Books from the inter war period are mostly upper or upper middle class, aren’t they? D H Lawrence bucked the trend but I never took to his books. Obviously, the powers that be wanted the working class girls to identify with the maid servants serving their betters…
I think some people did eat their sardines whole, bones and all, but it was quite alright to remove the bits you thought might catch in a child’s throat, too. Personal preference. Like peeling an apple or eating it with the skin on. Herrings tended to be grilled or fried, often in oatmeal to soak up some of the oil. Not eaten by Mum, though. I’m not sure if pickled herrings were available or not but they didn’t cross my horizon until my ex-husband bought a tub from the supermarket and middle child tried and loved them. I had a whole outer of them in the fridge over lockdown as she thought she could only order them off the internet in bulk.
A small box of kippers – perhaps a dozen, Mum thought, but they needed using up quickly once bought, hence the sharing.
The bowl of dripping would be covered when placed outside, probably with a clean tea towel, although a slate with a stone might have been placed on top of that, to keep the contents clean and anything curious out. It was also likely that it would have been brought in overnight and used quickly so it wouldn’t go rancid. It’s still quite common around me to put a surplus of food which needs to be kept cool outside at Christmas, as a temporary measure, when the fridge is full. The stuff you need to last would stay in the fridge, but the stuff that will be quickly used can sit on a stone outside, covered against dirt and birds etc. Obviously, you wouldn’t put it where dogs being walked on the street could get at it! By the kitchen door is the usual place, or sometimes in a shed.
Dripping’s not used much as a cooking fat here, but some people like the taste of it. I usually have lard in, for roast potatoes rather than pastry, (some people prefer goose fat or duck fat for roast potatoes), butter as my standard spreading and baking fat, olive oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil. All the fats which need to be kept cool are together in the supermarket but the shelf space for fats like dripping are much smaller and in a less premium spot than for butter and margarine, and probably only available in a large supermarket. We don’t have Mexican or Spanish sections, although occasionally we have a specialist shelf or two depending on who’s in the area and requesting what. I think there’s an Eastern European speciality shelf in my usual supermarket at the moment.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2023-02-07 08:07 pm (UTC)I think some people did eat their sardines whole, bones and all, but it was quite alright to remove the bits you thought might catch in a child’s throat, too. Personal preference. Like peeling an apple or eating it with the skin on. Herrings tended to be grilled or fried, often in oatmeal to soak up some of the oil. Not eaten by Mum, though. I’m not sure if pickled herrings were available or not but they didn’t cross my horizon until my ex-husband bought a tub from the supermarket and middle child tried and loved them. I had a whole outer of them in the fridge over lockdown as she thought she could only order them off the internet in bulk.
A small box of kippers – perhaps a dozen, Mum thought, but they needed using up quickly once bought, hence the sharing.
The bowl of dripping would be covered when placed outside, probably with a clean tea towel, although a slate with a stone might have been placed on top of that, to keep the contents clean and anything curious out. It was also likely that it would have been brought in overnight and used quickly so it wouldn’t go rancid. It’s still quite common around me to put a surplus of food which needs to be kept cool outside at Christmas, as a temporary measure, when the fridge is full. The stuff you need to last would stay in the fridge, but the stuff that will be quickly used can sit on a stone outside, covered against dirt and birds etc. Obviously, you wouldn’t put it where dogs being walked on the street could get at it! By the kitchen door is the usual place, or sometimes in a shed.
Dripping’s not used much as a cooking fat here, but some people like the taste of it. I usually have lard in, for roast potatoes rather than pastry, (some people prefer goose fat or duck fat for roast potatoes), butter as my standard spreading and baking fat, olive oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil. All the fats which need to be kept cool are together in the supermarket but the shelf space for fats like dripping are much smaller and in a less premium spot than for butter and margarine, and probably only available in a large supermarket. We don’t have Mexican or Spanish sections, although occasionally we have a specialist shelf or two depending on who’s in the area and requesting what. I think there’s an Eastern European speciality shelf in my usual supermarket at the moment.