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my Grand mother was in charge of the paper work for the food ration books. she was very cross when she heard on our tv that people had been panic buying food during the early stages of the Covid 19 pandemic in the UK.
Mr. Miller, does your ration series also intent to cover the axis powers? As a german I would like to know how my grandmother had to make due in the war while my grandfather was away at the front. Even with what my nation did during the war.
I used your hard tack recipe a few weeks ago, than the hurricanes hit, and i made even more. I took a bunch of homemade potted meat, a bunch of boullion, and al lthe hard tack to some friends stranded out there, stayed with them for a while as there wasn't a shelter they couldn't get too. We ate on it for days, mixing it into a oatmeal like meal. Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe Max! It helped some people out!
So, rationing even such a garbage food was actually better than market economy? Are you telling me such a simplistic communist economy role model is ok? Who would have thought.
It also has to do with the fact they were eating far more vegetables and less animal products. There is an interesting study from one of the Scandinavian countries during the war when the population was not allowed meat at all for a long period of time and after that all manner of heart issues/disease plummeted.
I learned to cook from people who had been taught to cook during WW2 rationing, and they passed down a lot of habits that I didn't realize were related to rationing until I did research in my college years. Among these habits are the following "Cook your vegetables in as little water as possible and as fast as possible to prevent vitamin loss." "Use the water from cooking your vegetables to make your gravy. That way no vitamins are lost." "A good dinner requires a potato dish, two vegetables, and a protein. For supper, one fruit and one vegetable should be served beside the main dish. And one fruit and half a glass of orange juice [always from concentrate as fresh oranges were rare and refrigeration wasnt really a thing until the 60s] should be included with breakfast." "One pound of boneless meat serves four people if you plan your meals properly." "Keep a garden and use it. If you can't eat it, you can trade it or can it." "Willful waste makes woeful want." Some of my favorite dishes as a child were later discovered to be straight out of government pamphlets from WW2 rationing, which was mildly disconcerting. I still look at modern recipes and think, "My, that uses a lot of fat/sugar/flour/etc." and often pass that recipe by in favor of one of my older cookbooks with a more economical recipe. When you learn a mindset, it can be hard to change, even 60 or 70 years after the fact.
Tradition, also called "bullying by dead people" If a recipe has too much fat or sugar for your liking, try to find a recipe from another country for the same dish. There are a bunch of countries, where sugar and fat are more favored or even status symbols. Or you can just adapt the recipe for your own likings, nobody will shoot you for that, unless you break the spaghetti in half, that's a declaration of war.
One thing that always made me chuckle is when I was in primary school, our class were doing world war 2 history and one of the teachers wanted us to perform some of the 'old songs' for a group of elderly folk (we were going to talk to them after about their experiences during the war, this was some 32 years ago), one of the songs was "lets all go down the Strand" which a lot of the kids had learned the refrain of "have a Banana" just after the first line of the chorus from their own grandparents which wasn't officially part of the song. The teacher must have spent a couple of hours drilling us kids to not sing that refrain. So the day comes, we go down, we perform the songs and of course the old folks all do the "have a Banana" at which point we just start cracking up, at first the old folks looked a little offended but one kid was like "SEE, I told you that was in the song!" and the teacher just kind of sighed and facepalmed, after we'd finished she explained to the old folks that because it wasn't originally in the lyrics she thought it was a modern invention at which point the old folks just chuckle and shake their heads.
My Great Grandmother lived through the London Blitz, until she went to Canada on the Queen Mary because her husband had been stationed there with the RAF. They weren't told when the ship was going to leave up until maybe an hour before, and after everyone else had boarded, Winston Churchill went aboard himself as I believe he had a meeting in the US he was going to. The Captain of that ship made sure that throughout the journey the Women and Children aboard the ship were as comfortable as they could get as the ship WAS a Troop Transport and was moving as a convoy under guard. She'd tell me these stories as a kid, and up until she died of old age in 2011, I always regret not taking the time to put her stories to paper, but we have a garden here in Southern California that was very likely inspired by the fact her family had a victory garden during the war. I never asked, but watching this video I could see that being an inspiration. My Grandmother is still alive and was a child then, and she really enjoys your channel!
I don’t think it should ever be underestimated how much these dishes boosted the morale of the population during such uncertain times! I grew up on many recipes created during WWII here in Australia. It’s phenomenal how creative and resourceful people can become and how they even found ways to create dishes which were more than just sustenance alone.
As a German Historian for the "Institute of Contemporary History" in Munich, Germany i really love these Videos! Would also love to see you doing a couple of Recipes of German WW1 and WW2 Food (not gonna lie, we still use them in our Military nowadays because they are so good). In fact, when i served my 2 Tours in Afghanistan and 1 Tour in Kosovo with the 23rd Gebirgsjägerbrigade we also ate those old Recipes! Like the famous "Gulasch" (Goulash) from the "Gulaschkanone" (Goulash Cannon). That one's still used to this Day and i actually make it for myself at least once a Week because it's so good, despite being Military Frontline Food! Definitely would love you to cover any of these and if you need Recipes translated to English, i got you! Keep up the great Work! Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
This would be great to hear as very little about the wartime diet of any of the Axis powers from either WWI or WWII has ever really been published in my experience.
Germany suffered from enough shortages that you invented the word “ersatz” to describe replacement goods. The Wikipedia page for “ersatz” lists a recipe from the food ministry labeled labeled "(Top Secret) Berlin 24.X1 1941" that calls for: 50% bruised rye grain 20% sliced sugar beets 20% "tree flour" (sawdust) and 10% minced leaves and straw. sounds… delicious. although it was certainly, ahem, more than what my ancestors would have been eating if they were in germany at the same time
There was a bit of an outcry in the camping & bush-craft world when Unilever/Knorr discontinued the Erbswurst (Pea Sausage) in 2005. Invented in 1867 by Johann Heinrich Grüneberg, it first fed troops during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War/Franco-German War. It went on to feed troops for over a hundred years. Easy to store, pack & boil down to made a great pea & meat fat soup. often considered one of the first commercially produced "instant foods". Would make a great episode for Max to make as there are some good recipes for making an ersatz version online.
@@Hybris51129 we don't hear much about the Italian and Japanese wartime diet on the homefront either. I think we do have some details on what the French had under occupation. And the Dutch
My mother, who was pregnant with me in 1944, was continually hungry, but the smell of Woolton Pie made her feel so nauseated that she couldn’t eat. During the war there was always the depressing bread, but bread was rationed AFTER the end of the war. Life was really tough. Incidentally, I remember the day that sweets finally came off ration. Wonderful day, I was 9 years old. Mind you practically everything else was still rationed.
It was extremely tough after WWII - my father's family, having survived the war in the UK, got on a ship for the other side of the world in 1947 to seek a better life. My great aunt had run a pub before the war and during the Blitz was responsible for feeding an underground station full of people (people sheltered in the underground stations during the Blitz - the deep level stations were naturally protected, being so far underground, and if the worst came to the worst, people could always evacuate along the tracks to the next station).
My granda worked at Newcastle Central Station, during the war. A train had arrived carrying hundreds of American soldiers. The Townswomen's guild/WI had made iced finger buns and tea, for their arrival. The icing sugar, currants and tea were all rationed goods, so this was a tremendous show of appreciation, as well as effort, in order to welcome them. They were almost totally ignored - the buns and the women. At the back of the train, there were Italian POW's on their way up to Scotland. My granda waved to the women, who scooted along the platform and started throwing their buns through the windows into very appreciative hands. A Scottish Sergeant tried to stop them. He was not successful. One particularly indomitable woman, brushed him aside. "Look at them! They are just young, frightened boys and other mothers' sons! Haddaway!". Even after rationing ended, in the late 50s, food poverty was so ingrained that there was a kind of PTSD about greed and waste. Which is where our bad reputation for food comes from. It took my mother until the 80s before she stopped analysing how much of a weekly ration we had on our plates.
