks written during the Second World War.

Economy is the keynote of Modern Cookery – the true economy which means not going short of food, but using every scrap to the very best advantage. Here are some hints to help you.

Eggs can be omitted from small cakes or steamed puddings when self-raising flour or baking powder is used. A teaspoon of vinegar in place of every egg in recipes for large cakes gives a good result.

Use vinegar also in the same proportion when making batters for puddings, fritters or coating fish and meat, mixing it well into the flour before adding the milk; remember that all batters, cakes and puddings made without eggs must be cooked as soon as they are mixed.

When lemons are unobtainable vinegar may be used for whitening fish, fowl or vegetables such as artichokes. Very finely chopped lemon thyme is your best substitute for savoury dishes.

Margarine is so good these days that it can be substituted for butter in all recipes. Use fresh roll margarine when fresh butter is specified. A little cream makes just all the difference to some dishes, so let the milk stand in the bottle for some hours, then remove the cream carefully with a spoon. The milk is still good for all purposes, and you have more nourishment from the cream used in this way.

When onions are scarce, leeks are a good substitute, so are shallots and the humble chives so easily grown in the smallest garden. They will give an onion flavour to all kinds of savoury dishes.

Meat loses a certain amount of nourishment if cooked twice – so divide a joint to make several hot meals. Eke out a little meat by serving plenty of vegetables – root vegetables are the most satisfying. A tablespoonful or two of rice added to boiled meats or stews increases nourishment, and dumplings, too, help in this way. Meat can be cut to better advantage if it is boned. Remember too that forcemeat adds flavour to cheap cuts, and increases the nourishment of a roast joint. Before cooking meat, cut off any superfluous fat, leaving only just as much as necessary. If you clarify that fat you have an excellent dripping. Of course you treasure any dripping from the joint itself.

Meatless meals need not be dull as you will realise when you see the variety of recipes in this book. So make the allotment help to feed the family.

Tea. Few of us realise how much of this is wasted until restrictions just how made us see how little is needed to make a very good pot for one or two or three persons, as the case may be. To get the most out of tea, the teapot should be h to and dry.

Sugar. Try making tea without sugar, and before very long you will wonder why you wanted it. A good pinch of bicarbonate of soda added to sour fruits reduces the sugar required to almost half. Dried fruits, dates, figs, prunes, sultanas, and raisins all contain a big percentage of sugar so use them in cakes and puddings when available, omitting or cutting down on the quantity of sugar you would ordinarily use. Dried fruits are also good with your breakfast cereal in place of sugar. Honey is a great help, also; it’s delicious with fruit or cereals.

Notes. Forcemeat is stuffing, usually based on breadcrumbs, flavoured with herbs such as sage, and/or ingredients such as onions, apples, celery, chestnut, mushrooms, tomatoes or prunes. An “allotment” is a patch of ground, usually belonging to the local town council, allotted to citizens to grow their own fruit and vegetables. In Britain these are still much sought after, with long waiting lists.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.