During World War Two, American soldiers were stationed in a number of countries. One of them was here in New Zealand. From the information I can find online, a number of sources state that between 1942 to mid 1944, anywhere between 15,000 to 45,000 American soldiers were here at any given time.
The same is true for the UK with American soldiers being stationed there for a period of time. Citizens of both countries and the Serviceman came to know each other, families welcomed the soldiers into their homes for meals and to look after them. As we know, many attachments were made and many British or New Zealand women married American soldiers. Here in New Zealand, apparently about 1400 women married American soldiers.
During this time many people learnt about American recipes, possibly given by the American soldiers looking for a taste of home. Certainly they always seemed to have plenty of items that were in short supply or rationed that the average British or New Zealand woman couldn't get her hands on, such as nylon pantyhose, sweets and chocolate.
Chowder is a very American recipe and this carrot and potato chowder recipe would have been welcomed as something a little different perhaps but also the ingredients were widely available and it would have been frugal to make.
The history of the word chowder and where it originated from is quite interesting. According to Wikipedia, the recipe was brought to North America from English and French settlers and Seafarers in the 1800's. The word chowder is thought to originate from the French word for bucket, called a chaudiere. This is a very brief explanation of the history of chowder !
This recipe is from the Post-War Kitchen cookbook by Marguerite Patten.
It is described as an ideal satisfying American soup, ideal for the extreme cold of the winter of 1946. I imagine this recipe would have been around for quite sometime and there were probably many variations. It certainly would have still been a very frugal and filling meal during the wartime years and the post-war as rationing didn't end for several years after the war ended.
Carrot and Potato Chowder 🥕🥕🥔🥔
Serves 4 - 5 people
1 lb (450 g ) potatoes
12 oz ( 350 g ) carrots
2 large onions
2 bacon rashers ( optional but very tasty )
1 oz ( 25 g ) cooking fat or margarine
3/4 pint ( 450ml ) water
salt and pepper
1-2 teaspoons mustard powder
1/2 pint ( 300ml ) milk
2 tablespoons chopped parsley or watercress leaves
Peel the vegetables then cut the potatoes and carrots into neat dice sizes, about 1/3 inch ( 8mm ).
Do not make them smaller, as they would break in cooking. The onions can be finely chopped. Remove the rinds from the bacon and dice the rashers.
Melt the fat or margarine and the bacon rinds, add the onions and cook gently for 5 minutes. Remove the bacon rinds and add the diced bacon; cook for a few more minutes then pour in the water. Bring to the boil, add a little seasoning and the carrots.
Cook for 5 minutes then put in the potatoes. Continue cooking slowly for 15 minutes, watching the vegetables to ensure they do not break.
Blend the mustard powder with the milk, add to the soup and heat through.
Top with the parsley or watercress just before serving.
Variation:
Use coconut milk if you have a dairy allergy or sensitivity like I do. The coconut milk works really well.
Use a mixture of vegetables instead of just the carrots, onions or potatoes.
My homemade bread recipe 🍞
This was given to me by my cousin Kelly and it is super easy and my family are really enjoying it. Unfortunately I cannot eat it as I am gluten intolerant.
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp dry yeast
1 1/2 cups of warm water
In a large bowl, put the yeast, sugar and water and gently stir until sugar has dissolved. Put aside for 10 minutes and cover with a tea towel.
3 cups of flour plus more for dusting the bench and extra if the dough is too sticky.
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soft butter
milk, for brushing
After the 10 minutes is up, add in the flour and salt and mix until all is combined. Add a little extra flour if necessary.
Flour the bench and knead into a ball, approximately 10 minutes.
Butter the inside of the bowl and place the dough in and cover with a tea towel. Leave for 1 hour in a warm place.
After 1 hour punch the dough down and knead again on a floured bench. Place into a greased loaf tin and leave covered, for 45 minutes. It should have risen again.
Have the oven preheating 180 degrees celsius .
Brush the top of the loaf with milk and bake for 45 minutes.
Cool on a cooling rack then enjoy!
I hope you will find these recipes helpful, they are very frugal to make and very healthy for you. If families in the 1940's were the healthiest they had ever been from eating these simple home cooked meals with good solid staple ingredients, then we can too. My grandparents were always healthy as far as I know and they ate what we call here in New Zealand, good old meat and three veggie meals. That is also what I grew up on and we were always healthy children.
Thank you for visiting today and I hope you all have a blessed week.
Love, Fiona
" Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. " Proverbs 3:5-6
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