My brother and I were born during the War and we were discussing the food just this weekend( 13/07/2024). Sweets went on ration the day I was born and I have never particularly craved them. We agreed though ,that despite growing up in what would now be regarded as an impoverished home, we never felt hungry.The things I do remember are the lack of nice clothes, heating and ordinary things like soap. I did not use an electric iron until I married in 1961 when a wealthy relative bought one as a wedding present. Before that, it was a flat iron heated on a gas ring. Different times, but I still love jam tarts!
Oh, those jam tarts! I remember making them with my mum when she was teaching me and my sis and bro how to cook in the '60s. She used a mix of lard and hard margarine, and her pastry was always melt-in-the-mouth delicious! Thanks for another fascinating video!
Commercially made Anzac biscuits contain coconut (which means I've never had an Anzac biscuit in my life since I loathe coconut), but the original recipe didn't have it. They're available all year round from supermarkets in special Returned Services Association tins here in New Zealand.
Brilliant episode! Every time I question the cooking/recipe decisions of my grandparents/parents it always seems to lead back to the war and the compromises that were required. Great job showing that.
Thank you. What an incredibly resourceful time it was. (Even so, there are definitely some combinations/foods that I just can't see myself appreciating, war or no war!)
Found to videos and now binge watching them. They are absolutely brilliant, well researched and lots of effort gone into them and your commentary is hesterical.
ANZAC biscuits were cooked rock hard, (and they are flat). because they were put in biscuit tins nestled in grease proof paper, and posted to Europe or Egypt. If cooked soft, they could get mouldy or fall apart as they aged. I always used brown sugar. Yours looked like mini rock cakes.
For many working class people the changes weren’t huge. My gran was a widow with four children and she was well versed in living frugally. She had an allotment where the whole family were expected to help - reluctantly! So before, during and after the war she knew how to stretch the food available! It was a healthy way to eat as her daughters lived to 80, 84 and 96!
A great video. I agree the tarts look great. Just like my mother made when I was a child. Is it also true that many people dined out at the British Restaurant chain, or at fish and chip shops at least once a week? I have a feeling that I was told my my grandmother that going to approved restaurants was a way to avoid using ration tickets. She also had a story about posting a rabbit shot by a farmer near where she was evacuated to my aunt in London. The aunt screamed when she opened the parcel and saw the dead rabbit's eyes looking at her and never forgave my grandmother.
Thank you! British restaurants (think initially called community kitchens but Churchill didn't like the name as it was too communist sounding!) were set up during the Blitz to help those struggling to find access to food (eg if their home had been destroyed) and became hugely successful in their own right as they offered a main meal and a pudding for people and made rations go further. Rabbit was much more commonly eaten than it is now and I found a lot of rabbit stew recipes in the archives. I was actually going to make rabbit stew before I found Mrs Tavener's diary (though i definitely would have had the same reaction as your grandmother's aunt if I had to skin it myself!)
You know, it's a global stereotype of the English to have crap bland foods. But to take the historical point of view and consider the effect of the last great wars on their culinary culture, we must take pause and appreciate the British determination. I'm not going to say that British food has ever been the finest dining, because all of Europe was stressed by said wars. But tradition must be respected, and it was respected by those good people. It's amazing to think that these kind of recipes had, and still have a place in their daily lives.
I think British food gets a pretty bad press because a lot of traditional food seems so stodgy and plain (tbh stodgy is one of my favourite types of food!). But as someone who has eaten her fair share of historical British food, from ancient to modern, I have to say that the idea it's all bland is a bit of a myth - so much of (elite) British medieval food is inspired by French cooking for example and uses loads of spices, and the amount of rosewater used in Tudor meals is crazy. I think the idea of British food being bland and crap comes from the 19th/20th century, when workers needed hot filling food to help them build energy, and obviously the war had an impact. Rationing didn't end until the 50s, so people had to make do with what they had long after the war ended which I think contributed to the belief that all British food was crap.
Good Afternoon from Las Vegas...I am an AP World History (college level class for High Schoolers) teacher and I love your videos....I actually plan use them when we get to the 20th century. When we are in the middle ages I attempt to make Maslin (bread) for the gremlins.....It usually is a disaster but they like it...Thank you
Actually, you’d be surprised how many people DID want the Ministry of Food / rationing! The Great War had been a chaotic mess of panic buying and supply chain issues.
The curry sounded very intimidating My husband, however, likes sweet/savory things, which... I usually don't. He's eaten things flavored with tumeric and raisins that tasted so strange to me... but he claimed to like the combo.
The sweet savory taste is very Tudor and earlier. And middle eastern - and found in India, pre their discovery of chillies. Mince pies were originally meat and dried fruits, etc. I cannot eat sweet and savory mixed. No dried fruit in stuffing!
My brother and I were born during the War and we were discussing the food just this weekend( 13/07/2024). Sweets went on ration the day I was born and I have never particularly craved them. We agreed though ,that despite growing up in what would now be regarded as an impoverished home, we never felt hungry.The things I do remember are the lack of nice clothes, heating and ordinary things like soap. I did not use an electric iron until I married in 1961 when a wealthy relative bought one as a wedding present. Before that, it was a flat iron heated on a gas ring. Different times, but I still love jam tarts!
I've never heard about the diaries before. I love that someone thought to ask ordinary people to keep such records!
Great to see a RUclips video that involves original research and not just people repeating other videos or the one popular history they read.