You are absolutely right, my grandparents had very strange ideas about food because of wartime scarcities. My grandmother became a terrible food hoarder, which I think has rubbed off on me in some strange way. Also, I think they forgot how to cook with generosity when abundance returned, and embraced the conveniences of the 50s and 60s instead, which contributed to the poor reputation of British Food.
That’s actually so sweet. I think my favourite bits of history are the little sparks of humanity like these. Even if they were foreign and the enemy, some still saw them for what they were- people. :)
I don't know where you'd get to see it online, but another great program is "The Supersizers Go....". Hosted by Giles Coren and Sue Perkins, every week they go to a different decade or era & live, eat & drink the way they would have. It first aired in 2008, so getting difficult to find. It may be available on BBC 2, & there are some episodes/snippets available on UA-cam. The presenters are pretty good. Sue Perkins it good in everything & Giles Coren (brother of Victoria Coren Mitchell) is an entertaining food writer, and television and radio presenter.
If you want to explore a much darker side of wartime rationing, maybe something to do with the Bengal Famine. Don’t know how many “recipes” survive from India at the time, but this video made me think of it, and it’s not a side of the conflict we always hear about.
Yes you are correct. I've been an armchair historian since I was 11. I'm 67 now ,but never new about that until a year or two back. It's a part of history that should not be forgotten. It took me decades to understand that the allied side of the war was not full of hero's and heroic deeds. It had a in some instances a very dark side.
Something to consider: Until the 1950's we ate a completely different variety of banana in the western world (or at least in the US and UK). The Gros Michel or "Big Mike" was a much bigger, most people say better tasting variety of banana. Between Panama disease and Sigatoka virus, the big banana producers were forced to switch to the Cavendish we currently eat today. So the banana flavor they were imitating in WW2 UK rationing cookbooks is much different than the one we have today.
I hear, though I have never had a Gros Michel to compare, "Banana Flavored" candies, such as taffy, taste more like the Gros Michel then the Cavendish.
Yeah I'm not entirely sure how true that banana flavor being based on gros Michel is, I see it everywhere myself as well but I mine are still growing so I have yet to try the fruit myself. Soon though!
I hear the Gros Michel is still grown in a few parts of the world today. Although they've long fallen out of the mainstream, they're certainly not extinct.
UA-cam has been doing its job right since a few days ago. Like, it actually notifies me when new videos are uploaded instead of telling me about it five days after.
No they didn't use "GRAVY" to make mock stockings but they did use "Gravy Browning" which was essentially dark caramel powder (For the colouring) and cornflour (To thicken the gravy up), I know because my Grandmother told me this was so when I too thought they used Gravy and mentioned this to her and she corrected me...
My grandparents lived in London during WW2. Granny once told us that even though she was allowed one egg a week, she actually once went about nine months between them. Rationing did a number on her more than the bombing tbh. She would joke about the bombs to us, but there was real pain about the deprivation and she and grandad were a reasonably well off middle class couple. When we cleared out her house after she died, we found so many packets of sweets and chocolates hidden away in drawers and cupboards, it was rather sad, she really never got over it. She died in 2007. ETA: I already see there are tedious comments about British food in this thread. Perhaps people would like to think a little more kindly about a country that was virtually cut off from the world's trade and was struggling to feed their population and that it lasted 7 years beyond the end of the war, the destruction to the economy was THAT bad.
@@random_an0n It was a rough time, especially for Londoners. We had family out in the countryside where things were a little less dire. Grandad wanted granny to go out there and live but she refused to leave her job or him (he wasn't in the army, too old, bad eyesight and in a protected profession). So she stayed and they survived and after the war moved to India and thrived.
My grandma is the same way. We’re American and my great-grandfather owned a grocery store during the war so rationing didn’t hit her quite as hard as a young child. But, sugar was rationed and she loves sweets. I deep cleaned her room for her a couple years ago and I found a bunch of candy stuffed in drawers. I guess it’s something she did as a kid and that habit continued late in life.
Thank you for a new Tasting History video Max - a comfort to me personally as I've just got back from visiting my nana in her nursing home (she has advanced dementia)
I live in KY and work at a nursing home for dementia patients. I'm sure some of these ladies and gents could still tell us a thing of two about those days! They may not know what today is, but yesteryear can be very clear.
@@Lionstar16Sorry to hear that dude. My grandma is in the same situation and she asks me where her dead husband, mother and brothers are and it’s always hard to find what to say. It’s tough to visit and it takes a lot out of you but know that you are doing the right thing and you won’t regret seeing her when her time comes. You’re not alone out there, as Three Dog says, keep fighting the good fight!
Hey folks - my dad died with Alzheimer's five years ago and I just want to share a little something. It's something somebody told me that turned out to be true. The decline is so painful and horrible that for a while, for a few years before and then after the end, all you can think about is what your loved one was like at the end. You feel you'll never be able to remember what they were 'really' like and all your memories are ruined and tainted. But it's not true. As time passes you will integrate those memories back into the whole person. You will be able to remember all of them, before the decline - you will get them back. I promise.
Love today's content! So many of the WWII novels and memoirs I've read (and I have read a lot!) talk about the National Loaf but I can't recall anyone talking about "banana cream." Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
If you grow your own parnsnips and leave them out in the ground all winter they get sweeter and sweeter. My dad loved them. My mom love on a farm in SE Kentucky so they had chickens and raised a pigs and had smoke house. Late fall was hog killing time where the men would take the big pig would cut up and they would start smoking up behind. It was a ten foot by ten foot concrete block structure. They did that well up till the early 60's
I think you should do a video on the postwar "great British dinner out" - prawn cocktail, steak garni, and black forest gateau - and its cultural significance at that time.
It's actually so fun to watch these videos, my great grandparents unfortunately were young children/teens during WW2 and consequently didn't speak about anything they remembered, learning about the history of why English food is still how it is today is pretty interesting, especially the affects of both wars.
There is a book called “Twenty and Ten” that I read as a child, it’s about World War Two, but it’s from the children’s perspective. There is a whole subplot about a chocolate bar, and how they’re trying to make it last the whole war. I found it opened my eyes toward rationing more than any other book I’ve read about World War Two.
I feel like so many of us in the States don't realize just how hard the UK was hit during WWII, both by the Blitz and by such austere rationing. I understand the memes of British cooking being "bad," but there are still some people alive today who were children during that lean, scary time in history, and it makes sense how every bit of rationed food was appreciated. No matter what it was.
Max's bf has to have the WEIRDEST lunch meals in the office lol. "Oh yah my partner makes a living tasting weird historical recipes. I gotta eat the leftovers."
I worked for a retired economics professor, who is now 101 years old. She was in her 20s in London during the Blitz, and worked on a project researching the health and body weight of factory workers during rationing. Both her study and others confirmed that for working class Londoners, they were significantly better nourished under rationing than before. She always emphasized that however tough the war was, being poor in early 20th century London was worse.
Indeed. I also read somewhere that the widespread promotion of fish and chips was after when they took in soldiers to serve in the First World War the authorities were shocked at how malnourished many were.
Yes! this is quite often set just aside. a lot of the times when I see usa "depression era meal" recipes they're just 80s finnish family meals. 50s finnish school meal would basically be gruel - but the gruel would have still been 100% better than 50 years before that having a meal of absolutely nothing.
