Essential ingredients!

[jenny_haddow]

Here's a few recipes to try, these are ones I've tried, and they are pretty good. Resist the temptation to jazz things up a bit with current ingredients if you want to get close to the authentic taste. Having said that, although the production of most processed foods ceased in favour of munitions during the war, the govt realised the importance of flavour if they were to get people to use their ration properly, so production of sauce, flavouring essences, pickles etc continued. So a splash of Worcester or HP sauce will liven things up.

Faggots:

8oz pigs liver or fry
2 onions (these were often hard to come by)
1/4pt stock
4oz breadcrumbs
1/2tsp sage
seasoning

Stew liver and onions for 30 minutes.
Mince, and add breadcrumbs, stock, sage and seasoning.
Spread mixture in a greased tin and cover with caul if you can get it or greased paper, usually a margarine wrapper.
Bake for 30 minutes in a medium to fast oven.

Liver Roly-Poly

1lb cooked liver (you'd be lucky to get this much)
1oz bacon (bacon was often used to add flavour rather than in a fry up, the weekly ration was so small)
1 large tomato (also not readily available)
1 small onion
1 tsp chutney
1 tsp Worcester sauce
salt and pepper
3/4lb potato short crust pastry.

Mince liver, bacon and onion: cut up tomato. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Roll out pastry to an oblong, spread with the mixture, roll up and seal.
Bake in a moderate oven for an hour. Serve with gravy

There were lots of variation on pastry to compensate for the lack of fat. All produce a tasty crust, but they needed to be eaten on the day cooked. You'd need a pile driver to crack the crust if left overnight! Substituting about a quarter of the flour for porridge oats was one method, I still use this recipe today but I use a full fat allowance, makes a delicious pastry. Another way was to use the good old spud, so here is the recipe for potato crust called for in the liver roly-poly,

4oz mashed and sieved potato
1/2 tsp salt
8oz plain flour (self raising helps to make a softer dough)
3oz fat
2 tsps baking powder (add this with SR flour as well, every little helps)

Sieve dry ingredients together
Rub fat into flour, and gently mix in the potato
Add just enough water to make a stiff dough, knead well.


Savoury Tripe casserole

1/2lb tripe
1 kidney
1/4lb liver
1oz margarine
1 carrot sliced
1 onion sliced
1 bay leaf
1 tblsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp crushed mixed herbs
Boiling water

Mix the flour, salt, pepper and mixed herbs together
Cut the tripe into 2" strips and slice the liver. Cut the kidney into small pieces. Toss the tripe, liver and kidney in the flour mixture, and fry in the margarine for a few minutes with the carrot and onion.
Pour enough boiling water just to cover, add the bay leaf and simmer gently over a low heat, or put in a casserole in a moderate oven for 2 hours. Serve with dumplings. This is a really tasty dish


Here's one to get the troops home by Christmas:-

Heart and oatmeal mould

1 sheep's heart
3oz medium oatmeal
2oz bacon or pork scraps
1 tblsp Worcester sauce
About 1 gill stock or vegetable water (all water used to cook veg was kept for stock, nothing was wasted or the Squander bug would get you!)
Seasoning
1 onion chopped

Soak heart in warm salt water for 15 minutes - remove inedible portions, cut up the rest and stew in the stock with the onion for about 3/4 hour.
Romove and mince with the bacon.
Mix minced meat, oatmeal, sauce and seasoning, add sufficient stock to make a dropping consistency.
Pour into a well greased basin, cover with a saucer and steam for 2 hours.
Serve hot with a good gravy.

Well there's a few to be getting on with, something to bear in mind is that we were healthier and fitter in the war than at any other time before or since.

Enjoy

Jen

[Franco]

Thanks for those Jen, I may try the faggots later this week, not sure if my OH will though


Franco

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Franco,

The faggots can be rolled into individual portions if you prefer, and preferably wrapped in caul, but not vital.

Imindoors isn't to keen on the wartime grub, he'll run a mile from anything containing powdered eggs!

Cheers

Jen

[Oddley]

Hi Jen as you are interested in wartime stuff look Here to see a recipe taken from the “Manual of Army Catering Services” 1954 these sausages must be similar to wartime ones.

As you seem to like faggots here is the recipe I use we all like it a lot.

Faggots and gravy

Ingredients

25g/1oz unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
175g/6oz minced pigs' liver
2 lamb or pigs' heart, trimmed and cut into chunks
450g/1lb belly of pork, trimmed and rind removed
� tsp mace
4tbsp freshly chopped chives
1 tsp freshly chopped sage
1 egg, beaten
salt and freshly ground pepper
115g/4oz fresh white bread crumbs
25g/1oz beef dripping or 3 tbsp olive oil
For the gravy
4 red onions, peeled and each onion cut into 8 wedges
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
900ml/1�pt fresh beef stock
290ml/� pint red wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method.

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the onions. Cook until soft and transparent. Cool slightly

2. Place the belly pork onto a chopping board and cut into portions.

3. Place the minced pigs' liver into a large glass bowl and place under the blade of a mincer. Using a fine blade of a mincer, mince the pork belly and lambs heart directly into the bowl with the pig s liver. If you do not have a mincer at home ask your butcher to mince all your meat for you.

4. Add the cooled chopped onions, mace, chives, sage, beaten egg and salt and pepper. Stir in the breadcrumbs.

5. Using your hands shape the mixture into 12 patties. Place on a plate and chill for about 1 hour.

6. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. 7. For the gravy: place the onion wedges into a large roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Add the thyme and drizzle over the olive oil. Place in the oven and roast uncovered for 40 minutes until the onions are caramelised.

