In May and June, a series of cookery demonstrations at the Imperial War Museum in London gives visitors the chance to see some of the Ministry of Food's wartime advice put into practice in a modern kitchen.
Seventy years after the start of rationing, these events will show how growing your own food, eating seasonal fruit and vegetables, reducing imports and recycling are just as topical today.
The Kitchen Front with Valentine Warner and Marguerite Patten
Saturday 29 May 12pm & 3pm
Marguerite Patten, one of the food advisors at the wartime Ministry of Food, will join TV chef Valentine Warner to explore the food and recipes of the Kitchen Front during the Second World War. The experiences of wartime Britons have a surprising amount to teach new generations and will be a nostalgic nod to the past for those with memories of ration books and Woolton Pie. Together Marguerite and Valentine will demonstrate some of the food housewives cooked during the rationing era and reveal some of the tricks and tips used to make the most of a limited larder.
Tickets £10 / £8 concessions. To book visit www.iwm.org.uk or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk
Digging for Victory with Sophie Grigson and Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall
Saturday 12 June, 3pm
Dig for Victory, one of the most successful campaigns ever created in Britain was designed to thwart Germany*s plans to starve Britain into submission in the Second World War. Dig for Victory is strikingly relevant again today, when so many people are keen to grow their own food, albeit for rather different reasons. Today the enemies might be climate change, the credit crunch and junk food rather than German U-boats, but then it was a necessity, a patriotic duty which people were glad to perform and it made them feel that they were making an important contribution to the war effort. Sophie Grigson and Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall will explore how to make the most of your vegetable patch and the produce you grow.
Tickets £10 / £8 concessions. To book visit www.iwm.org.uk or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk
Off the Ration with Allegra McEvedy and Henry Harris
Saturday 19 June, 3pm
Foraging in hedgerows and fields was a significant way of supplementing wartime rations. Wild berries and fruits were made into preserves,blackberries and crab apples were bottled and added to pies in the winter, while rose-hips were converted into health-giving syrups. Increasingly peoplemtoday are experimenting with recipes for nettle soup, elderflower cordial, and rowan jelly, while blackberry, apple or wild plum puddings remain well-loved. Join entrepreneurial chefs Henry Harris and Allegra McEvedy as they rediscover the delights of food for free.
Tickets £10 / £8 concessions. To book visit www.iwm.org.uk or email boxoffice@iwm.org.uk