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 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.

Why did Americans have to ration once they joined the war? ›

Supplies such as gasoline, butter, sugar and canned milk were rationed because they needed to be diverted to the war effort. War also disrupted trade, limiting the availability of some goods.

What did Texas ration during the war? ›

Rationed foods were either blue point foods (48 stamps per month) or red point foods (64 stamps per month). Red point foods included meat, fish, dairy, and fats. Blue point foods included canned and bottled goods. Because there were so many troops fighting in Europe and in the Pacific, food requirements were enormous.

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What food was readily available during WWII? ›

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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Are WWII war 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 were 1940s ration books? ›

Food rationing was introduced in January 1940. Everybody was issued with a ration book. This contained coupons that had to be handed in to the shops every time rationed food was bought. As well as the basic ration everybody had 16 coupons each month that they could spend on what they wished.

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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.

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What did soldiers eat in WWII? ›

Second World War

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.

Was milk rationed in WWII? ›

Rationing began on 8th January 1940 when bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. By 1942 many other foodstuffs, including meat, milk, cheese, eggs and cooking fat were also 'on the ration'.

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What was hard to get during WWII? ›

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.

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.

Read On ›

Did the US make cars during WWII? ›

Automobile companies continued to make cars and trucks for the government while dramatically broadening their output to include military weapons such as tanks, engines, cannons, trucks, and aircraft. In truth, America's auto industry had been living a double life for two years.

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What did they eat for breakfast in WWII? ›

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.

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What fruit was available during WWII? ›

They kept bread in a bread bin and biscuits in tins. Families ate some tinned foods, such as tinned meat, peas and baked beans, but hardly any frozen foods. You could only buy fresh fruit grown in Britain, such as apples or pears. Fruits that had to come in ships, like bananas, vanished from the shops.

Which food was not available in WW2? ›

By mid-1942 most foodstuffs were rationed, except fresh vegetables, fruit, fish and bread. Other scarce commodities were rationed too, such as clothing, shoes, fuel, and soap.

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What did the stamps in book 3 of war ration mean? ›

BOOK 3 - Introduced October 1943

These books contained brown stamps, which were used for meats, canned milk, canned fish, butter, cheese, lards and fats.

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Why did the government issue ration books to civilians during World War? ›

To meet this surging demand, the federal government took steps to conserve crucial supplies, including establishing a rationing system that impacted virtually every family in the United States. Rationing involved setting limits on purchasing certain high-demand items.

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Why were eggs rationed in WWII? ›

It's estimated that less than one third of the food available in Britain before WW2 was produced at home, the other two thirds being imported by sea in ships which immediately became a target for the enemy once war broke out. Hence the need for rationing.

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What did the government issued ration books during World War II in order to? ›

Rationing aimed to ensure the fair distribution of essential goods and resources among the population regardless of their financial status or social standings. Ration stamps and coins played a crucial role in running this operation steadily during the war.

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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)