When Food Was Rationed
I was born in Cornwall just after the Second World War. Food was still rationed. I have always been interested in food from a very young age but, as I have become older, I have become even more interested in the way it connects us with the past.
I love the handwritten recipe books left to me by my mother and both grandmothers. Simple little notebooks written up in their own hand. No pictures, no flowery descriptions and no expensive ingredients. Recipes were treasured and shared amongst family and friends and often interspersed with a recipe for hand cream of for a two-ply vest!
The word “economical” and “mock” appeared often as well as recipes for invalids.
One particularly poignant recipe is from my paternal grandmother entitled “the cake I baked for Harold to take to Normandy”. Harold was my father and I cannot begin to imagine how she must have felt sending her only son off to war. The 6th June 1944 was his 25th birthday and the day of the D-Day Landings and all his mother could give him was a cake.
Of course my Dad survived, otherwise I wouldn’t have submitted this recipe to “Recipes That Make You Go Mmm..”, and I enjoyed a blissful childhood in Cornwall. My abiding memories, apart from the endless sunny summers and warm seas (well that is how I remember them!), they were the “real” Cornish pasties, treacle tart with clotted cream (the best from the Pandora Inn), crab sandwiches and, joy of joys, Saffron Cake. It is called cake but actually it is an enriched bread. It comes in the shape of a loaf and I only eat it toasted as this brings out the subtle flavour of the saffron.
It is not entirely clear whether the Phoenicians brought saffron to Cornwall but I don’t really care. It is not to everyone’s taste but I love it. Often the bread is made with turmeric or a mixture of turmeric and saffron to keep the cost down but this imparts a totally different and unwelcome flavour.
My recipe is inspired by a book written by the Gas Board in the 1950’s. It came with our new oven, which was as welcome as a new car at the time. It was kept in the bottom warming drawer along with an assortment of baking trays. This was the book my mother used for most of my childhood. The pages are stained and dog-eared and, for some reason, the book is covered in Christmas wrapping paper.
They say that euphoria doesn’t travel and my memory may well be distorted by the passage of time. However this bread evokes everything that was good about my childhood. Everything that was not so good is best forgotten and compensated for by a piece of toasted Saffron Cake with Cornish butter, naturally, and a good cup of English tea.
Now let me share my recipe with you all…
Ingredients Quantity
White bread flour 170 gms
Wholemeal bread flour 20 gms
Milk (semi-skimmed or whole) 130 gms – 150gms
Unsalted butter, softened 55 gms
Light soft brown sugar 15 gms
Caster sugar 45 gms
Raisins 75 gms
Mixed peel 25 gms
Saffron (1 sachet) 0.4 gms
Fresh yeast 10 gms
Egg for egg wash 1 gms
Method
- Place the fruit, saffron and milk in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 -3 minutes and then drain the fruit. Weigh the milk and make up to 120 gms with cold milk.
- The milk should now be tepid, so mix in the yeast, all the wholemeal flour and 40 gms of the white flour. (This is your sponge). Cover and rest for 45 minutes or so, or until it has risen and bubbling on the surface.
- Meanwhile mix the rest of the flour with the salt and the sugar.
- When the sponge is ready add the flour, salt and sugar and bring the mixture to a dough. It will be soft and sticky which is good. Try not to add any extra flour unless you need to. If, on the other hand, you feel the dough is too dry add a few more drops of milk.
- Work in the soft butter and then cover and rest for another 15 minutes. Knead the dough for a good 10 minutes and then work in the fruit. Form into a ball and place in a clean bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 – 3 hours.
- When risen turn out, flatten gently and roll up into a log. Place in a small lightly greased loaf pan, cover and leave to rise again for another 2 – 3 hours or until the dough doesn’t spring back instantly when gently pressed.
- Egg wash and bake in a pre-heated oven 180 c/160 c fan/gas 4 for about 30 – 40 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Enjoy…
This recipe and many other exciting dishes from around the world can be found in the cook book “Recipes That Make You Go Mmm…” If you’d like to pick up your copy – Please Click Here
The front cover of Recipes That Make You Go Mmm… Has been designed by Marnie Higgs – “The Female Cornucopia” (www.marniehiggs.com)