Giving food for thought when it comes to diets
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IN mid 1950s Britain rationing introduced during the Second World War came to a close, but the need to “waste not want not” didn’t.
Britain was victorious and bankrupt, so in the spirit of helping readers to save the pennies, the Gloucester Journal, sister newspaper to the Citizen, ran a weekly household tips column.
It was called “A wife’s diary”, which in those days nobody thought patronising or sexist.
It offered such gems as “Relief from headaches will frequently be obtained if the forehead is rubbed with methylated spirit”. And “Perspiration stains can be removed from clothes by soaking them in water in which two aspirins have been dissolved”.
Why, do you suppose, were aspirins OK for removing sweaty marks, but no good for a headache?
The Journal also reported a speech made by Miss R Whitaker, who was Principal of Gloucester Training College, to the International Scientific Management Congress at Westminster.
The title of her address was “How to feed a family of five on five shillings (25p) a week” and a sample of what Miss Whitaker recommended reminds us of how the nation’s eating habits have changed.
For breakfast, fried bread, potatoes, bread, butter and tea were recommended. Lunch, she suggested could comprise stewed steak, potatoes, bread and plum tart. At teatime the family menu included bread, butter, dripping, tomatoes, lettuce sandwiches, rock buns and tea.
And just prior to bedtime, a supper of pickled mackerel, potatoes, tomatoes, bread, stewed fruit and cocoa was sure to please everyone.
This, you must remember, was the pre-cholesterol era, so fried bread, plenty of butter and lots of dripping were the healthy option and popping off to the land of nod on a full stomach of pickled mackerel was something people took cheerfully in their stride.
Potato cakes were a local speciality usually eaten for breakfast, made from grated potatoes and Double Gloucester cheese mixed together with flour, egg and butter, then formed into crumpetsize rounds and fried in bacon fat.
Equally robust was bacon jack, remembered by those of ripening years as a boiled suet pudding dotted with bacon bits.
On the subject of bacon, the Citizen profiled Elsie Price of Bristol Road, Gloucester who struck a firm blow for the equality of women by winning the title of British Bacon Cutting Champion. Described as a “grocerette”, Elsie entered the competition at London’s Royal Agricultural Hall.
The 40 entrants, 39 men, plus Elsie, each received a side of bacon to cut, display, weigh and ticket.
This they did against the clock, then the quality of their craftspersonship was judged. When it came to cutting bacon, Elsie cut the mustard.
A side of bacon is known in the trade as a flitch and The Citizen sponsored an annual competition called the Flitch Trials.
Its purpose was to discover Gloucester’s happiest married couple and the whole curious business took place in the Guild Hall. To add to the surreal character of the event, the winning pair took home half a side of bacon.
Which they might have enjoyed with a dollop of Tewkesbury’s famous mustard, having the distinction of being mentioned by Shakespeare.
In his day a jack-the-lad character was said to be “As keen as Tewkesbury mustard”, while a nice-but-dim type was “As thick as Tewkesbury mustard”.
According to tradition, Tewkesbury
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mustard was made by women of the town who began by putting mustard seed in a mortar then pounding it to a uniform flour with a cannon ball.
The mustard flour was then sifted from the bran and mixed in a cold infusion made with horseradish root and the brew stirred continuously for an hour. It was customary to leave the mustard to ferment for a few months to allow it to reach full strength.
For those of a delicate disposition, Cheltine Foods was founded in late Victorian times and in 1901 moved into a factory in Cheltenham’s Chester Walk.
The firm made specialist foods for diabetics, invalids and children until its closure in 1973, when the buildings for a time housed the library’s local history collection before being demolished in 1987 to make way for the junior and music library that now occupies the spot.