The Potato

Luckily in the war, vegetables were not rationed, (although most could be hard to come by), people were encouraged to dig up their back gardens and ‘Dig for Victory’. I love to grow things and even though I live in a one bedroom flat, I am currently growing all sorts on a 1 metre by 5 metre balcony, (despite the fact that my courgettes have contracted some horrible fungal disease and died). Although I am never going to grow enough to live off in a ‘Good life’ kind of way, it is nice to just eat something you have grown from scratch.

Understandably, the potato was a war staple and it is still a massive part of our diet today. Although we do not necessarily eat the standard meat and potatoes like generations before us, I probably like most, still eat them in various forms.  I can understand why potatoes were so popular and promoted by the government, they were not alien to the British people like other foods, they are easy to grow at home, nutritious and have that comforting air about them. Sometimes only potatoes will do.

Potatoes are naturally fat-free, have many vitamins and minerals, do not contain cholesterol and are high in Vitamin C. Putting the word potato into Google and you are guided to many sites promoting the virtues of the potato and the lists and lists of goodness that is contained within them.

However, in an era where butter, cream and fats were rationed, substitutes to the usual potato favourites were offered by the Ministry of Food. The potato was also thrown into other foods such as potato pastry and biscuits, which sound intriguing in themselves.

Today though, it has been Roast Potatoes ‘without fat.’ Roast potatoes are something special in their own right and their crispy golden skins with soft middles cannot be rivaled. I was puzzled by the idea of cooking them without fat, but as many families had limited fat rations, this would not have been a choice. My Nan has told me on many occasions that her mother (my great-grandmother) was so short of fat that she would scrape the fat off tinned meats and keep it by for cakes or cooking.

The recipe for roast potatoes, without using any fat is as follows: peeled potatoes cut into roast potato sized pieces placed in a roasting tin so they are not touching. Then, add a tablespoon of salt to water and poor over so that the water reaches half way up the potatoes. Cook for one and a half hours at 200C The results are in the picture below. I was surprised at how good these actually are. Maybe a little too salty, but they were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You can’t beat the real thing, but I would eat them again………