A sustainable, historical three-course feast: WW2 crumb fudge

The growth of the modern capitalist food system continued to steam ahead in the early 20th century, but following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, food waste suddenly became an issue of national survival. With supplies at risk, the British state intervened by introducing rationing and making the wilful wasting of food fit for human consumption illegal. Housewives were urged to grow their own food, and home cooks came up with creative ways of substi- tuting missing items with whatever was available, like mock turkey (or ‘murkey’), made from mutton and sausage meat. Any leftovers were not to be wasted, but refash- ioned into thrifty meals instead.

Our dessert is a dish from the period called crumb fudge, which was put forward by the British Ministry of Food as a means of reusing stale breadcrumbs. Crunchy, choco- latey and surprisingly indulgent, the recipe was a special treat that people would have saved up their sugar and butter rations to make. It’s an incredibly easy dish to put together, and great fun for kids to get in- volved with, too.