Monday, November 14, 2016

Ways of Making Your Fat Ration Go Further


The British Wartime Ministry of Food’s Food Facts leaflets are one of my favourite things, as regular readers would be aware. Today I want to give you another example: Food Facts No. 258 was published in June 1945.

FOOD FACTS.
Ways of making your FAT ration go further.

While there is a world shortage of fats, these simple suggestions for extending the fat ration will be helpful to every housewife.

Before you cook your meat, trim off any spare fat and set it aside. If any of the family don’t like fat, cut off some before serving.
To render down the fat, cut the scraps up small and put in a tin in a slow or moderate oven. Don’t let them burn. When melted, strain off the fat into a bowl. This makes splendid fat for all cooking purposes.
Dripping or fat which has been saved from roasting, tops  of stews, gravy, and so on can be used for cakes, pastry and frying, after it has been clarified, or cleaned. Fat tasting of onion is only suitable for frying, or savoury pastry,
Put the fat into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring it slowly to boil, pour into a basin, and leave it to cool. The fat will set on the top in a hard white lid. Scrape away any scraps from the underside, then melt again in a saucepan – without any water – and heat until it stops bubbling.
Clarified fat can be used for cakes and pastry, and for sandwich spreads.

FAT-SAVING recipes.
Dripping Spread: Use dripping from the joint alone, or mixed with any of the following: salt and pepper, chopped pickle, meat extract, chopped onion or leek, bottle sauce or chutney, herbs, vinegar, grated cheese.
Savoury Spread: 2 oz. dripping; 1 or 2 spring onions, finely chopped: 1 teaspoon of vegetable or meat extract; 3 teaspoons Worcester sauce; pepper and salt. Slightly melt the dripping and beat well. Add the othe ingredients and beat again. Both of these spreads make delicious sandwiches.
Steamed Chocolate Pudding (without fat): 6 oz. plain flour; 1 level tablespoon cocoa; 4 level teaspoons baking powder; 2 oz. sugar; 1 level tablespoon dried egg; pinch of salt; milk (or milk and water) to mix. Sift all dry ingredients together, beat to a thick batter with milk. Pour into greased basin, cover, and steam 1 ¼ hours.

AN APPEAL TO HOUSEWIVES.
It will be a great help to your shopkeeper if you get your ration of cooking fat

once a fortnight instead of every week.

2 comments:

Henry Wood said...

I've just come back to this post for a bit of reference though I did know most of what I was seeking about rendering fat.

My local supermarket in Scotland has just started selling what they term "Scottish Boiling Beef" and which are actually beef ribs.
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=251783425

I bought a batch weighing 1.3kg and then cooked them overnight in my Morphy Richards 'Sear and Stew Slow cooker'. I first did sear the outer fat on both sides then simply added water to come halfway up the depth of the ribs, along with a little salt and pepper, plus 1 teaspoon of Marmite. When I woke the next morning the aroma from the slow-cooking beef ribs made my mouth water.

I waited until they had been in the cooker (on low) for 12 hours, then lifted out the ribs one at a time and proceeded to dismember them. First, slide out the bone and chuck it away. (I don't know any dogs!) Then, slowly, with the aid of two forks and with my hands inside disposable food grade plastic gloves, I carefully shredded the 'meat' part of the ribs onto one dish and then added the fat part of the ribs into a small saucepan. The sinews were very easy to remove by simply sliding a fork beneath the glistening sinew then rolling it up towards the end of the rib.

All in all, though it was a bit of a "clart" I am very pleased with the outcome. I have a huge dish of shredded potted beef now setting in the fridge and also have the remaining fat slowly rendering in my small saucepan which is sat on a gas heat diffuser. The smell from that saucepan alone takes me back to Sunday mornings of my childhood when my mother would ask, "Who wants a piece of 'dip'?", and we five bairns would gather round to get our Sunday lunch starter - a quarter slice of good bread, dipped in beef dripping with just a wee trace of the gleaming black, jellied meat juices on each piece.

"I wish I was 8 again ... " to paraphrase George Burns's famous "I Wish I was 18 again"!

The Old Foodie said...

Thanks Henry! I love it when a post triggers some memories for someone!
I grew up in Yorkshire, and I remember bread & dripping very well!