I commented on another video about my great aunt using gravy on her legs to go on a date during the period of rationing!! Featured heavily in the story is what happened when her date took her to meet his family and she was enthusiastically greeted by their family dog. Her ‘stockings’ were summarily licked away 😭 God I hope Max read that comment!
My grandmother in Belgium told me she use a mixture of chicory to paint the leg and then an eye pencil to do the line. Gosh that brought back memories about my grandma 💙
I’m friends with a 93 year old Swiss woman who survived the war. She told me they were given a ration of one egg per person per month and egg day was always her favorite day of the month lol
My mother found my aunt's ration book last year. The entire idea of rationing is fascinating...I love these videos!! Looking forward to the next one on the cafés during the London Blitz!
During the War Mary Berry worked in a department trying to make simple, tasty foods within the ration system. I was born in 1944 and my grandfather kept chickens and rabbits in his back yard. An early memory is walking home while holding my dad's hand and the other hand holding a very fresh, warm egg. My mother was amazing at cooking simple healthy food at that time. I enjoyed corned beef (tinned) at the time and I love it to this day.
Forgotten Weapons did some time ago make a series on British rationing, with the host Ian McCollum living a month on a menu of period-accurate meals as per the rationed items, with one particular dish being Lord Woolton Pie. I seem to remember him liking it.
There's a documentary series available on UA-cam from the BBC entitled "Wartime Farm." It is quite in-depth with rationing, victory gardens, foraging, blackouts, pig clubs, canning and more. It runs over the course of a year and includes recreating a wartime Christmas. I recommend it highly.
I love that part of the video about the fake stockings. In "Are you being served?" Mrs. Slocomb did that to herself and Miss Brahms, including mentioning the gravy powder darkening. She even chided her to hold still to keep her "seams" straight as they were drawn in.
That was my first organic chemistry experiment too, or at least it’s the first one I remember. It must be a fairly basic experiment for beginning students. It made my clothes and hair smell like bananas.
WW2 also nearly did for small batch creameries throughout Britain. In order to reduce percieved wastage and uneven supply, a large proportion of the milk was directed towards the production of "government cheddar". By the end of the war, fewer than 100 cheese producers remained in business.
People who are interested should watch the Wartime Farm series here on YT. Extremely interesting information regarding rationing & providing food on the homefront.
I remember both mock banana and mock crab, from the 50s. I'm not sure about mock crab,, but it may have involved hard-boiled eggs, salad cream (a delicacy to avoid), and Worcestershire sauce. Throughout the war, Churchill's idea of a proper breakfast was partridge and burgundy. In both wars, but especially the Second, the royal family set an example.
Oh yes, I remember the mock crab. But, to be honest, we have no idea what the Royal Family ate during the war. They had vast estates to send them fresh produce. But certainly they made a show of setting an example, and rightly so.
I think i've commented on one of the other videos of this series that both my grandfathers were in what were termed 'reserve occupations'. My maternal grandfather was a signalman on the railways (I listened to hair-raising tales of horses scratching themselves on unexploded bombs that had landed next to Grandad's signal hut) my paternal grandfather was an engineer's engineer: he made and maintained the machines that made planes, etc. Both were also exceptional gardeners, whose gardens were always full of fresh fruit and veg. My maternal grandfather had a special greenhouse for growing things like tomatoes and cucumbers, and even as he got older, my paternal grandfather kept up a big vegetable garden, and was proud to say almost all the veg served to the family when we visited him and grandma, were from their sizeable back garden. I assume that both of them started this during the WWII war effort, as neither of them were asked to perform military service. However they came to do it, both of them took pride in growing fruit and vegetables to help feed their family. I wonder how many other followers of Tasting History have memories of grandparents and their gardens?
Parents, not grandparents! We always had a garden and it was for vegetables and not for flowers. My father was stationed somewhere in Wales after the war. My mother told me he would just keep a rifle by the bedroom window and shoot any rabbit that ventured into the garden. So providing protein to go with the vegetables!
Great video Max. Loving the WWII theme. I was born in 1960, 15 years after the war ended so every adult in my life had gone through the war & rationing. Most of the content in your video, I was told about as a kid. Good job, love the channel.
We learnt to make mock banana sandwiches at primary school to teach us about rationing. I don't think they were too bad (although it is around 40 years since I ate it). My parents insist the banana flavouring tastes a lot more like 50s bananas than the bananas we have now.
It's very true about the banana flavor being the old style of banana, before banana wilt wiped them out. The first time that I went to Hawaii and tried some of their homegrown varieties it became very clear that artificial banana simulates those, not what is currently in grocery stores.
If anyone wants more info on this subject, both the Absolute History "Wartime Farm" and the older British "WW2 Homefront" series on YT are excellent. Feeding Britain during WW2 was an incredible effort that reached into every aspect of home-front life. And rationing on some items didn't end until the 1950's in part because the US insisted that Britain re-pay their war debt (we didn't demand this of Germany...)
This video reminds me of stories I heard growing up in Guernsey (Occupied British Isles). The island ran out of food more or less a few years into the war, leaving both locals and the German soldiers starving. I remember one of my teachers in infant school (elementary to everyone else, I think) telling us stories of hiding their pigs from the soldiers when they came knocking as you had to register/surrender any livestock to the Germans. My Grandpa has all sorts of stories form the occupation as well. I would love to see a video someday about Guernsey's occupation, if you're looking for a Guernsey recipe, a Guernsey Gâche or a proper old beanjar (moussaettes au four) are age-appropriate local dishes. Love the stuff!
Dogs and other pets were actually quite rare during the war in Britain. Thousands of people had their pets euthanized at the beginning of the war out of fear for the coming food shortages.
My dad was born in 1938! Two of his sisters served and we’ve still got his one ration book, loved asking him about it. What he could remember but he also did his services in the 50s. One of the last to do so :)
My mum lived in the countryside (Derbyshire) and was a Land Girl during the war. The gravy tights were true! She told the tale of courting my Dad and fording the stream at the bottom of the hill to get home. She came out with pink legs up to her knees! :D
This video remaindered me of childhood times growing up in communist Romania. We had less food that you show here, but the bread was better. We actually got bananas once a year, on Christmas, and oranges maybe twice.
For the gravy legs: you were supposed to just use gravy *browning*, a food-colouring for getting the dark, rich brown gravy's that was popular at the time. I don't think it was supposed to be with meat in.
Awesome stuff. I chose to do a writing thing on Britain during the opening of the Blitz so I got all up into the rationing and running a household in England. It was a grim time that lasted forever. They were still shaking it off in the '70s
You've probably been told this before, and its unrelated to the video, but i wanna say this personally. As a queer person studying history its amazing to see another member of the community so deeply passionate about history putting themselves out there. Ive probably watched all your videos atleast twice. I just wanna say thank you so much for all this (Im austistic so sorry if this is worded weird i struggle to put my thoughts into writing)
My mother said she and Dad quit putting sugar in their coffee and tea as sugar was rationed and they preferred to use it in baking. Every suburban house had an empty lot for their victory garden. She also mentioned painting her legs to imitate stockings but i never asked her what she used. A bit of Canadian trivia.
The details of the two World Wars never interested me as much as the tribulations on the Home Front. My Grandma and Dad lived through both; my mother through the second. A short series on Home Front cookery? Yes, please!
I have no one to ask about this period in Sweden but I do know my grandparents had an alotment quite a big one and my grandfather grew potatoes and all sorts of veg there, he even raised rabbits that ended up as dinners for my father and his siblings. Sweden also had rationingbooks.
