Ration Book Recipes

Following on from the article "On the kitchen Front" in last month's magazine, we invited readers to contribute Ration Book wartime recipes for publication to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Here's a sample three course meal...

Brown Vegetable Soup

Cut up 2 medium potatoes, a small turnip, a carrot, and a few sticks of celery. Fry in a very little fat until golden brown. Pour a quart of water over the vegetables and add two tomatoes and a slice of toasted bread.

Simmer for two hours, and then rub through a sieve and season with salt and pepper.

Squab Pie

Peel and slice one large or two small cooking apples and put half in the bottom of a pie-dish.

Add a layer of chopped onion. Then add a layer of pieces of cooked meat and sprinkle with salt. Add another layer of onion, then add the rest of the apple and a little sugar. Cover with pastry and bake in a moderate oven for about ¾ hour. You'll be surprised to find how well onions and apples go together!

Orange Cream

Grate the rind off an orange. Keep a little back to decorate. Squeeze out the orange juice.

Bring a pint of water to the boil and shower in three level tablespoonfuls of semolina, stirring all the time. Then simmer still stirring for five minutes.

Add the grated orange rind and the juice, a tablespoonful each of marmalade and sugar and a touch of lemon essence.

Then cook it all again for a few minutes and pour it into a wetted pudding basin and let it set.

and to drink....

Wassail Bowl

Heat up a quart (two pints) of ale but don't let it boil.

Then add ¼ oz. grated nutmeg, ¼ oz. ground ginger, ¼ oz. ground cinnamon, 2 slices of toast, and the juice and peel of a lemon (or a little lemon flavouring).

Add two baked apples and ½ bottle of sherry. Sweeten to taste. Serve hot.

.... if you lived through the war years, please dig out those Ration Book recipes and let us have them for publication!