All about the Kids!

It's been a hectic week here, seem to have cooked non stop! Had friends over last weekend to christen the dining table finally being installed in the kitchen (made Shin of Beef stew with Horseradish and Chive dumplings... delicious!) Then had sleepover for four hungry teenagers (sent them off in the morning with a healthy organic breakfast of porridge, banana smoothies and bacon and egg) Then had to research WW2 recipes for my youngest, ending up in cooking and eating Woolton Pie, which I had never heard of before. We found this fantastic web site aimed at kids who cook, called Cookit, which has the most fantastic history section complete with recipes from different periods in history. It's great!

Woolton Pie we discovered was first known as Lord Woolton pie. It was created at the Savoy Hotel in London no less, by its then Maitre Chef de Cuisine, Francis Latry. It was one of a number of recipes recommended to the British public by the Ministry of Food during the Second World War to enable a nutritional diet to be maintained despite shortages and rationing of many types of food, especially meat.

It was named after Frederick Marquis, 1st Lord Woolton (1883-1964), who became Minister of Food in 1940.

Woolton Pie is an excellent example of how people coped with rationing. Fats, such as butter and lard, were rationed, so everyone had to find ways to make these last. The government issued many recipes to show people how to make meals with very limited ingredients.
Potato pastry uses very little fat as the potato makes the pastry moist and crumbly. It was difficult to work with and turns grey if left too long when it's made. The pie contains seasonal vegetables; many of these would come from gardens or allotments because people grew as much food as they could. The government encouraged this with 'Dig for Victory' campaigns.

We weren't altogether convinced it would be that tasty, but were really surprised. I've never used oats in a recipe like this before, but it really worked. Would probably be nice with a bit of meat in it too!