When the U.S. entered World War I in April 1917, Europe had already been tearing itself apart for three years, its people starving and their farms destroyed. The U.S. Food Administration, headed by Herbert Hoover, was formed to provide food for American troops as well as to help feed the Allied population. In the U.S., the reduction of consumption was voluntary, but Americans were urged to stop wasting food, and to cut down on the use of wheat, sugar, meat, and fats.
Housewives were urged to sign a food conservation pledge card and many cookbooks were issued by the Food Administration and patriotic publishers. Families like the Tuckers who raised much of their own food were not as affected as those who lived in the cities. Still, every time a housewife purchased wheat flour, she also had to buy an equal amount of other cereals like rye flour or cornmeal and mix them with wheat flour when she baked, or use them exclusively on wheatless days. Citizens embraced the restrictions enthusiastically. It is interesting to note that the prescribed diet improved the nation’s health.
Calendar of Patriotic Service
United States Food Administration
Sunday— One wheatless meal, one meatless meal.
Monday—Wheatless day, one meatless meal.
Tuesday—Meatless day, porkless day, one wheatless meal.
Wednesday—Wheatless day, one meatless meal.
Thursday—One meatless meal, one wheatless meal.
Friday—One meatless meal, one wheatless meal.
Saturday—Porkless day, one wheatless meal, one meatless meal.
Every Day— Save wheat, meat, fats, sugar to create provision for our armies and the allies.
Alafair’s Hot Water Cornbread
2 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir in boiling water. The batter should be smooth and very thick. Heat about a quarter inch of fat in a large skillet over medium high heat. Drop rounded spoonfuls of batter into the hot fat and flatten each fritter with the back of the spoon. Fry until brown on one side, then flip and brown the other. Drain on a towel-lined plate and serve hot. These are delicious as a savory side with butter, or as a dessert with jam or syrup.
An old family recipe.
War Cake
1 cup molasses
1 cup corn syrup
1 ½ cups water
1 package raisins
2 tablespoons fat
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups rye flour
½ teaspoon soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
Boil together for five minutes the first nine ingredients. Cool, add the sifted dry ingredients and bake in two loaves for 45 minutes in moderate oven. Makes a dense, surprisingly moist cake; great as a holiday treat.
Recipe from War Economy in Food, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1918.
Potato Bread
1 pound potatoes (boiled or mashed)
1 quart liquid
1 ounce sugar
1 ounce salt
1 ounce fat
½ ounce yeast
3 pounds flour
Boil liquid. Add yeast to ¼ cup of liquid cooked to lukewarm temperature. Dissolve sugar, salt, and fat in remainder of liquid. When lukewarm add yeast and mashed potatoes. Beat well. Add flour and knead thoroughly. Let rise until it has doubled in bulk. Mold into loaves. Let rise again and bake.
Recipe from Win the War in the Kitchen: Official Recipe Book Containing All Demonstrations Given During Patriotic Food Show, Chicago, January 5-13, 1918, Illinois State Council of Defense, 1918.
Meatless Sausage
1 cup soaked and cooked dried peas, beans, lentils or lima beans
½ cup dried breadcrumbs
¼ cup fat
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sage
Mix and shape as sausage. Roll in flour and fry in drippings.
Recipe from Foods That Will Win the War and How to Cook Them, C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss, Forecast Publishing Co., New York, 1918
Soy Bean Loaf
2 cups cooked soy beans
1 tablespoon chopped pickle
2 tablespoons oleo
1 cup cooked rice
1 beaten egg
1 chopped onion
Salt
Pepper
Put soy beans through a meat chopper, combine with other ingredients and form in a loaf. Brown in the oven. Serve with tomato or brown sauce.
Recipe from Win the War Cookbook, St. Louis County Unit, Woman’s Committee’ Council of National Defense, Missouri Division, 1917.