Silage bread is something we likely won't see in the channel, but makes an appearance in BBC's amazing series Wartime Farm. (That and the other historical farm series are here on youtube, my binge watching favourites during covid.)
Mentioning Winston Churchill reminded me that one of his favorite deserts was Dundee Cake. I remember hearing something about how he would get excited if he had visitors, because it was the few occasions his wife let him have it.
Good video! Love your content. My boyfriend bought Tasting History for my birthday and I am having so much fun with it! I'm a vegetarian, but I make exceptions when trying new foods for the first time. Maybe a new video idea would be adapting to vegetarian options, like seitan or fake meats? Maybe the history of meat substitutes? Anyway, thanks for the fun info!
Oooh I would love a video on meat substitutes. I'm not vegetarian but sure appreciate good seitan. "The Infamous Seitan Recipe o' Greatness" is exactly that. Easily googled if anyone's interested! 😊
Hi Max! Yes, Britain was well prepared for rationing during the war. As for a sugar substitute, more so here in the northeastern U.S., maple sugar. Yes, sugar not syrup. I knew many people who boiled down maple sap to produce maple syrup. However if one continued boiling the syrup the first result is maple cream. Continuing the boil the cream harden into more of a chunky block which is then broken up producing granulated maple sugar. This is an ancient recipe dating back to native Americans which became quite valuable to rural families during World War II.
I had Grandparents and Step-Grandparents on both sides of the Atlantic during WWll. I remember them talking about rationing and Victory Garden when I was a kid. I once followed the UK rationing for a month to see how I would do. I only really had trouble figuring out the point system, and how to find smaller quantities of eggs so that they wouldn't go bad before I could eat them. It was also super cheap, so I saved quite a bit of money. Every couple of years, I give it another try.
As always, Max, this video is both informative and delightful. And I knew I could count on you for a special treat: When I was a youngster in the late 50s and early 60s, My father, a WW2 veteran, would occasionally break out in song, Including one of my childhood favorites “Yes We Have No Bananas!” … So I hoped today’s video would include a reference to that classic novelty song! And of course, you didn’t let me down! (PS … A special thank you for your unexpected but deeply appreciated birthday greeting last week. Best! Birthday! Surprise! Ever!)
One of my favorite video series was when Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons fame spent a week living with only British rations to eat. I do wish that he could have eventually covered other nations but given it was on the InRange channel and where that went I am glad to see you take up the torch as it were.
My grampa (American) was a great dude and he had this thing: he LOVED GI banana bread. I feel shy about it. But Grandpa was in the Army Air Corps and a lot of my family was on the war effort, and had multiple purple hearts and also. But, later: he seemed pleased that I exist; he'd put me on his knee and tell me how much he hated hard tack and quite later his wife (my grandmother I guess) would ask me how soon I'd get a girlfriend, and my grandpa sliced his eyes to me and he was like, hey, do you want to talk about planes?
We recently went to a WWII museum exhibit that showed a 1943 recipe for “Victory Pancakes” from Betty Crocker Cookbook. The pancakes are made primarily from vegetables with minimal amounts of eggs and flour. They are actually pretty good.
I personally love your holiday themed episodes; thanksgiving, halloween, and Christmas in particular. Cant wait to see what you do this year if you have anything special planned.
My nan and her cousin used to tan their leg with tea on the bus on the way to work and when it rained it used to leave drip trails on their legs. This was in the 50s
My parents were young adults during WW2 in Finland, my dad was in the continuation war 1943-44. And I just googled around a bit and found out about Marja Helaakoski-Tuominens rations cookbook "Pula-ajan keittokirja" . Maybe that's something for you to take a look at.
I've only realised, watching this video, that in my school cooking class in around 1968, we cooked Woolton Pie. Before we joined the EU, fresh green vegetables or tomatoes were pretty much unavailable during the winter months - so pies were made with root vegetables, with an added onion. Without the pie crusting, it was called "a winter salad" - that had cabbage in it. Both were pretty inedible.
From the uk here. My nan still talks about being a kid in the war. And always makes what she calls her recession pie from the war. Corn beef, mash potatoes and onions in a pie with what ever type of pastry she can get hold of. ^^
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Max, you should look into the cookbook We'lll Eat Again and maybe actually cook a Woolton Pie at some point
Be careful not to catch the Crazy Cat Lady disease. Yes, that's a real thing. No joke.
my Grand mother was in charge of the paper work for the food ration books. she was very cross when she heard on our tv that people had been panic buying food during the early stages of the Covid 19 pandemic in the UK.
Mr. Miller, does your ration series also intent to cover the axis powers? As a german I would like to know how my grandmother had to make due in the war while my grandfather was away at the front. Even with what my nation did during the war.
@@wolfschadow6399 yep. Germany should be in early December. Japan in January.
I used your hard tack recipe a few weeks ago, than the hurricanes hit, and i made even more. I took a bunch of homemade potted meat, a bunch of boullion, and al lthe hard tack to some friends stranded out there, stayed with them for a while as there wasn't a shelter they couldn't get too.
We ate on it for days, mixing it into a oatmeal like meal. Just wanted to say thanks for the recipe Max! It helped some people out!
clack clack
💞💞💞💞💞👍 you rock!!
Bless you!! ❤
Wonderful improvising!
@@saninorochimaru2 you beat me to it. I was going to post this.
I absolutely love your "newsreel" voice whenever you're reading old ads from that era. So fun to listen to!
Rationing was so well-implemented and the recipes so effective that deaths from malnutrition went _down_ during the war.
So, rationing even such a garbage food was actually better than market economy? Are you telling me such a simplistic communist economy role model is ok? Who would have thought.
Holy shiitaki, that's a sobering thought.
It also has to do with the fact they were eating far more vegetables and less animal products. There is an interesting study from one of the Scandinavian countries during the war when the population was not allowed meat at all for a long period of time and after that all manner of heart issues/disease plummeted.
@@RuthT90that has to do with how meat was traditionally salted. The excess intake of sodium caused problems
My grandmother was still cooking out of her 1940 ration book until 2005
I remember my Brit Nan cooking over a pot Fag 🚬 in mouth
😱
Keep that book forever 😍
@ChadConnor .. come on now use your brain.
@@ChadConnorThat is when she found Amazon and ordered a new cookbook.
I learned to cook from people who had been taught to cook during WW2 rationing, and they passed down a lot of habits that I didn't realize were related to rationing until I did research in my college years. Among these habits are the following
"Cook your vegetables in as little water as possible and as fast as possible to prevent vitamin loss."
"Use the water from cooking your vegetables to make your gravy. That way no vitamins are lost."
"A good dinner requires a potato dish, two vegetables, and a protein. For supper, one fruit and one vegetable should be served beside the main dish. And one fruit and half a glass of orange juice [always from concentrate as fresh oranges were rare and refrigeration wasnt really a thing until the 60s] should be included with breakfast."
"One pound of boneless meat serves four people if you plan your meals properly."
"Keep a garden and use it. If you can't eat it, you can trade it or can it."
"Willful waste makes woeful want."
Some of my favorite dishes as a child were later discovered to be straight out of government pamphlets from WW2 rationing, which was mildly disconcerting. I still look at modern recipes and think, "My, that uses a lot of fat/sugar/flour/etc." and often pass that recipe by in favor of one of my older cookbooks with a more economical recipe. When you learn a mindset, it can be hard to change, even 60 or 70 years after the fact.
""Cook your vegetables in as little water as possible and ..."
That sounds like steaming.
What were those favorite dishes of yours?
