War-Torn Britain

The message is clear- food will win the war. Back in Blighty the main way the nation was united was through food. Growing gardens, preserving food, feeding our troops are all propaganda used to restore morale. If you can’t physically go to fight for your country, you can help the war effort through food. Through this war effort there is a distinct sense of patriotism, a link the propaganda office promoted. In fact throughout both world wars the link between food and patriotism was evident. So in the spirit of war time Britain I have made two patriotic favourites- Blighty Salad and ‘Over the Top’ Muffins.
         

During WW2 my Gran was only 9 years old. You would imagine that at such a young age the war would be a scary time. However, my gran remembers it being filled with the sentiment of ‘everyone pulling together’. In this spirit the whole of their street was given up to the war effort; the park became allotments and front gardens hosted potato patches. The people who lived next to my gran used to swap their tea rations for my families sugar ones. Clearly none of my family has a sweet tooth and yet all of us ‘gasp’ for a cup of tea, as my mum says. When my gran told me this I couldn’t help but think this is where the ‘cup of tea time’ tradition came from (see Victorian post), my great gran clearly had the same need for tea my gran does. She also told me that their house was always packed with people, and the teapot was never left cold for long. At times they would have family, neighbours and even passing refugees over to share in this tradition. This does not strike me as a time of anguish and disappear (though I don’t doubt it was at times), from the memories of a child this is a time of coming together, supporting people you’ve never met and making do.

The Thrift Cook Book- Marion H.
Blighty Salad
3 raw carrots
1 cup peanuts
¼ stale cheese
2 hard cooked eggs
Crisp lettuce leaves
French dressing

Put carrots, peanuts, cheese and eggs through food chopper. Chill and serve on lettece leaves with French dressing.

The Thrift Cook Book- Marion H.
‘Over the Top’ Muffins.
2 tablespoons butter substitute
3 tablespoons sugar or honey
1 large egg, beaten
¾ cup milk
1 cup soy bean flour
1 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Beat butter substitute with sugar or honey cream, add egg and milk. Sift flours, baking powder and salt and mix thoroughly with egg mixture. Divide into twelve greased and floured pans and bake in hot oven fifteen minutes. They are delicious when served hot with maple sirup honey.
Sufficient for twelve muffins.

For a recipe that was designed specifically for the war I was very impressed with the ‘over the top’ muffin recipe. I really enjoyed it, and actually went on to eat most of them throughout the next few days toasted with butter. My testers were less impress they branded my muffins ‘bland’; which meant one thing more for me! As for the name, I thought it was a tiny bit morose. We now know that going over the top was equivalent of a death sentence that not many men survived. However, during the war it could have been perceived as an honour to directly fight against the enemy? I’m not too sure on that one; I imagine they are named patriotically. Despite this, the name does not take away from the taste.

          The salad also looked nice. Though I was hoping (perhaps rather foolishly) that the ‘Blighty’ salad would incorporate red white and blue! It didn’t. But it was rather nice despite the fact I only soft boiled the eggs. Opps! My dad hated it but my mum loved it and ended up taking most of it to work for lunch. It looks vibrant which makes it more appealing, it is by far the best looking dish I have created so far. However, next time I make this salad I am going to do a twist on the original recipe. This summer my mum is having a ‘jubalympic’ party in our garden, for which I think my salad would be perfect as it pays homage to war time England. I would like it to be a salad which is red white and blue however. I have already decided on peppers for the red, and maybe dying the eggs blue (food colouring). I think it would be interesting to see what it ends up like, maybe my original hopes of a red, white and blue ‘Blighty salad’ will come true. I will post photos of my revamped Blighty salad later.

          I really enjoyed the muffins and will be keeping the recipe for my own collection. They make a delicious breakfast dish. Next time I make them I may try them with jam. I will also be keeping the salad recipe for summer. A great success for a time that was generally supposed to be a time of rationing and food shortages.