Britain survived the second world war partly through the early introduction of rationing — there were too many people to be directly supported from British farms, so food importation was critical. My mother told me that rationing was actually an improvement in basic nutrition for a lot of working class families: they got a wider variety of foods, even if it wasn’t of high quality. George Orwell’s pre-war writing solidly confirms this for miners and their families (probably the best known example is The Road to Wigan Pier).
All this being said, I still think that this is taking nostalgia too far:
I’m intrigued by this Time Out review of Kitchen Front, a restaurant at London’s Imperial War museum that serves accurate re-creations of the (mostly horrible) food eaten in Britain during WWII’s rationing period. Time Out gave it two star for food quality and full marks for accuracy (in the print edition, at least — they haven’t recreated this online). It sounds like a uniquely wonderful and horrible dining experience, especially as the food is prepared by a well-loved firm of caterers who’ve really gotten into the spirit of things.
Remember we are talking British food here; just because some is/was better than others doesn’t mean any of it was actually good. I of course except Devon Cream, Melton Mowbray pork pies and other real traditional treats. And beer.
Comment by sm — March 16, 2010 @ 07:34
No need to remind me, sm, I lived there for the first seven years of my life . . . and my family ate rather better than a lot of our neighbours. My mother didn’t spend her kitchen time preparing “fried everything”. There were good English foods, but then (as now) most people seem happy to trade convenience for quality. In the 1930s, beer and cigarettes were two of the four essential food groups (the others being salt and grease).
Comment by Nicholas — March 16, 2010 @ 07:52