Bread omelette and fish made of rice: The ingenious (and unappetising) recipes that kept the Home Front fed in World War Two (2024)

FAQs

How did World War 2 change food? ›

Additionally, some of the most popular foods we still eat today were introduced during World War II in response to the shortages and changing food needs of the United States. Cheerios, M&M's, corn dogs, SPAM and Rice Krispie Treats were all introduced during America's war years.

From The Economical War-Time Cook Book, this recipe was designed to save white flour during World War I, substituting rye, wheat, and cornmeal instead.

The categories of rationed foods during the war were sugar, coffee, processed foods (canned, frozen, etc.), meats and canned fish, and cheese, canned milk, and fats.

Corn, called the grain of America, could be used to make corn bread, griddle cakes, muffins, and other baked goods. “War bread” could contain any number of alternative flours, including rice, barley, rye, oats, potato, or buckwheat. Another aim of the Administration involved stopping food waste, especially of bread.

An English Breakfast during WWII. Breakfast tended to be porridge with milk if available but some families would use melted lard! OMG. A special treat was toast or bread and jam (we always had jam apparently – my grandmother would make it, but so little sugar, she relied on the fruit.

During the 1930s and throughout World War II, Cook says the United States relied on uncomplicated foods like sandwiches and canned vegetables to make it through shortages and rations. He says the limited diversity of food and bland choices created a yearning for different options.

The National Loaf was a bread made from wholemeal flour with added calcium and vitamins, introduced in Britain during the Second World War by the Federation of Bakers (FOB). Introduced in 1942, the loaf (similar to today's brown bread) was made from wholemeal flour to combat wartime shortages of white flour and sugar.

On 23 December 1940, commercial bakers were given orders to discontinue making 1lb white loaves and, by 1942, the only type of bread that could be sold was the National Loaf, which was coarse, crumbly and dry.

However, soldiers at the front still relied on preserved foods. These largely consisted of tinned items, but also dehydrated meats and oatmeal that were designed to be mixed with water. Morale-boosting items, such as chocolate and sweets, were also provided. And powdered milk was issued for use in tea.

The ban on sliced bread was just one of many resource-conserving campaigns during World War II. In May 1942, Americans received their first ration booklets and, within the year, commodities ranging from rubber tires to sugar were in short supply.

What did they drink in WW2? ›

A: Water, first and foremost. Also coffee. Some probably drank tea, although tea wasn't established as an “every man's drink” in Germany the way it was in the British Empire. Many Germans — military personnel and civilians alike — also drank beer, wine and “hard liquor” when it was available.

At first, the meals were stews, and more varieties were added as the war went on, including meat and spaghetti in tomato sauce, chopped ham, eggs and potatoes, meat and noodles, pork and beans; ham and lima beans, and chicken and vegetables.

Using these wheat substitutes, Food For Life offers Sprouted For Life gluten free breads which are made from sprouted chia, quinoa and millet as well as multiple brown rice based products with simple basic ingredient lists. The list of Food For Life wheat free foods include: Gluten Free Sprouted For Life Breads.

Bread, which was never rationed during wartime, was put on the ration in July 1946. It was not until the early 1950s that most commodities came 'off the ration'. Meat was the last item to be de-rationed and food rationing ended completely in 1954.

They ate mutton or beef, alongside potatoes and bread to keep them full. Plum puddings or chocolate were also common, especially in emergency rations, eaten by individuals trapped behind enemy lines. Instant coffee became the staple drink for G.I.'s to such an extent that the nickname of G.I.

K-Brot was a potato and rye wartime bread in Germany during the First World War. In response to severe grain shortages the contents of k-brot were set by legislation to contain 5 per cent potato in rye breads.

"This is a nice bread from Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Breads. He describes this as "a farmhouse loaf in New England kitchens for more than 150 years. When white flour was scarce, often in wartime, this blend of rolled oats, cornmeal and whole wheat was added to the flour to make it go farther.

At the time, nearly 30% of Americans' calories came from bread, thanks to the U.S.'s access to vast quantities of wheat (and therefore wheat flour). Prior to entering the war, the U.S. government provided wheat to allied forces, but in 1917 the U.S. needed to supply its own troops as well as its allies.

It was known as War Bread. The extraction rate rose from a peace-time level of 76 per cent in November 1916 to 81 per cent in February 1917, with admixtures of barley, oats or rye flour, and 92 per cent in March 1918, with added soya or potato flour. The bread was consequently dark in colour.