The Wartime Kitchen and Day Five - Ration Book Fish on Friday: Devilled Fish Recipe (2024)

Fish and Chips in Black and White

The Wartime Kitchen and Day Five – Ration Book Fish on Friday:

Devilled Fish Recipe

The Wartime Kitchen and Ration Book Fish on Friday: Devilled Fish Recipe

Today is day five of my wartime ration book cooking challenge, and it’s Friday, which means it has to be fish on Friday. We may not all follow thetraditionalfish on Friday menu plan nowadays, such a shame I think, but families would have still tried to eat fish on Friday during the war, despite thescarcenessof fish as the war progressed. Fish and chips were NOT on ration during the war, and when there was fishavailable, there were long queues to the “chippie” as soon as the sign “frying tonight” was displayed in the fish and chop shop windows. Those who lived in coastal areas were luckier, as there were still some small boats that had not beenrequisitionedforwartime duty *(see below), and they would still go out fishing; thus, fish wasundoubtedlyeasier to obtain intraditionalfishingportsthan in the country, towns or cities. Tinned fish was popular (available with points), as were fish cakes (90% potato!) and preserved fish such as soused herrings and mackerel. In fact, herrings were fairly prolific throughout the war, and manyMinistryof Foodleafletswere aimedtowardsherring recipes. Smoked fish may seem to be a luxury today, but due to its long shelf life after smoking, smoked fish was also popular, especially smoked haddock. My mum remembers a favourite supper dish of smoked haddock in milk, in to which fingers of bread were dipped to mop all the precious juices up with.

HMT Moravia: Built at Beverley in 1917 for the Great Grimsby & East Coast Fishing Co
1943 Mined in the North Sea SE of Aldeburg as HMT Moravia FY 1819

The history of fishing trawlersduringWW2 is a fascinating one, and although most of us know about the important role that Atlantic convoyscontributedthroughoutthe war in order to get supplies to our island nation, not much is known about the bravery of the fishermen and their trawlers, who were called up and entered intoRoyal Naval Patrol Service. In myresearchto discover the vital role thattrawler-menmade, Idiscoveredthisfascinatingpiece ofinformationand photo courtesy of www.llangibby.eclipse.co.uk:

A photograph of MILFORD KING, kindly provided by David Todd, whose father Sydney Arthur Todd (1906-58), was her Chief Engineer from July 1941 to May 1943

“As in 1914, 1939 saw a “call-up” of trawlers, and men to crew them. Fitting-out yards carried out the conversions, while the men were recruited into the Royal Naval Patrol Service, set up in the “Sparrow’s Nest”, a converted theatre in Lowestoft. The trawlers were now allocated Pennant Numbers, with the “Flag Superior” letter or number indicating their roles: FY (“Fishery”) for minesweeping, anti-submarine, dan-laying and other trawlers; Z for boom defence (from 1940 onwards), Y for supply vessels, including the so-called “Essos” or fuel carriers, and 4 for auxiliary patrols, wreck dispersal and a few minesweeping and anti-submarine trawlers. Dan-layers worked closely with minesweepers to mark the swept channels. Those trawlers employed as Essos for the Normandy landings were effectively made redundant by the commissioning of PLUTO in 1944, and were released early to their owners. As many purpose-built minesweepers were commissioned during the War, they were able to take over this task from trawlers immediately after VE day, enabling a much quicker return to the owners than after the Great War.”

Fish and chips in newspaper

But back to my fishy recipe, as I was lucky enough to have some fish – coley (saithe), as supplied by John at Delish Fish, whose father played a vital role during the war as part of the RNPS. At this stage I would also like to mention my father too, who was just a little too young to join up during WW2, but who joined the Royal Navy just after the war and spent much of his time in the seniorserviceon minesweepers, (HMS Rattlesnake) and on fishery protection duties in the North Atlantic……as well as being involved in many other theatresthroughoutthe world.

Ingredients

1/2 lb (225g) cold cooked fish (I used Coley, Saithe)
1/2 pint (300ml) milk
1 oz (25g) flour
1 oz (25g) Stork margarine
2 teaspoons Worcester sauce or tomato ketchup
1/2 teaspoon made English mustard
1 teaspoon curry podwer
pinch of mace or grated nutmeg
pinch of Cayenne pepper
1 1/2 ozs (40g) stale breadcrumbs
1 hard-boiled egg (sliced or chopped)
salt and pepper

Note

Directions

Step 1	Flake fish and remove any skin or bones. Grease a pie-dish with a little Stork margarine. Melt the 1 oz of Stork in saucepan, stir in flour and cook until it bubbles. Take off heat and add milk (or half milk and water). Bring to boil, lower heat and cook for 3 minutes, stirring all the time.
Step 2	Add the fish, egg, nutmeg, curry powder, Cayenne, mustard, Worcester sauce or ketchup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 3	Pour into prepared dish and coat with breadcrumbs, and bake for 20 minutes on moderately hot oven (Regulo Mark 6 - 180C/350F).

Join Fiona and Janice in their wartime kitchens too!

