IRISH-IN-UK-L Archives

From: "Jean R." <>
Subject: [Irish-in-UK] Wartime "Pathfinder Pudding" - Second WorldWar/United Kingdom
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:52:20 -0700

SECOND WORLD WAR: Those on the list with British roots may recall 'The Stork
Wartime Cookery Book,' and the National Registration Identity Cards. A "Dig
for Victory" campaign urged people to grow their own vegetables all year
round, and, the wartime newspaper 'Weetabix ' advertisement, based around a
works canteen, with the message - "Keep war workers fighting fit." As dates
were the cheapest of the wartime dried fruits at 7d per pound, they were
featured in several recipes such as steamed date pudding, and a Ministry of
Food advertisement showed that the next most expensive groups such as
currants, muscatels, raisins, prunes, plums, figs and sultanas sold at 9d
per pound. The most expensive shilling a pound dried fruits included
apricots, nectarines, peaches and pears. Ministry of Food War Cookery
Leaflet No. 6 gave sound advice about the preparation of green vegetables.

A snippet from a 1999 issue of the "Best of British, Past & Present"
magazine gives us an interesting look back:

"As one of the 'egg powder' generation who has enjoyed the taste of dry
omelette every since, I was intrigued when editing the monthly "Yours" in
1989 to receive a large postbag of wartime recipes from readers in response
to a competition marking 50 years since the outbreak of the Second World
War... The wife and I actually prepared the winning six entries, each from
just a handful of basic ingredients, and were pleasantly surprised by the
tasty and nutritious results. A recent reminder of this exercise came when a
superb little colour hardback by Jarrold entitled "Wartime Recipes - A
Collection of Recipes from the War Years," came in for review. In feel it
reminded me of the "Mr. Buffin" books I knew as a child, and I was delighted
to find its 40-odd pages liberally illustrated with photographs,
advertisements, pictures of identity cards and so on from those grim
austerity years to give a real feeling for the times.

Divided simply into sections on Soups, Main Meals, Vegetable Cookery and
Sweets and Puddings, it was also dotted with small 'Food Facts' panels with
messages like: 'We are a beleaguered nation, and in our plans for food the
overriding objective, indeed the only objective worth considering, is to
provide a national diet which will maintain everybody in health.' Under
'Do's and Don'ts with Vegetables' - 'Do serve swedes when greens are short,
or for a change. Of all the root vegetables, swedes are rich in Vitamin C.
Do cook potatoes in their skins - this prevents their goodness dissolving
into the water. Don't throw vegetable water away - use it for soups and
sauces.'

As children we were never allowed to be picky with food, being expected to
finish everything on our plates before moving onto the next course. If we
wanted our rice pudding, we had to finish our sprouts first. How I remember
retching violently after trying to force down the last remnants of gristle
on my plate - and I've had an aversion to the stuff every since! When I
see...the amount of uneaten food that gets thrown into bins at fast food
restaurants, I do become concerned at the sheer waste of it all. It seems so
wrong when half the world is starving. What's the betting that the plain old
soups like Victorian Scotch broth, haricot, gravy, parsnip, potato and
barley soups which are described in such simple, straight-forward terms in
"Wartime Recipes" contain more taste and nourishment than anything you can
buy in a tin?

For the main course there were delights such a beef hash, devilled fish,
roast hearts, tripe and onions and savory tripe casserole, and vegetarian
cookery was encouraged with turnip top salad, vegetable casserole and tomato
macaroni au gratin. A wonderful concoction called "Pathfinder pudding" used
ingredients such as national flour, uncooked shredded potato, cooked
parsnips, cheese and leek, with a little mustard powder, and actually sounds
quite delicious to me! Caramel and semolina mould, eggless sponge pudding,
bread pudding, Spotted Dick and Brown Betty were on the sweet menu, and
stale cake could be utilised in "Florida pudding" along with a tin of
peaches, desiccated coconut and margarine. Even stale bread had its uses.
Another 'Food Facts' panel advised "Never throw away stale bread. Use it as
a breadcrumbs in a breakfast cereal, or crush them for coatings. Soak,
squeeze and beat up with a fork for sweet and savoury puddings, etc."

This thread:

• [Irish-in-UK] Wartime "Pathfinder Pudding" - Second WorldWar/United Kingdom by "Jean R." <>