meals names
WW2 and
before gas
pressure
and cooking meals in
austerity more and
more potatoes
and veg hardly any
meat fish if
available eggs:
a food basic bread:
the national
loaf desserts
and drinks

Desserts and drinks in the rationing and shortages of WW2

Puddings and filling desserts were the norm in families in 1940s England, as was a filling bedtime drink. This page explains why and describes how the Government ensured that the adequate, albeit basic ingredients were available during the shortages of the Second World War.

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By the webmaster: her childhood recollections with contributions from others who lived at the time

Why filling desserts and puddings

In the early part of the 20th Century, no dinner (lunch to you and me) was considered complete without a filling dessert or pudding of some sort. This expectation was probably due to most menfolk earning their living doing manual work of some sort. Women's work was hard too, and children always walked to school and played in the streets whenever the weather allowed.

Flour

Flour in bags was almost always available in the shops which led to an increase in home cooking. Cakes, pies, tarts, dumplings were all cooked at home - using dried eggs in place of fresh eggs. I can't ever remember having 'shop made' cakes or pies in my 1940s childhood. Much of the grain for the flour came from Canada at a great cost in human life for merchant seamen. If we left anything on our plates, we were reminded of the men who had died getting it to us.

Peter Johnson

Custard

Custard powder always seemed to be available. It came in a tin just marked 'Custard'. I suppose it was a way of preserving eggs. So it was custard with everything - or nearly everything, but it was usually thin and watery.

Peter Johnson

Spotted dick pudding

Spotted Dick was a regular and filling dessert, either served with custard or by itself. It was made with flour, lard and water, with some dried currants or sultanas if available. The lard was in place of the traditional suet. The ingredients were all mixed together and formed into a long roll which was then rolled up into a clean tea cloth and made secure by tying it up with string. Then it was placed into a saucepan of water and boiled till solid. If there was no dried fruit or sultanas available, the spotted dick was made plain and served with a dollop of jam.

Peter Johnson

Fruit

As no fresh fruit was imported, we ate what was in season, either fresh or cooked: apples with custard, apple pie with custard, apple fritters, etc. There was also rhubarb which grew in most gardens, and was either boiled with custard or put in a pie with custard. Even with plenty of sugar - which was of course on ration - it still made teeth feel funny.

Now and again, there were imported dried figs, peaches and prunes. They came in large wooden boxes, but they were on ration. They were soaked in water overnight, and boiled the next day. Then on went the custard.

Peter Johnson

Drinks

Tea

Basic tea was always available, but no choice of type. Adults drank it without sugar which was rationed and anyway needed it for making puddings and jam.

Frequently adults drank their tea without milk.

Michael Sullivan

Coffee

My parents drank sweetened coffee just before going to bed at night. The 'coffee' was something called 'coffee and chicory' which had to be perculated in a perculator for what seemed to me to be at least 20 minutes. The coffee had to be imported, but the chicory did not. The 'sugar' for sweetening was a saccharin tablet. My parents got so used to the taste of this brew that they continued with it even when rationing and shortages were in the past.

Treat drinks for children

My grandmother used to give us children what she called 'raspberry tea'. It was a spoonful of her homemade jam in hot water, probably rather today's Ribena.

Pamela Brierley

I don't remember any drinks for children other than milk or water.

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