Ration Fish Cakes

Fish Cakes.

Ration fish cakes are a nice tea time treat. Fish were not rationed in the War but were not always available, with a limited variety. The Ministry of Food tried to tempt the nation to trying less known varieties with catchy little poems such as:

When fisher-folk are brave enough  

To face mines and the foe for you  

You surely can be bold enough  

To try fish of a kind that's new.  

Quaint.

I do like fish, but I am not a fan of intense fish flavours and it does generally have to be fresh. I am not sure I could have been tempted by the Salted Cod or Whale Meat.

Similarly, I am not that fond of the old British favourite of Herrings. The old rhyme “of all the fish that swim in the sea, the herring is the King.” Admittedly, they are relatively cheap and we are still encouraged to eat these oily fishes today, but I do find their flavour a little too intense for me, so I don’t think I will be attempted the Herring Pie or Herring Hot-Pot.

My ration fish cakes consist of the following, 1 large baking potato, boiled until soft, 1 medium can of fish and parsley mashed together, covered in bread crumbs and cooked until brown. Low fat and cheap. This is a basic recipe which means if you have other ingredients you can throw anything in to make the flavour more exciting.