Tradition, also called "bullying by dead people"
If a recipe has too much fat or sugar for your liking, try to find a recipe from another country for the same dish. There are a bunch of countries, where sugar and fat are more favored or even status symbols. Or you can just adapt the recipe for your own likings, nobody will shoot you for that, unless you break the spaghetti in half, that's a declaration of war.
It's okay, the nazi's aren't still flying overhead. You can eat normal food again.
I can barely eat store bought cakes in the US. They use just way too much sugar.
One thing that always made me chuckle is when I was in primary school, our class were doing world war 2 history and one of the teachers wanted us to perform some of the 'old songs' for a group of elderly folk (we were going to talk to them after about their experiences during the war, this was some 32 years ago), one of the songs was "lets all go down the Strand" which a lot of the kids had learned the refrain of "have a Banana" just after the first line of the chorus from their own grandparents which wasn't officially part of the song. The teacher must have spent a couple of hours drilling us kids to not sing that refrain.
So the day comes, we go down, we perform the songs and of course the old folks all do the "have a Banana" at which point we just start cracking up, at first the old folks looked a little offended but one kid was like "SEE, I told you that was in the song!" and the teacher just kind of sighed and facepalmed, after we'd finished she explained to the old folks that because it wasn't originally in the lyrics she thought it was a modern invention at which point the old folks just chuckle and shake their heads.
My Great Grandmother lived through the London Blitz, until she went to Canada on the Queen Mary because her husband had been stationed there with the RAF. They weren't told when the ship was going to leave up until maybe an hour before, and after everyone else had boarded, Winston Churchill went aboard himself as I believe he had a meeting in the US he was going to. The Captain of that ship made sure that throughout the journey the Women and Children aboard the ship were as comfortable as they could get as the ship WAS a Troop Transport and was moving as a convoy under guard. She'd tell me these stories as a kid, and up until she died of old age in 2011, I always regret not taking the time to put her stories to paper, but we have a garden here in Southern California that was very likely inspired by the fact her family had a victory garden during the war. I never asked, but watching this video I could see that being an inspiration. My Grandmother is still alive and was a child then, and she really enjoys your channel!
I don’t think it should ever be underestimated how much these dishes boosted the morale of the population during such uncertain times!
I grew up on many recipes created during WWII here in Australia.
It’s phenomenal how creative and resourceful people can become and how they even found ways to create dishes which were more than just sustenance alone.
What were those recipes?
@@erzsebetkovacs2527 Grey slop with a side of sawdust, judging from current uk/commonwealth food.
As a German Historian for the "Institute of Contemporary History" in Munich, Germany i really love these Videos!
Would also love to see you doing a couple of Recipes of German WW1 and WW2 Food (not gonna lie, we still use them in our Military nowadays because they are so good). In fact, when i served my 2 Tours in Afghanistan and 1 Tour in Kosovo with the 23rd Gebirgsjägerbrigade we also ate those old Recipes!
Like the famous "Gulasch" (Goulash) from the "Gulaschkanone" (Goulash Cannon). That one's still used to this Day and i actually make it for myself at least once a Week because it's so good, despite being Military Frontline Food!
Definitely would love you to cover any of these and if you need Recipes translated to English, i got you!
Keep up the great Work!
Prost & Cheers from Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps
This would be great to hear as very little about the wartime diet of any of the Axis powers from either WWI or WWII has ever really been published in my experience.
I was stationed near Mainz with the 8th US Infantry Division!
Germany suffered from enough shortages that you invented the word “ersatz” to describe replacement goods.
The Wikipedia page for “ersatz” lists a recipe from the food ministry labeled labeled "(Top Secret) Berlin 24.X1 1941" that calls for:
50% bruised rye grain
20% sliced sugar beets
20% "tree flour" (sawdust)
and 10% minced leaves and straw.
sounds… delicious. although it was certainly, ahem, more than what my ancestors would have been eating if they were in germany at the same time
There was a bit of an outcry in the camping & bush-craft world when Unilever/Knorr discontinued the Erbswurst (Pea Sausage) in 2005.
Invented in 1867 by Johann Heinrich Grüneberg, it first fed troops during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War/Franco-German War. It went on to feed troops for over a hundred years. Easy to store, pack & boil down to made a great pea & meat fat soup. often considered one of the first commercially produced "instant foods". Would make a great episode for Max to make as there are some good recipes for making an ersatz version online.
@@Hybris51129 we don't hear much about the Italian and Japanese wartime diet on the homefront either. I think we do have some details on what the French had under occupation. And the Dutch
My mother, who was pregnant with me in 1944, was continually hungry, but the smell of Woolton Pie made her feel so nauseated that she couldn’t eat. During the war there was always the depressing bread, but bread was rationed AFTER the end of the war. Life was really tough. Incidentally, I remember the day that sweets finally came off ration. Wonderful day, I was 9 years old. Mind you practically everything else was still rationed.
It was extremely tough after WWII - my father's family, having survived the war in the UK, got on a ship for the other side of the world in 1947 to seek a better life. My great aunt had run a pub before the war and during the Blitz was responsible for feeding an underground station full of people (people sheltered in the underground stations during the Blitz - the deep level stations were naturally protected, being so far underground, and if the worst came to the worst, people could always evacuate along the tracks to the next station).
My granda worked at Newcastle Central Station, during the war. A train had arrived carrying hundreds of American soldiers. The Townswomen's guild/WI had made iced finger buns and tea, for their arrival.
The icing sugar, currants and tea were all rationed goods, so this was a tremendous show of appreciation, as well as effort, in order to welcome them.
They were almost totally ignored - the buns and the women.
At the back of the train, there were Italian POW's on their way up to Scotland. My granda waved to the women, who scooted along the platform and started throwing their buns through the windows into very appreciative hands.
A Scottish Sergeant tried to stop them. He was not successful.
One particularly indomitable woman, brushed him aside.
"Look at them! They are just young, frightened boys and other mothers' sons! Haddaway!".
Even after rationing ended, in the late 50s, food poverty was so ingrained that there was a kind of PTSD about greed and waste. Which is where our bad reputation for food comes from. It took my mother until the 80s before she stopped analysing how much of a weekly ration we had on our plates.
You are absolutely right, my grandparents had very strange ideas about food because of wartime scarcities. My grandmother became a terrible food hoarder, which I think has rubbed off on me in some strange way. Also, I think they forgot how to cook with generosity when abundance returned, and embraced the conveniences of the 50s and 60s instead, which contributed to the poor reputation of British Food.
Thank you! That was a story worth sharing.
That’s actually so sweet. I think my favourite bits of history are the little sparks of humanity like these. Even if they were foreign and the enemy, some still saw them for what they were- people. :)
I just finished watching BBC's "Wartime Farm" series again. It's a great look at what people went through.
So good!
OH I love that series! and the other Farm series
I thought of that series immediately when I saw today's topic, it's probably my favorite from all the different Farm ones.
The Wartime Kitchen and Garden is another very good series.
I don't know where you'd get to see it online, but another great program is "The Supersizers Go....". Hosted by Giles Coren and Sue Perkins, every week they go to a different decade or era & live, eat & drink the way they would have. It first aired in 2008, so getting difficult to find. It may be available on BBC 2, & there are some episodes/snippets available on UA-cam. The presenters are pretty good. Sue Perkins it good in everything & Giles Coren (brother of Victoria Coren Mitchell) is an entertaining food writer, and television and radio presenter.
If you want to explore a much darker side of wartime rationing, maybe something to do with the Bengal Famine. Don’t know how many “recipes” survive from India at the time, but this video made me think of it, and it’s not a side of the conflict we always hear about.
