1939 Cooking Lessons: being resourceful

I’ve had more than a passing interesting the concept of ‘waste not, want not’, which was a saying my grandmother had.

Being born in the early 1900’s, my grandmother Doreen lived through two world wars and experienced first hand how feeding a family was not without challenges.  From cooking on a coal range, to the introduction of the electric oven, the cost and availability of food meant being resourceful in the kitchen at all times.

There’s a NZ campaign called Love Food Hate Waste (whom I work with at times testing recipes and photographing dishes). Much of what they are encouraging Kiwis to do in 2016 was common place for our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, many of whom were resourceful without ‘modern luxuries’ such as a fridges, freezers or electric gadgets.

I am also a lover of old New Zealand cookbooks and have a growing collection from 1920-1950s. What caught my eye on this occasion was from the 1939 Self Help Cookery Book. This is what they had to say about being resourceful both in storage and use, for every-day food.

KEEPING PROVISIONS @ 1939

• Meat, Poultry, Bacon – Hang in a wire safe or in muslin. In hot weather sprinkle meat with pepper. If high, wash with vinegar and water.
• Butter, Milk and Yeast – Place in a basin standing in water, cover with muslin with the ends in the water. Always keep in a cool place away from strong light. In hot weather add salt and bicarbonate of soda to the water. A brick or flower pot may be used to stand the butter on in hot weather. Cold water must be kept around the brick.
• Eggs – Place in an egg stand and point downwards, if to be kept, rub with fat.
• Jam – In a cool dry place, if placed on top of a cupboard, tie an extra plain cover over the pasted one to prevent mice nibbling through the cover.
• Green Vegetables – On larder floor or vegetable rack.
• Root Vegetables and Potatoes – In a basket or tub in a dark place, or in a straw-lined hole in the ground covered with sacks.
• Bread – In a covered, ventilated earthenware pan.

ECONOMY OF FOOD @ 1939

• Stale Bread – make into toast, scrunch crumbs, fritters, puddings.
• Cold Meat – make into mince, rissoles, savoury, toast etc.
• Pieces of Fat – render down for dripping or make into soap.
• Bones and Trimmings from Meat – make into stock for soups, gravies etc.
• Water in which meat and vegetables have been cooked – use for soup, gravies.
• Cold potatoes – fry or make into fish cakes, potato cakes etc.
• Stale Cheese – use for sandwiches or savouries
• Milk – if fresh scald and use for puddings etc. If sour, use for scones, gingerbread, etc.

I couldn’t help include instructions for a nifty Fly trap: boiling water 1 cup, sugar ½ cup, vinegar ½ cup. Mix and pour into bottles and hang up near windows and doors.

These food usage ideas were great! With modern living and busy lifestyles we are quick to forget that food (while it may grow on trees) shouldn’t be taken for granted.  Waste, if any, should be destined for our compost bin, not landfills.

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