大象传媒

THINKING OF FOOD

During the War food was very scarce, especially following the introduction of rationing. This was very noticeable in the country where the amount issued made no allowances for the times when extra hands were fed, such as at harvest.

Farmers were not allowed to slaughter their animals for food without permission from the authorities and they also had to account for any which died. I think the odd chicken made its way onto the table but it was not wise to deplete the flock and cause a shortage of eggs. The size of the flock for your own use was also regulated to about 10 hens. (Any number more than this had to be recorded and the eggs put for sale.) Some people occasionally circumvented this by keeping the first "deep-litter" hen houses in small sheds away from prying eyes. How the hens were kept quiet when the inspectors came round is not known. Duck eggs were not on ration and supplemented many diets.

Enough meat was still difficult to obtain and one friend told me that there were times when she sat in the stairs and cried because there was nothing left for her to eat - she had given everything to the men who were working on the farm.

My aunt, however, had been trained in the methods of food preservation and so, during the weeks before harvest, she put their meat ration into hot dripping. By the time the last piece went into the top of the pan the meat at the bottom was cooked through being heated so often. Nevertheless, by depriving her husband and herself she was able to feed the workers.

My aunt also preserved eggs, when they were plentiful, in isinglass in buzzas - large earthenware lidded pots - so that there would be something to eat when the hens went off-lay.

Blackberries and other fruit in their seasons were bottled (without sugar) to be used in the winter and spring.

If you lived near the coast there was locally caught fish. Unfortunately, this was usually boiled to save the precious fat ration and was rather tasteless. Boiled pollack is no longer in the family's diet as so much of it appeared on the table in the War. Fish was sometimes dried as in "nifling" (Newfoundland ling) which then had to be soaked before cooking. During the War, however, the fishing fleets could not go out to the grounds because of the danger from enemy submarines, etc., and some types of fish became very scarce.

My sister remembers tins of snoek for sale in the shops. The tins were dark blue with a picture of the sea on the top. These were sold as containing fish but were, in fact, filled with whale meat. To people unused to eating it whale meat was a great disappointment. The other import, SPAM from America, was much more acceptable.

Mr Chad made an appearance with his long nose hanging over the brisk wall, saying, "Wot no . . . . . ?" when any food was not available, Also remembered are the shopkeepers with their tongues coloured blue from licking their pencils before marking the ration books.

In the towns unusual things appeared on the market stalls: besides the rabbits there were also hares. One day my father saw some rook breasts for sale. They looked appetising and smelled delicious as they were cooking.

Unfortunately, there were trees at the back of the house and the local rooks used to congregate there. They cawed all morning, seeming to complain about their compatriots being cooked for dinner. My mother began to feel very guilty. Dinner was served, however, and both father and mother said that the gravy was delicious. At the end of the meal the two plates were clean except for the rook breasts which neither one had been able to eat. The cat benefited - she thought that they were excellent!

Another friend was eating away from home and had a very tasty dinner but wasn't sure whether or not it was rabbit. He was told it was hedgehog.

"What did you do?" he was asked.

"Do?" he replied, "I went out and spewed my guts up!"

It has been said that people were healthier during rationing but there just as many coughs and colds around. It was also difficult to find enough to eat; and the worst thing was trying to make it tasty and interesting.

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