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It must be borne in mind that there is often a craving, especially among the humbler members
of the community, for more pronounced flavours, as for example, vinegar, sauces and pickles.
The use of sauce is so great a habit, that very often the only taste that a prepared dish had
was the sauce with which it was covered. Some time since, in one family I discovered that a girl
of twelve years was having a whole bottle of a well known sauce all to herself each week.
For this reason, in addition to the meals being sampled by me personally and my chief
research worker, an unemployed man and the wife of a different unemployed man sampled the
meals, and we each expressed our opinions as to what, if anything could be done to improve the
flavour or the appearance of the dish. The criticisms obtained in many instances were distinctly
useful.
I was extremely fortunate with the staff I obtained, particularly my chief research worker.
Miss Hook, to whom the bulk of the credit for the ultimate results must go.
One tried in every way to utilise articles which could be obtained at small cost. For
example, on each side of bacon cut in the grocer's shop, in order to produce the tidy looking
rashers which are exposed for sale in little piles, there is from 3/4lb. to 1/4lbs. of scrap waste. This
waste is exactly the same bacon as the next cut, which is sold at l/4d. or more per lb. This
waste can in many places be bought for twopence a pound, and the highest price I have paid for
it is fourpence. I found in many cases it was being sent to candle or soap makers. True, if this
becomes a saleable product the price will go up a certain extent, but it will still be cheaper than
the rasher prices. The addition of a small quantity of this bacon is one of the chief methods of
producing the good flavour in many meat dishes, and in certain fish dishes. Again, one found
that in one of the big stores some 251bs. of biscuit dust was a burden. Not broken biscuits
which are sold at fourpence to fivepence a pound, but dust from the bottom of the tins. This, of
course, has a high food value due to the butter and sugar in addition to the protein obtained from
the flour. By mixing this dust with a two-penny raspberry jelly, a delightful pudding was
produced, appetising to look at, and of high nutritive value.
It is, of course, to be realised that in using the cheaper cuts of meats, particularly clod, shin
of beef and sticking piece, that there is a high fibrous tissue content, and that the most satisfactory
way of cooking is by stewing very slowly. One found that this method of cooking was one that
many mothers would not be bothered to use, and also that they were not prepared to eat the food
prepared in this manner.
Their principle method of cooking, particularly in the poorest homes, was to fry everything
and frying in the most greasy and unwholesome manner possible. In one house in which I
happened to call just when dinner was being prepared, where the condition of the premises was
such that it was to be demolished as being unfit for human habitation, the dinner being prepared
consisted entirely of a very large frying pan filled with chops and sausages, and still more sausages
were on the table—possibly the most expensive and wasteful form of meal that can be prepared
for people in those circumstances.