I felt that, as it is a week of remembering the end of the war in Europe and victory for the Allies, it would be a good idea to share a book from the 1940's. The war was fought just as much at home as on the battlefield — with the ever-worrying knock on the door, women working the land, working as mechanics, and doing all sorts of jobs in factories as the men were away.

Cooking must have been a way to take their minds off the news, and with the difficulties of rationing, powdered eggs and milk, it must have been pretty tricky. The “Grow Your Own” campaign, Dig for Victory, was a great way to get more food on your plate and in your tummy. With every square inch of land being used for growing veg and rearing chickens, there was a black market in eggs, chocolate and other luxuries.

This book, ‘Recipes of the 1940’s’ by Irene Veal, is a celebration of food that offers us recipes and dishes served at the best restaurants at the time — The Savoy and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a fabulous place still there to this day, tucked away in a wee alley off Fleet Street. An old haunt of Dickens and many more through time, it was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and is ageless.

Lots of tripe was consumed, I gather, and sausages weren’t rationed — though I do wonder what was in them. I believe fish and chips weren’t rationed either; there must have been queues round the block on a Friday evening.

I adore this book; it gives us a slice of what folk ate during those tough years of the war. A book to appreciate, and to think back on what life must have been like 80 years ago.