Oh, those jam tarts! I remember making them with my mum when she was teaching me and my sis and bro how to cook in the '60s. She used a mix of lard and hard margarine, and her pastry was always melt-in-the-mouth delicious! Thanks for another fascinating video!
The jam tarts were probably the best sweet thing I've made so far! Absolutely delicious
Commercially made Anzac biscuits contain coconut (which means I've never had an Anzac biscuit in my life since I loathe coconut), but the original recipe didn't have it. They're available all year round from supermarkets in special Returned Services Association tins here in New Zealand.
Brilliant episode! Every time I question the cooking/recipe decisions of my grandparents/parents it always seems to lead back to the war and the compromises that were required. Great job showing that.
Thank you. What an incredibly resourceful time it was. (Even so, there are definitely some combinations/foods that I just can't see myself appreciating, war or no war!)
Lard pastry! 😋😋😋 Thoroughly watchable. Great presentation. Your classic food history with a big slice of wit and humour. Brilliant!
Thank you! Pastry was 😍
Found to videos and now binge watching them. They are absolutely brilliant, well researched and lots of effort gone into them and your commentary is hesterical.
ANZAC biscuits were cooked rock hard, (and they are flat). because they were put in biscuit tins nestled in grease proof paper, and posted to Europe or Egypt. If cooked soft, they could get mouldy or fall apart as they aged. I always used brown sugar.
Yours looked like mini rock cakes.
For many working class people the changes weren’t huge. My gran was a widow with four children and she was well versed in living frugally. She had an allotment where the whole family were expected to help - reluctantly! So before, during and after the war she knew how to stretch the food available! It was a healthy way to eat as her daughters lived to 80, 84 and 96!
A great video. I agree the tarts look great. Just like my mother made when I was a child.
Is it also true that many people dined out at the British Restaurant chain, or at fish and chip shops at least once a week? I have a feeling that I was told my my grandmother that going to approved restaurants was a way to avoid using ration tickets.
She also had a story about posting a rabbit shot by a farmer near where she was evacuated to my aunt in London. The aunt screamed when she opened the parcel and saw the dead rabbit's eyes looking at her and never forgave my grandmother.
Thank you!
British restaurants (think initially called community kitchens but Churchill didn't like the name as it was too communist sounding!) were set up during the Blitz to help those struggling to find access to food (eg if their home had been destroyed) and became hugely successful in their own right as they offered a main meal and a pudding for people and made rations go further.
Rabbit was much more commonly eaten than it is now and I found a lot of rabbit stew recipes in the archives. I was actually going to make rabbit stew before I found Mrs Tavener's diary (though i definitely would have had the same reaction as your grandmother's aunt if I had to skin it myself!)
Your Very Genuine 1930s/1940s radio!
I'm gonna want the milk steak, boiled over hard, and a side of your finest jelly beans, raw.
And they said crowbarring an Always Sunny reference into a video about rationing in 1940s Britain couldn't be done..!
You know, it's a global stereotype of the English to have crap bland foods. But to take the historical point of view and consider the effect of the last great wars on their culinary culture, we must take pause and appreciate the British determination.
I'm not going to say that British food has ever been the finest dining, because all of Europe was stressed by said wars. But tradition must be respected, and it was respected by those good people.
It's amazing to think that these kind of recipes had, and still have a place in their daily lives.
I think British food gets a pretty bad press because a lot of traditional food seems so stodgy and plain (tbh stodgy is one of my favourite types of food!). But as someone who has eaten her fair share of historical British food, from ancient to modern, I have to say that the idea it's all bland is a bit of a myth - so much of (elite) British medieval food is inspired by French cooking for example and uses loads of spices, and the amount of rosewater used in Tudor meals is crazy. I think the idea of British food being bland and crap comes from the 19th/20th century, when workers needed hot filling food to help them build energy, and obviously the war had an impact. Rationing didn't end until the 50s, so people had to make do with what they had long after the war ended which I think contributed to the belief that all British food was crap.
Good Afternoon from Las Vegas...I am an AP World History (college level class for High Schoolers) teacher and I love your videos....I actually plan use them when we get to the 20th century. When we are in the middle ages I attempt to make Maslin (bread) for the gremlins.....It usually is a disaster but they like it...Thank you
Good morning! As a fellow history teacher, this makes me really happy! I hope your students find the videos helpful.
Did you make Xmas mince pies with the usual dried fruit, plus meat mince?
Actually, you’d be surprised how many people DID want the Ministry of Food / rationing! The Great War had been a chaotic mess of panic buying and supply chain issues.
Nope, that is how curry was back then. It was the beginning of the curry being brought to england so things got mixed up and is quite different.
Love love love the opening!
The curry sounded very intimidating My husband, however, likes sweet/savory things, which... I usually don't. He's eaten things flavored with tumeric and raisins that tasted so strange to me... but he claimed to like the combo.
The sweet savory taste is very Tudor and earlier. And middle eastern - and found in India, pre their discovery of chillies.
Mince pies were originally meat and dried fruits, etc.
I cannot eat sweet and savory mixed. No dried fruit in stuffing!
Whats next? I hope its Ellie Eats... The 1950s
Yep! See you in a fortnight!
I am having trouble with the idea of mustard and curry powder and all the other things.
Some of those recipes ruined good food.
I will have to avoid your videos in the future due to the foul language. Can’t share this with children.