Fasting and Feasting with Fish on Friday: Middle Eastern Tahini and Lemon Baked Fish - Perfect for the 5:2 Diet
Fish on Friday and a Taste of India with Easy Fish Curry

The Wartime Kitchen and Day Five - Ration Book Fish on Friday: Devilled Fish Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a sentence about the Texas home front that uses the term ration? ›

Because there were so many troops fighting in Europe and in the Pacific, food requirements were enormous. Sugar, coffee, meat, canned fish, cheese, canned milk, and butter were just some of the foods rationed on the home front.

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What were the ration books in ww2? ›

Two ration books were distributed to "every eligible man, woman, child, and baby in the United States." One contained blue coupons for processed goods while the other contained red coupons for meat, fish and dairy products. Each person started with 48 blue points and 64 red points each month.

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What was the rationing on the homefront? ›

Rationing involved setting limits on purchasing certain high-demand items. The government issued a number of “points” to each person, even babies, which had to be turned in along with money to purchase goods made with restricted items.

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How did Texans on the home front make sure there was enough food for American soldiers overseas during World war I? ›

During World War I, Texans ensured that soldiers had enough food by rationing their own supplies. This involved limiting the amount of food each person could consume, allowing more to be sent to the front lines where it was desperately needed.

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What is an example of a ration? ›

Examples from Collins dictionaries

The meat ration was down to one pound per person per week. They have begun to issue ration cards for basic necessities such as rice and flour. Staples such as bread, rice and tea are already being rationed. Motorists will be rationed to thirty litres of petrol a month.

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What is the meaning of ration in a sentence? ›

1. a [count] : a particular amount of food that is given to one person or animal for one day. The soldiers were given their rations for the day. The horse was fed its ration of oats. The prisoners were kept on short rations.

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Are WWII ration books worth anything? ›

A: Millions of ration books were issued during World War II. They were intended to prevent the hoarding of such goods as coffee, sugar, meat and other items in short supply due to the war. Ration books generally sell in the $5 to $25 range, but unlike savings bonds, you can't cash them in as you wish.

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What kind of food did they eat in World War II? ›

Meat (March 1940) was first, followed by fat and eggs, cheese, tinned tomatoes, rice, peas, canned fruit and breakfast cereals. Remember this was a world where even in the pre-war days of plenty, olive oil was sold as a medical aid and dried pasta was confined to a few Italian shops.

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What food did they ration in WW2? ›

Every man, woman and child was given a ration book with coupons. These were required before rationed goods could be purchased. Basic foodstuffs such as sugar, meat, fats, bacon and cheese were directly rationed by an allowance of coupons. Housewives had to register with particular retailers.

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What did the double V mean for African Americans? ›

In 1942 the Pittsburgh Courier, an African American newspaper, launched the Double Victory Campaign, which stood for “Victory Abroad and Victory at Home.” Victory Abroad championed military success against fascism overseas, and Victory at Home demanded equality for African Americans in the United States. Loading.

Which item was rationed the longest? ›

Sugar was one of the first and longest items rationed, starting in 1942 and ending in 1947. Other foods rationed included coffee, cheese, and dried and processed foods.

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What was the butter ration in WWII? ›

Here is an example of a ration for one adult during the war: Bacon and ham 4oz. Butter 2oz. Cheese 2oz.

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What were the C rations in ww2? ›

C-Rations were developed in 1938 as a replacement for reserve rations, which sustained troops during World War I, and consisted chiefly of canned corned beef or bacon and cans of hardtack biscuits, as well as ground coffee, sugar, salt and tobacco with rolling paper — not much in the way of variety.

What wasn't rationed in WWII? ›

Other products soon followed, especially foods that were normally imported or came from scarce animal sources, such as meat, cheese, margarine, eggs, milk, tea, breakfast cereals, rice, and biscuits. By mid-1942 most foodstuffs were rationed, except fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and bread.

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Was chocolate rationed in WWII? ›

Sweet rationing began during the dark days of World War Two on 26 July 1942 when people had a weekly ration of just 2 ounces of sweets or chocolate. A month later the ration was doubled for eight weeks and then cut back to 3 ounces a week.

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What is a sentence for home front? ›

noun. During the war we had to keep up morale on the home front.

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What is an example sentence for front of house? ›

I did the kitchen, she ran front of house. If you're front-of-house, you're in performance and need to rehearse. She was between jobs as an actress, working front of house. Front-of-house trends tend to emerge gradually and subtly.

How do you use food ration in a sentence? ›

The daily food ration during the trip was 300 grams of bread per person. The food ration was mostly rice and canned meat and vegetables.

What is a sentence with the word Texas? ›

Texas Sentence Examples

Texas was full of beautiful valleys. She had moved to Texas at the end of her junior year. If he decided to go back to Texas, they would all go together.

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Serves	4 to 6
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	20 minutes
Total time	35 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Fish, Milk
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Pre-preparable, Serve Hot
Region	British
From book	The Stork Wartime Cookery Book

The Wartime Kitchen and Day Five - Ration Book Fish on Friday: Devilled Fish Recipe (2024)