The Village Kitchen

World War II recipes

I thought that with all the current talk of war, I'd offer recipes from World War II for your delight this month. They are both taken from the Victory Cookbook written by Marguerite Patten OBE and published in association with The Imperial War Museum.

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time 40 minutes

Quantity makes 8 halves

This is a special version of the well-known savoury. When making these to serve as one of the savoury dishes for a Victory Party you can cut the halved eggs into smaller pieces.

4 shell eggs

2 oz (50 g) cheese, grated

1 tablespoon Mayonnaise

1lb (450 g) sausagemeat

to coat:

A little re-constituted dried egg or shell egg or milk

2 oz (50 g) crisp breadcrumbs

Boil the shell eggs for 10 minutes, then shell and cut into halves across the eggs. Cool sufficiently to handle then carefully remove the egg yolks. Mash these in a basin, then add the cheese and mayonnaise. Spoon into the mixture into the egg white cases and then press the egg halves together firmly.

Divide the sausagemeat into 4 portions, wrap around the eggs, seal the joints very firmly. Brush with a little egg or milk then coat with the crisp breadcrumbs.

Preheat the oven to 190 degreesC (375 degreesF), Gas Mark 5. As the oven is heating, put in a greased baking tray to become very hot. Put the scotch eggs on the hot tray and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. To serve, cut into halves or quarters and garnish with lettuce.

As an alternative, you can use reconstituted dried eggs, steaming them in 4 very small cups. Mash the cooked egg then add the cheese and mayonnaise. Shape the mixture into rounds then coat with the sausagemeat and continue as per the recipe.

Preparation time 20 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Quantity: 4 to 5 helpings

Golden syrup was one of the most valuable wartime commodities and was often used in place of sugar. It was included on the points system.

12 oz (350 g) rhubarb

1-2 tablespoons of water

3 oz (75 g) golden syrup

Half pint (300 ml) milk

1.5 oz (40 g) semolina

a few drops of lemon essence

Cut the rhubarb into small pieces, put into a saucepan. Add the water (use two tablespoons is the rhubarb is not very ripe) and the syrup. Cook until a thick pulp.

Pour the milk into a second saucepan, which in the semolina and add the lemon essence. Bring to the boil, then stir over a low heat for 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes then tip into a bowl. Add the rhubarb pulp. Leave to cool but not set and beat vigorously until a frothy mixture. Spoon into a serving bowl.

(If both sugar and syrup are scarce, cook the fruit with just water then add crushed saccharine tablets to the hot cooked fruit.)