Yes you are correct. I've been an armchair historian since I was 11. I'm 67 now ,but never new about that until a year or two back. It's a part of history that should not be forgotten. It took me decades to understand that the allied side of the war was not full of hero's and heroic deeds. It had a in some instances a very dark side.
There was a series on this on BBC World Service (insomniac, have radio on all night). Horrifying.
Churchill let the Bengali starve. It is dark stuff.
His video about Russia in WW2 was very, very dark. I cried!
Max doesn't shy away from dark topics.
Something to consider:
Until the 1950's we ate a completely different variety of banana in the western world (or at least in the US and UK). The Gros Michel or "Big Mike" was a much bigger, most people say better tasting variety of banana. Between Panama disease and Sigatoka virus, the big banana producers were forced to switch to the Cavendish we currently eat today. So the banana flavor they were imitating in WW2 UK rationing cookbooks is much different than the one we have today.
I recently heard artificial banana flavour is based on the Gros Michel, which frankly would explain a lot.
I hear, though I have never had a Gros Michel to compare, "Banana Flavored" candies, such as taffy, taste more like the Gros Michel then the Cavendish.
Yeah I'm not entirely sure how true that banana flavor being based on gros Michel is, I see it everywhere myself as well but I mine are still growing so I have yet to try the fruit myself. Soon though!
@@therufflife4121 I insist you come back and report on this!
I hear the Gros Michel is still grown in a few parts of the world today. Although they've long fallen out of the mainstream, they're certainly not extinct.
UA-cam has been doing its job right since a few days ago. Like, it actually notifies me when new videos are uploaded instead of telling me about it five days after.
Glad it’s doing so! It took a break for a few months.
No they didn't use "GRAVY" to make mock stockings but they did use "Gravy Browning" which was essentially dark caramel powder (For the colouring) and cornflour (To thicken the gravy up), I know because my Grandmother told me this was so when I too thought they used Gravy and mentioned this to her and she corrected me...
My grandparents lived in London during WW2. Granny once told us that even though she was allowed one egg a week, she actually once went about nine months between them. Rationing did a number on her more than the bombing tbh. She would joke about the bombs to us, but there was real pain about the deprivation and she and grandad were a reasonably well off middle class couple. When we cleared out her house after she died, we found so many packets of sweets and chocolates hidden away in drawers and cupboards, it was rather sad, she really never got over it. She died in 2007.
ETA: I already see there are tedious comments about British food in this thread. Perhaps people would like to think a little more kindly about a country that was virtually cut off from the world's trade and was struggling to feed their population and that it lasted 7 years beyond the end of the war, the destruction to the economy was THAT bad.
we survived,americans wouldnt the second the avacados ran out they would surrender instantly lmao
@@random_an0n It was a rough time, especially for Londoners. We had family out in the countryside where things were a little less dire. Grandad wanted granny to go out there and live but she refused to leave her job or him (he wasn't in the army, too old, bad eyesight and in a protected profession). So she stayed and they survived and after the war moved to India and thrived.
Now the UK government wants everyone to register their chickens and are about to outlaw beef.
especially since Britain is an island and that made trade difficult during war
My grandma is the same way. We’re American and my great-grandfather owned a grocery store during the war so rationing didn’t hit her quite as hard as a young child. But, sugar was rationed and she loves sweets. I deep cleaned her room for her a couple years ago and I found a bunch of candy stuffed in drawers. I guess it’s something she did as a kid and that habit continued late in life.
Thank you for a new Tasting History video Max - a comfort to me personally as I've just got back from visiting my nana in her nursing home (she has advanced dementia)
Sorry to hear about her condition, but glad to hear you visit.
@@TastingHistory Thanks Max - she thankfully stills recognises me, but unfortunately asks where her husband (my grandfather) is and he died last year.
I live in KY and work at a nursing home for dementia patients. I'm sure some of these ladies and gents could still tell us a thing of two about those days! They may not know what today is, but yesteryear can be very clear.
@@Lionstar16Sorry to hear that dude. My grandma is in the same situation and she asks me where her dead husband, mother and brothers are and it’s always hard to find what to say. It’s tough to visit and it takes a lot out of you but know that you are doing the right thing and you won’t regret seeing her when her time comes. You’re not alone out there, as Three Dog says, keep fighting the good fight!
Hey folks - my dad died with Alzheimer's five years ago and I just want to share a little something. It's something somebody told me that turned out to be true. The decline is so painful and horrible that for a while, for a few years before and then after the end, all you can think about is what your loved one was like at the end. You feel you'll never be able to remember what they were 'really' like and all your memories are ruined and tainted. But it's not true. As time passes you will integrate those memories back into the whole person. You will be able to remember all of them, before the decline - you will get them back. I promise.
Gravy browning (Caramel, Molasses) was used for the "fake tan", not just the left-overs from Sunday dinner. Awesome, as always, thank-you.
So it was used? I thought it was just propaganda.
Love today's content! So many of the WWII novels and memoirs I've read (and I have read a lot!) talk about the National Loaf but I can't recall anyone talking about "banana cream." Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
That's the universal question with food recipes: were people actually using them to cook a meal?
If you grow your own parnsnips and leave them out in the ground all winter they get sweeter and sweeter. My dad loved them. My mom love on a farm in SE Kentucky so they had chickens and raised a pigs and had smoke house. Late fall was hog killing time where the men would take the big pig would cut up and they would start smoking up behind. It was a ten foot by ten foot concrete block structure. They did that well up till the early 60's
I think you should do a video on the postwar "great British dinner out" - prawn cocktail, steak garni, and black forest gateau - and its cultural significance at that time.
It's actually so fun to watch these videos, my great grandparents unfortunately were young children/teens during WW2 and consequently didn't speak about anything they remembered, learning about the history of why English food is still how it is today is pretty interesting, especially the affects of both wars.
This channel has the kind of content that makes me glad UA-cam exists. Great video as usual, Max!
There is a book called “Twenty and Ten” that I read as a child, it’s about World War Two, but it’s from the children’s perspective. There is a whole subplot about a chocolate bar, and how they’re trying to make it last the whole war. I found it opened my eyes toward rationing more than any other book I’ve read about World War Two.
I feel like so many of us in the States don't realize just how hard the UK was hit during WWII, both by the Blitz and by such austere rationing. I understand the memes of British cooking being "bad," but there are still some people alive today who were children during that lean, scary time in history, and it makes sense how every bit of rationed food was appreciated. No matter what it was.
Max's bf has to have the WEIRDEST lunch meals in the office lol.
"Oh yah my partner makes a living tasting weird historical recipes. I gotta eat the leftovers."
I worked for a retired economics professor, who is now 101 years old. She was in her 20s in London during the Blitz, and worked on a project researching the health and body weight of factory workers during rationing. Both her study and others confirmed that for working class Londoners, they were significantly better nourished under rationing than before. She always emphasized that however tough the war was, being poor in early 20th century London was worse.
There's something deeply ironic in that idea. That war rationing could improve your living situation if you were poor enough...
Indeed. I also read somewhere that the widespread promotion of fish and chips was after when they took in soldiers to serve in the First World War the authorities were shocked at how malnourished many were.
Yes! this is quite often set just aside.
a lot of the times when I see usa "depression era meal" recipes they're just 80s finnish family meals. 50s finnish school meal would basically be gruel - but the gruel would have still been 100% better than 50 years before that having a meal of absolutely nothing.
I love your posts in general, but I'm REALLY loving all the WW2 content the last few months!
