Planning Ahead & Planning Meals

Sign just above enterance.

Last week I decided to take a trip to the British Library, Euston to see what I could dig up on potato literature. Not really thinking ahead and acting on a whim I made my way to north London. It was my first visit to the library and I was immediately taken by the architecture. Anyway, I was informed by a receptionist that I had to go through registry and get a readers pass before I was able to view the books. When I got to the registration office I knew my trip was wasted. Apparently you have to bring all sorts of identification including a signature ID, proof of billing address and student ID. I left rather embarrassed at my lack of planning with an ‘Introduction to the British Library and how to register for a Reader’s Pass’ pamphlet tucked out of sight.

Yesterday I returned to the library fully confident that I would obtain a reader’s pass and gain access to the books. I was mistaken. I received my reader’s pass (valid for three months mind you) but failed to get a look at the book I wished to see after looking it up before hand: Hard-Time cookery (1940). I was told the book would take ‘some time’ to arrive but I couldn’t wait around as I had work to go to in Essex. My trip was again unsuccessful, but I still have my readers pass and can return again. Moral of this short story: always plan ahead!



 Hard Time Cookery, p. 6-7.



I didn’t want my trips to Euston to be spent in vain so now, back in London I am currently doing further research upon the book I wanted to see.

From the British library’s website: http://www.bl.uk/ I am able to read a short overview and passage from the text, which in hindsight I should have done this morning. The book is called Hard Time Cookery and was published in 1940 by the Association of Teachers of Domestic Subjects (now the National Association of Teachers of Home Economics). On page 7 there is a fine description on ‘The Importance of Panning Meals’. The meal mentioned consists of liver and bacon, potatoes and tomatoes or cabbage’ – more commonly known in Ireland as ‘pigs ass and cabbage’ which I must admit I look forward to when I go home (drowned in gravy!).

Imperial War Museum

Cookery guidance books such as this one were only the beginning. With a system of rationing put in place in 1940 by the Ministry of Food more and more flyers and pamphlets were given to the British public to educate them of the importance of nutrition. Great care was taken to composing the information as nutritionists delivered significant information on which foods were important for energy and repair.

On a recent trip to the Imperial War Museum, I was able to access such pamphlets from protected archives. The propaganda was amazing. Slogans such as ‘Cooking for Victory’, ‘Our Food – Our Defence’ accompanied with images of healthy looking children promoted healthy eating. The public were encouraged not only to cook wisely but to save their left overs and recycle meals. We still do this today. If I’ve cooked too many potatoes for myself (sometimes intentionally) I will leave them in a bowl to chop and fry the following day.

Being a vegetable, potatoes are easily grown. The British public were encouraged to grow their own vegetables. Most of the parks in London were turned into allotments where people came together to tend to their plot. This system worked of course, England won the war.

The Association of Teachers of Domestic Subjects. Hard-Time cookery. London: A V Huckle & Son Ltd, 1940.