8. Meanwhile heat the dripping or olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the faggots until golden brown on both sides.

9. Place the stock and wine in a small saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by a third.

10. Remove the roasted onions from the oven and lay the faggots on top. Pour over the gravy liqueur. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook the faggots for 40 minutes.

11. Place two to three faggots onto a plate. Top with a spoonful of the onions and pour over the gravy. Serve the faggots with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.

[jenny_haddow]

Hi Oddley,

That's a great recipe, I'll shall be doing that one, with extra to take down to my dad.

Thanks for the army sausage link. One of my problems when I did these workshops was trying to find a sausage close to a wartime example, if I do this series again I'll bear it in mind. Regarding rationing and the army against civilian quotas, the army got the lions share. Their daily ration was far more than the home front, which is fair enough.

Cheers

Jen

[Rik vonTrense]

I am sure that the German butchers who used to make the take away faggots and peas pudding before WW2 used to steam their faggots wrapped in caul rather than roast them.


.

[jenny_haddow]

No reason why you couldn't steam a faggot, it would probably give a good moist result. Generally English faggots seem to be done in the oven, but my dad used to get faggots and peas when he went over to see his gran in Kennington before the war, I'll ask him what he remembers.

Cheers

Jen

[Paul Kribs]

I managed to stock up with plenty of offal from the Polhill garden centre whilst en-route to collect my � pig last week and have been pondering the idea of faggots recently. Am going to give Oddleys recipe a try. Everywhere I have asked about caul fat and I have yet to find a local butcher to supply it. Same as lambs plucks (lungs), can't get those either so the haggis will be a rather extravagant version using heart liver and english shoulder.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[georgebaker]

Hi
slightly off topic but it may be useful

I went to the local supermarket a week or so ago and saw the butcher was trimming back fat from the joints befor cutting them into chops so I asked where in the cold cupboard the off cuts were and was told that it went in the bin.

I got the hard far for free shrink wrapped with the beef I was buying.

In the chinese trade warehouse they had sheet beef ribs at 15p /lb yesterday they looked good but I could not thing of a use for them (Beef spare ribs?)


George

[countrybumpkin]

Barbeque Sauce - ideal for spare ribs (beef or pork) chicken portions, belly pork etc.

4oz honey (I use golden syrup)
4 tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar
4 tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcester Sauce
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard (dry powder)

Mix together & heat slowly till mustard is mixed in and sugar dissolved. Don't boil. I keep mine in a squeegy tomato ketchup bottle, it will keep for ages, use it on meat for last few cooking minutes rather than cook in it as the high sugar content means it soon burns, a spot of water in the pan will help if you have to leave it in the oven for longer.

CB
Gorgeous & so easy

[Paul Kribs]

Decided to make faggots yesterday based on Oddleys recipe. The only change I made was I used ordinary onions as opposed to red, and I caramelised them in a pan as a base for the onion gravy. I must say it is quite agreeable opening a bottle of red in the early afternoon and only using � a pint for the gravy I made 35 faggots in total and they only just fitted in my largest baking tray. Obviously I had to have a little taster.. superb. Will be having some of them tonight, and will be sending some up to the in-laws, and have packed some for freezing. I have 3 freezers and am always struggling to find any room.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Fallow Buck]

Paul,

Your tag says you are in SE London. there is a cahain called TFC (Turkish Food Centre) one in Croydon, and 2 in Catford. They should sell it frozen as it us used for a type of hand rolled sausage called sieftalia. They also sell these althoutgh they are made of beef rather than the Pork/lamb we greeks tend to use.

I'll check the recipie from my mum/gran and post it.

I've noticed that recently the celebrity chefs are using Caul fat a lot on TV to wrap and self baste stuff they are baking.

Rgds,
FB

[Paul Kribs]

FB

Thanks for the info re. caul fat. Whilst driving freight trains I have seen a Turkish food centre adjacent to the railway in Lewisham. I have often thought about visiting it but parking is a nightmare in Lewisham. It's good to know it freezes well. I am familiar with sieftalia, they used to sell them in kebab shops a while back, along with pastirma (spelling) a nice garlicky cured sausage as opposed to the solid meat version (basterma). For some reason you don't generally see them now, people now seem to opt for chicken kebabs instead.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Fallow Buck]

Paul,

I have some pastourma and Lukanika in the freezer at home. Pastourma is great when you cut it into cubes of about half an inch and dry fry. Then when nearly cooked fry an egg on the side and eat with some toast. Not the healthiest bbut then the tasty ones rarely are!!

FB

[Paul Kribs]

Fallow Buck

I was driving a train in an engineering worksite today and happened to recess opposite the TFC in Lewisham... I leapt at the opportunity, as it was 1000 sunday, and thought I'd have a look. I made the mistake of asking the guy with the broom, who said nothing but looked at me lovingly. I then asked the cashier, who said 'no'.. thought I'd have a look around, and purchased some cypriot pastirma sausages, and noted they also did the proper lump of beef pastirmas. I went to speak with the butchers, who knew exactly what I was after and sold me some. Haven't weighed it yet but seems about 1 kg, which cost �3.77p.. They even told me to thaw in the fridge, devide, repack and refreeze. Very helpful, once again thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Regards, Paul Kribs