I commented on another video about my great aunt using gravy on her legs to go on a date during the period of rationing!!
Featured heavily in the story is what happened when her date took her to meet his family and she was enthusiastically greeted by their family dog.
Her ‘stockings’ were summarily licked away 😭
God I hope Max read that comment!
Why did she put gravy on her legs?
They also drew a stocking seam using charcoal
@@angelikichu7477nylon was rationed
My grandmother in Belgium told me she use a mixture of chicory to paint the leg and then an eye pencil to do the line. Gosh that brought back memories about my grandma 💙
Awesome Tank Girl pfp! I'll bet your grandmother had a lot of incredible stories of those times
I’m friends with a 93 year old Swiss woman who survived the war. She told me they were given a ration of one egg per person per month and egg day was always her favorite day of the month lol
My mother found my aunt's ration book last year. The entire idea of rationing is fascinating...I love these videos!! Looking forward to the next one on the cafés during the London Blitz!
That really is a story!
During the War Mary Berry worked in a department trying to make simple, tasty foods within the ration system. I was born in 1944 and my grandfather kept chickens and rabbits in his back yard. An early memory is walking home while holding my dad's hand and the other hand holding a very fresh, warm egg. My mother was amazing at cooking simple healthy food at that time. I enjoyed corned beef (tinned) at the time and I love it to this day.
I’d be surprised if a 4 - 10 year old Mary Berry was doing anything of the sort, unless this is a different Mary we’re discussing?
Think you mean Margarette Pattern, worked in Harrods, pre war, demonstrating fridges which were not common in Britain at the time.
Didn’t even register that this just came out! I was just so excited to listen to history while I clean the house! Awesome work as always!
Sir Maximus Millerton of thee ye ol’ Tasting History. Thank you for this exquisite video. I shall me able to squander another moon.
‘Tis a pleasure
New video, what a treat! You're one of the most pleasant channels I watch on UA-cam besides being very informative as well.
Thank you so much 😊
Forgotten Weapons did some time ago make a series on British rationing, with the host Ian McCollum living a month on a menu of period-accurate meals as per the rationed items, with one particular dish being Lord Woolton Pie. I seem to remember him liking it.
There's a documentary series available on UA-cam from the BBC entitled "Wartime Farm."
It is quite in-depth with rationing, victory gardens, foraging, blackouts, pig clubs, canning and more. It runs over the course of a year and includes recreating a wartime Christmas. I recommend it highly.
I love that part of the video about the fake stockings. In "Are you being served?" Mrs. Slocomb did that to herself and Miss Brahms, including mentioning the gravy powder darkening. She even chided her to hold still to keep her "seams" straight as they were drawn in.
Love your WW 2 food series, keep em coming!
The first ever organic chemistry synthesis experiment I did in college was making banana oil, which is quite simple. The whole lab smelled fantastic
That was my first organic chemistry experiment too, or at least it’s the first one I remember. It must be a fairly basic experiment for beginning students. It made my clothes and hair smell like bananas.
WW2 also nearly did for small batch creameries throughout Britain. In order to reduce percieved wastage and uneven supply, a large proportion of the milk was directed towards the production of "government cheddar". By the end of the war, fewer than 100 cheese producers remained in business.
People who are interested should watch the Wartime Farm series here on YT. Extremely interesting information regarding rationing & providing food on the homefront.
I remember both mock banana and mock crab, from the 50s.
I'm not sure about mock crab,, but it may have involved hard-boiled eggs, salad cream (a delicacy to avoid), and Worcestershire sauce.
Throughout the war, Churchill's idea of a proper breakfast was partridge and burgundy. In both wars, but especially the Second, the royal family set an example.
Oh yes, I remember the mock crab. But, to be honest, we have no idea what the Royal Family ate during the war. They had vast estates to send them fresh produce. But certainly they made a show of setting an example, and rightly so.
Very interesting! Can't wait for other videos on the WW2 habits of eating/cooking.
I’d kill to see you make the Shooters Sandwich. It was basically a sandwich version of beef wellington used by British hunters in the early 1900s
12:30 As a Canadian it's neat to see Canadian Eggs written on the egg crate!
You could cook anything and the video will make me hungry.
I'm always boggled by the amount of research you do for each video. Thanks again Max.
I think i've commented on one of the other videos of this series that both my grandfathers were in what were termed 'reserve occupations'. My maternal grandfather was a signalman on the railways (I listened to hair-raising tales of horses scratching themselves on unexploded bombs that had landed next to Grandad's signal hut) my paternal grandfather was an engineer's engineer: he made and maintained the machines that made planes, etc.
Both were also exceptional gardeners, whose gardens were always full of fresh fruit and veg. My maternal grandfather had a special greenhouse for growing things like tomatoes and cucumbers, and even as he got older, my paternal grandfather kept up a big vegetable garden, and was proud to say almost all the veg served to the family when we visited him and grandma, were from their sizeable back garden. I assume that both of them started this during the WWII war effort, as neither of them were asked to perform military service. However they came to do it, both of them took pride in growing fruit and vegetables to help feed their family. I wonder how many other followers of Tasting History have memories of grandparents and their gardens?
Parents, not grandparents! We always had a garden and it was for vegetables and not for flowers. My father was stationed somewhere in Wales after the war. My mother told me he would just keep a rifle by the bedroom window and shoot any rabbit that ventured into the garden. So providing protein to go with the vegetables!
Great video Max. Loving the WWII theme.
I was born in 1960, 15 years after the war ended so every adult in my life had gone through the war & rationing. Most of the content in your video, I was told about as a kid. Good job, love the channel.
We learnt to make mock banana sandwiches at primary school to teach us about rationing. I don't think they were too bad (although it is around 40 years since I ate it). My parents insist the banana flavouring tastes a lot more like 50s bananas than the bananas we have now.
It's very true about the banana flavor being the old style of banana, before banana wilt wiped them out. The first time that I went to Hawaii and tried some of their homegrown varieties it became very clear that artificial banana simulates those, not what is currently in grocery stores.
My dad lived in London during the Blitz as a young boy. When I asked him what was his worst memory of the war he replied "parsnips"
If anyone wants more info on this subject, both the Absolute History "Wartime Farm" and the older British "WW2 Homefront" series on YT are excellent. Feeding Britain during WW2 was an incredible effort that reached into every aspect of home-front life. And rationing on some items didn't end until the 1950's in part because the US insisted that Britain re-pay their war debt (we didn't demand this of Germany...)
I can't seem to find the WW2 Homefront series (there are various hits, but nothing like a series 😢) are there additional search prompts i can use?
This video reminds me of stories I heard growing up in Guernsey (Occupied British Isles). The island ran out of food more or less a few years into the war, leaving both locals and the German soldiers starving. I remember one of my teachers in infant school (elementary to everyone else, I think) telling us stories of hiding their pigs from the soldiers when they came knocking as you had to register/surrender any livestock to the Germans. My Grandpa has all sorts of stories form the occupation as well. I would love to see a video someday about Guernsey's occupation, if you're looking for a Guernsey recipe, a Guernsey Gâche or a proper old beanjar (moussaettes au four) are age-appropriate local dishes. Love the stuff!
Have you seen the movie: The Guernsey Literary and Potatoes Peel Pie Society? It’s about this exact thing! Great movie :)
Dogs and other pets were actually quite rare during the war in Britain. Thousands of people had their pets euthanized at the beginning of the war out of fear for the coming food shortages.
My dad was born in 1938! Two of his sisters served and we’ve still got his one ration book, loved asking him about it. What he could remember but he also did his services in the 50s. One of the last to do so :)
I love the fact that in every episode there is a Pokemon in the background
I'm so glad to have found your channel even when I don't want to make the recipe, I enjoy the history!
