Can You Cook a Cabbage?

From The Best Way Book (6d), published during World War II

Cream of Cabbage
Cook a nice cabbage, adding to the water an onion stuck with cloves. Let the water boil fast until the cabbage is cooked; then drain it well, and chop up the cabbage and onion finely, taking out the cloves. Put the vegetables into a saucepan with some sour milk and a little nut margarine, pepper and salt, and a dust of nutmeg. Stir it until it is smoking hot. Have some large slices of buttered toast ready in a vegetable dish. Heap the cabbage on the top of this, and sprinkle with chopped parsley and a dust of red pepper.

Mmm, delicious, I don't think. Meanwhile, here's a beauty tip:

To prevent freckles, use a lotion made by mixing equal parts of honey and lemon-juice. Massage it into the face before going out. (And the bees will love you...)

Cabbage Savoury
Well wash and cut a cabbage into shreds. Cut up two onions and fry them in dripping or lard, then put in the cabbage, and a pinch of ground chillies and ginger. Cover the pan and simmer gently until the cabbage is tender.

That's more like it. You can leave out the chillies and add nutmeg. A little chopped spring onion and/or fennel is also good.

Boiled Celery

An excitingly titled recipe from Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families (Classic Voices in Food) (1845) (just republished in facsimile).

This vegetable is extremely good dressed like sea-kale, and served on a toast with rich melted butter. Let it be freshly dug, wash it with great nicety, trim the ends, take off the coarse outer leaves, cut the roots of equal length, tie them in bunches, and boil them in plenty of water, from 20 to 30 minutes.

Boiled celery on toast with melted butter... hmmmmm.

Chatney Sauce (Bengal Receipt)

From Eliza Acton's Modern Cookery for Private Families (Classic Voices in Food) (1845). It has just be reprinted in a facsimile edition. Here's a recipe for chutney, but handle with care:

Stone four ounces of good raisins, and chop them small, with half a pound of [hard, sour apples or pears]. Take four ounces of coarse brown sugar, two of powered ginger, and the same quantity of salt and cayenne pepper. [Mix everything together] and add gradually as much vinegar as will make the sauce of the consistence of thick cream. [Bottle it.]

You need to peel, core, chop and cook the fruit in a little water (Miss Acton forgets to tell you). Instead of "pounding" it, you can liquidise it, mix it with the raisins, spice and sugar and cook it a little longer before you add the vinegar.

She adds that she doesn't like to recommend hard acid fruit, and suggests using gooseberries or tomatoes instead (green tomatoes would be good). Two ounces sounds like a lot of salt! Perhaps a teaspoon would be better. And I'd add cloves and peppercorns.

Anchovy Salad

From The Encyclopedia of World Cookery (1958)

8 anchovy fillets
1/4 lb ham sausage
1/4 lb smoked salmon
1/4 pint prawns
pickled cucumber
capers
1/2 lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar

Mix the oil and vinegar. Arrange the anchovy fillets in the middle of a dish, surround them with slices of ham sausage and smoked salmon and prepared prawns. Pour the oil and vinegar over them. Garnish with pickled cucumber, capers and slices of lemon.

This is a recipe from Germany. Vegetarians could leave out the sausage.

Carrot Roll

Another lovely wartime recipe from English Heritage's Ration Book Cookery. Originally from the pamphlet Food Facts.

2 large carrots
1 tsp vegetable extract (Marmite or similar)
2 tsps fine oatmeal, toasted
cold cooked mashed potato

Grate the carrots and cook for 10 mins in a very little water. Add the vegetable extract and toasted oatmeal. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring to thicken. Cool. At this stage the mixture will be quite stiff. Have some cold mashed potato ready, dust the pastry board with flour and roll out into an oblong shape. Place the carrot filling in the centre, then fold over and shape into a roll. Dot with a few shavings of fat and bake in a moderately hot oven until nicely browned. Serve with well seasoned brown gravy.

You could leave out the Marmite. I was a vegetarian in the 70s and people insisted on adding Marmite to anything they cooked for you.

Curried Potatoes etc

From The Woman's Own Book of the Home, 1932

3 or 4 boiled potatoes
1 tsp curry powder
lemon juice
1 onion
little stock
dripping (or oil)

Fry the onion and slices of potato in a little dripping, shake over the curry powder, add the stock, a little lemon juice and salt and stew gently for 15 minutes.

Barley Posset
Take 1/4lb barley and boil it with 1 1/2 pints milk. Add 1/2 pint cream, and a little mixed spice, and sugar to taste. When nearly cold add a glassful of sherry and beat up the mixture. (The recipe doesn't say how long you should boil it for - try boiling for one minute then simmering for an hour.)

The Kitchen and its Equipment

from The Woman's Own Book of the Home, 1932

The kitchen should be well lighted and ventilated, and should be equipped iwth:

1. A cooking range or stove.
2. A kitchen table.
3. A kitchen cabinet, cupboard or cupboards.
4. A dresser.
5. At least one chair.
6. A separate cupboard, or tidy for brooms and brushes.
7. A clock.
8. necessary cooking utensils.

If, as is the case in a number of houses nowadays, the kitchen does the duties of both kitchen and scullery, then it should also be provided with:

9. A good sink.
10. A draining-board draining down into the sink.
11. A rack for mops, etc.
12. Soap dish.
13. A draining-rack for cups, saucers and plates.
14. A roller fitted in a convenient spot for carrying a roller towel.

Kitchen designers, please note, especially 10.