My mum lived in the countryside (Derbyshire) and was a Land Girl during the war.
The gravy tights were true!
She told the tale of courting my Dad and fording the stream at the bottom of the hill to get home. She came out with pink legs up to her knees! :D
She could make a hearty meal out of *anything* and practically nothing.
This video remaindered me of childhood times growing up in communist Romania. We had less food that you show here, but the bread was better. We actually got bananas once a year, on Christmas, and oranges maybe twice.
For the gravy legs: you were supposed to just use gravy *browning*, a food-colouring for getting the dark, rich brown gravy's that was popular at the time. I don't think it was supposed to be with meat in.
Awesome stuff. I chose to do a writing thing on Britain during the opening of the Blitz so I got all up into the rationing and running a household in England. It was a grim time that lasted forever. They were still shaking it off in the '70s
I love these war time dishes. I have always had an interest in both the world wars. Its very relaxing to listen to and gives me new things to look up!
You've probably been told this before, and its unrelated to the video, but i wanna say this personally. As a queer person studying history its amazing to see another member of the community so deeply passionate about history putting themselves out there. Ive probably watched all your videos atleast twice. I just wanna say thank you so much for all this (Im austistic so sorry if this is worded weird i struggle to put my thoughts into writing)
Thank you. This means a lot.
My mother said she and Dad quit putting sugar in their coffee and tea as sugar was rationed and they preferred to use it in baking. Every suburban house had an empty lot for their victory garden. She also mentioned painting her legs to imitate stockings but i never asked her what she used. A bit of Canadian trivia.
The details of the two World Wars never interested me as much as the tribulations on the Home Front. My Grandma and Dad lived through both; my mother through the second.
A short series on Home Front cookery? Yes, please!
I have no one to ask about this period in Sweden but I do know my grandparents had an alotment quite a big one and my grandfather grew potatoes and all sorts of veg there, he even raised rabbits that ended up as dinners for my father and his siblings. Sweden also had rationingbooks.
Silage bread is something we likely won't see in the channel, but makes an appearance in BBC's amazing series Wartime Farm. (That and the other historical farm series are here on youtube, my binge watching favourites during covid.)
Would love a “In Defense of British Food” video going over the reasons for Britain’s reputation and why its not true today.
Your tea towel, that you used to cover the dough, is gorgeous, Max. Wow 👍
My dad, who was born in 1941 and grew up on the national loaf, still loves stodgy brown bread. The drier and denser the better!
Mentioning Winston Churchill reminded me that one of his favorite deserts was Dundee Cake. I remember hearing something about how he would get excited if he had visitors, because it was the few occasions his wife let him have it.
Good video! Love your content. My boyfriend bought Tasting History for my birthday and I am having so much fun with it! I'm a vegetarian, but I make exceptions when trying new foods for the first time. Maybe a new video idea would be adapting to vegetarian options, like seitan or fake meats? Maybe the history of meat substitutes? Anyway, thanks for the fun info!
Definitely on my to do list.
Oooh I would love a video on meat substitutes. I'm not vegetarian but sure appreciate good seitan. "The Infamous Seitan Recipe o' Greatness" is exactly that. Easily googled if anyone's interested! 😊
Finally getting notified of your videos again !! I enjoy them so much :)
Another great episode from Max! Thank you sir!
Hi Max!
Yes, Britain was well prepared for rationing during the war.
As for a sugar substitute, more so here in the northeastern U.S., maple sugar.
Yes, sugar not syrup. I knew many people who boiled down maple sap to produce maple syrup. However if one continued boiling the syrup the first result is maple cream. Continuing the boil the cream harden into more of a chunky block which is then broken up producing granulated maple sugar.
This is an ancient recipe dating back to native Americans which became quite valuable to rural families during World War II.
I had Grandparents and Step-Grandparents on both sides of the Atlantic during WWll. I remember them talking about rationing and Victory Garden when I was a kid. I once followed the UK rationing for a month to see how I would do. I only really had trouble figuring out the point system, and how to find smaller quantities of eggs so that they wouldn't go bad before I could eat them. It was also super cheap, so I saved quite a bit of money. Every couple of years, I give it another try.
As always, Max, this video is both informative and delightful. And I knew I could count on you for a special treat: When I was a youngster in the late 50s and early 60s, My father, a WW2 veteran, would occasionally break out in song, Including one of my childhood favorites “Yes We Have No Bananas!” … So I hoped today’s video would include a reference to that classic novelty song! And of course, you didn’t let me down! (PS … A special thank you for your unexpected but deeply appreciated birthday greeting last week. Best! Birthday! Surprise! Ever!)
"gravy legs" sounds like it should be a creepypasta thing. Beware the dreaded Gravylegs!! 😂
One of my favorite video series was when Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons fame spent a week living with only British rations to eat.
I do wish that he could have eventually covered other nations but given it was on the InRange channel and where that went I am glad to see you take up the torch as it were.
I would love to see a video on the history of the Oslo Meal and the children during that time period. I really enjoy this series.
The pig. Laughing at the film A Private Function -sooo funny.
My grampa (American) was a great dude and he had this thing: he LOVED GI banana bread. I feel shy about it. But Grandpa was in the Army Air Corps and a lot of my family was on the war effort, and had multiple purple hearts and also. But, later: he seemed pleased that I exist; he'd put me on his knee and tell me how much he hated hard tack and quite later his wife (my grandmother I guess) would ask me how soon I'd get a girlfriend, and my grandpa sliced his eyes to me and he was like, hey, do you want to talk about planes?
We recently went to a WWII museum exhibit that showed a 1943 recipe for “Victory Pancakes” from Betty Crocker Cookbook. The pancakes are made primarily from vegetables with minimal amounts of eggs and flour. They are actually pretty good.
You've quickly become one of my favorite history and food channels.
Awesome content!
Ration or not, Max’s background Pokémon game will always be on point
I personally love your holiday themed episodes; thanksgiving, halloween, and Christmas in particular. Cant wait to see what you do this year if you have anything special planned.
Love your channel Max ❤ All the way from Australia
My nan and her cousin used to tan their leg with tea on the bus on the way to work and when it rained it used to leave drip trails on their legs. This was in the 50s
There was also the importance of rabbits as meat in their diet. They grow fast and reproduce like...
That book you just showed is fascinating and very absorbing - if you want to know anything about rationing in the UK during the war, this is the book.
My parents were young adults during WW2 in Finland, my dad was in the continuation war 1943-44. And I just googled around a bit and found out about Marja Helaakoski-Tuominens rations cookbook "Pula-ajan keittokirja" . Maybe that's something for you to take a look at.
I've only realised, watching this video, that in my school cooking class in around 1968, we cooked Woolton Pie. Before we joined the EU, fresh green vegetables or tomatoes were pretty much unavailable during the winter months - so pies were made with root vegetables, with an added onion. Without the pie crusting, it was called "a winter salad" - that had cabbage in it. Both were pretty inedible.
This is slowly becoming my favorite cooking show on UA-cam
From the uk here. My nan still talks about being a kid in the war. And always makes what she calls her recession pie from the war. Corn beef, mash potatoes and onions in a pie with what ever type of pastry she can get hold of. ^^
I've been really enjoying this series!
Anybody remember dad's army private Joe walker he was a black marketeer and wholesale dealer
Amazing video as always! Thanks for providing some insight into what my family ate during the wars :)
Thanks gor the video. It was enjoyable and informative as always 😊
Absolutely brilliant. Thank you!